St. Pauli parish church

The parish of St. Paul was founded around 1180 with the reorganization of the parishes. Today's three-nave, three-bay Westphalian hall church, whose origins go back to a Romanesque predecessor church, developed into its current Gothic form between the 14th and 15th centuries. Its imposing, five-storey tower dominates the Soest cityscape. St. Paul's is historically significant as the scene of the first Protestant sermon in Soest around 1530 by chaplain Johann Kelberg, making it the first Protestant parish church in the city in 1552.

The interior contains art-historical treasures: the oldest surviving Gothic stained glass windows in Soest from around 1300, a Baroque organ prospect from 1675 with a romantic work installed by Walcker in 1895 (restored by Eule in 1992-1994), the Renaissance pulpit from 1580 and an altarpiece from the school of Conrad von Soest (around 1430). The completely preserved bell ringing by B. W. Stule (1711/20) is also a rarity.

After substantial war damage during the Second World War, particularly to windows and a vault, the church was restored by 1950. Since 2009, St. Pauli has also been home to Westfalen's first columbarium in a Protestant church, which allows for contemporary use as an urn burial site alongside continued church services.