Religion in Dorsten - Historical Tour of the Old Town

You'll start your religion-themed walking tour at St. Agatha's Church in the center of the Old City. As you walk around the church, you'll notice that the church has been rebuilt from its many pieces of rubble. You will discover the remains of capitals, colourful tiles and a wide variety of sandstones.
09 GS St. Agatha

Before you turn left into Ursula Street, you should take a look at the building at the end of the street opposite you. The so-called Xantener Speicher is one of the very few buildings that survived the Second World War, lovingly maintained by today's homeowners. On the right-hand side in front of the main entrance of the St. Ursula Gymnasium you will find the next history station. The best-known former student of the high school is bestselling author Cornelia Funke, whose fantastic stories are not only popular with children.
21 GS St. Ursula

As you continue along Ursulastraße, you will pass the Goldener Anker restaurant by star chef Björn Freitag, cross the Westwall and reach the pedestrian bridge at the back of the shopping centre that leads over the Wesel-Datteln Canal to the Gymnasium Petrinum. There, on the left side of the schoolyard, the next history station is waiting for you.
05 GS Maria Lindenhof


The proximity to the canal offers the students an unusual sporting activity: rowing in the student rowing squad. On the right side of the schoolyard you will find the next history station.
04 GS Petrinum

Now we cross the pedestrian bridge on the right past the shopping center back towards the city center. Cross the Westwall with a view of the remains of the former city wall at the pedestrian traffic lights on the right, continue to the right and after a few meters turn left into Klosterstraße. There you will see today's Caritas building, an old monastery building, and through the passage on the right, you will reach the monastery and the church of the Franciscans from the seventies. As you walk around the church, you will find the corresponding history station. Today's monastery was planned and built by a former Petrinum student, the architect Manfred Ludes.
01 GS Franciscan Monastery

Continue past the department store complex and turn right into Patersgasse. At the end of the alley, turn left into the Westgraben, which is followed by the Südgraben and after a few minutes you will reach the next history stations at the rampart and moat with a view of the JMW (Jewish Museum Westphalia). The museum's new permanent exhibition, which opened at the end of 2018, is definitely worth a visit at the end of your tour.
23 GS Jewish Community

Next, you will come to the Kolping House history station and a short walk along the piccolo canal will take you to the last history station of our tour in front of St. John's Church.
36 GS Kolpinghaus
11 GS Johanneskirche

Via Recklinghäuser Straße you return to your starting point, the towering St. Agatha Church.