Four building eras can be identified at St. Pankratius Church in Störmede.
The oldest Romanesque part dates back to the 12th century and was built on the foundations of a castle chapel. The middle part of the church dates from the late Gothic period. The year 1521 is engraved on the foundation stone next to the northern portal. The two western bays and the church tower were added in 1870/71. The youngest part of the church is the sacristy in the east, which was built in 1724.
The former entrance doors of the Romanesque church are now bricked up. It can still be seen that the north-south axis of the village is aligned with the so-called Kreuzpforte.
The Romanesque choir is rectangular and does not appear as such on the outside. However, inside it is clearly set off from the rest of the church by the two columns made of Anröchte green sandstone with the stonework: double capital, simple cube capital with chamfered corners, checkerboard ornamentation on top, double position of the chancel arch.
The two late Gothic bays adjoining to the west were built on the foundations of the Romanesque predecessor building, as excavations have shown. In this part of the building, the simple but effective color scheme using different types of sandstone is particularly striking. The load-bearing parts are made of dark stone, while the light ribs of the net vault are made of light stone. The keystones in the late Gothic vaulted bays are remarkable. The coat of arms of the benefactors of the renovation work, Alhard the Old of Hoerde and his wife Elisabeth of Hoberg, can be found in the second bay of the central nave. The keystone in the second bay of the south aisle is a five-sided cross, a rare sight at the time of its construction.
The neo-Gothic extension follows on from the previous part with a barely noticeable transition, even if the play of colors of the different types of sandstone could not be imitated.
The late Gothic sacrament house in the Romanesque nave bay with its richly decorated architecture and ornamental sculptures takes pride of place among the church's furnishings. Unfortunately, the figurative decoration was demonstrably severely damaged in the 16th/17th century.
In the Romanesque choir there are two impressive Renaissance epitaphs, which were found during the renovation of the church floor in 1963. They depict the former lords of the castle: Alhard the Elder and his son Alhard the Younger.
The organ was built in 1935 by the Speith company in Rietberg. The façade dates back to 1879 and the organ is a pneumatic organ, a type of organ construction in which all switching operations are controlled by air when playing. As only a few examples of this type of construction still exist, the organ was thoroughly restored in 1987. It has 30 sounding stops (about 2300 pipes).
(Karl Petermeier)