St. John the Baptist

The Church of St. John the Baptist in today's Wuppertal district of Oberbarmen is the second house of worship built for the Catholic Christians of Barmen.

The Catholics who moved to Oberbarmen since the beginning of industrialization were initially cared for by the St. Antonius parish. New buildings of the church dedicated to the patron saint of Barmen from the years 1825–1829 and 1869–1883 took into account the rapidly growing population in the 19th century. Nevertheless, the need for another parish and church for Oberbarmen became evident, and in 1883, a church-building association was formed around a Catholic school in Wichlinghausen for the eastern part of Barmen, which collected the necessary donations by 1887 to acquire a plot of land located at Krühbusch, roughly in the middle between the local centers of Wupperfeld, Wichlinghausen, and Rittershausen. Gerhard August Fischer was commissioned to design the new church; construction began in 1888 and was able to be inaugurated on November 20, 1890. The church was consecrated to John the Baptist, the patron saint of Cologne's auxiliary bishop Johannes Baudri, who had donated around 15,000 marks for the construction. Within about seven years, the interior was furnished, including three wooden neo-Gothic panel altars, the painting of the vaults, the organ, and the original four bells.

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