The small church of St. Ursula in the town of Hurth (dedication to this saint martyr is more than traditional for the vicinity of Cologne - she is its heavenly patroness) belongs to the early centric projects of Boehm, who became famous primarily as the author of sacral buildings. It was erected in 1954-1956, but since then the number of believers in the parish has significantly decreased, and in 2006 the church was deprived of its status by the decision of the archbishop of Cologne.
This situation is common in Western Europe, where the number of believers is steadily declining. It is also customary to transform a building of a former church into a public or cultural center - but usually we are talking about a historical building, at least of the 19th century.
In this case, the work of Gottfried Boehm, no matter how famous and respectable architect he was, could not claim such respect from the public.
Fortunately, instead of a very realistic prospect of demolition for almost any architectural monument of the 20th century, a different fate awaited the church. It was adapted for its branch by the Cologne art gallery Galerie Jablonka. During the reconstruction, all church items were removed from the interior, and traces of all later rebuildings were eliminated, that is, Boehm's plan began to be read more clearly than before. The five-petal plan of the building was used by the new owners for a more spectacular exhibition of works of art: a painting is placed in each niche.
Boehm himself approved the "conversion" of his building and its new name, gave advice on reconstruction, which were carefully followed. The building is now called Böhm Chapel, Böhm Chapel.
