The St. Pauli church parish came into being with the redivision of the parishes around 1180. However, no ground plan has survived of the predecessor church of that time, which was first mentioned in a document in 1229 and was probably Romanesque, and only a few archaeological findings are available so far.
Today's three-nave, three-bay, typically Westphalian hall church dates from the middle of the 14th century and the first half of the 15th century. The oldest parts include the nave and the five-story tower (around 1350). The choir is almost a century younger and was completed only in the second half of the 15th century. Around 1530, evangelical preaching was held in this church for the first time in Soest by the chaplain Johann Kelberg. When the Protestant doctrine finally took hold in 1552, it was again the "Paulikirche" which was the first parish church in Soest to open its doors to the new doctrine.
The oldest stained glass windows in the church are among the oldest surviving Gothic paintings in Soest and date from around 1300.
In 1895, the famous Walcker company built a new organ in the then modern romantic style into the organ case from 1675. Furthermore, the Renaissance pulpit from around 1580, the priechen (wooden gallery for noble parishioners) and the altarpiece from around 1430 from the school of Conrad von Soest are particularly worth seeing. The Second World War also left its mark on this church, many windows and a vault were destroyed. The repair of the damage lasted until 1950.
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