Hall Church

A hall church is a church with nave and side aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was first coined in the mid-19th century by the pioneering German art historian Wilhelm Lübke.

In contrast to a traditional basilica, which lets in light through a clerestory in the upper part of the nave, a hall church is lit through windowed side walls typically spanning the full height of the interior.

This form of church construction has a long history (for example Bishop Meinwerk's Bartholomäuskapelle at Paderborn which was consecrated c.1017) but reached its height in the late Gothic period, especially in German Sondergotik, and most notably in the area of Westphalia. The design also found favour in the Angevin lands of western France (for example, Poitiers Cathedral). Elsewhere, one also finds the hall-church design adapted to smaller-scale projects such as chapels or retrochoirs (e.g. Salisbury Cathedral, Temple Church, London)

Some Gothic Revival churches imitate the hall church model, particularly those following German architectural precedents. One example of a neo-Gothic hall church is St. Francis de Sales Church in Saint Louis, Missouri, designed by Viktor Klutho and completed in 1908.

Notable examples are the Ulm Cathedral, the Cologne Cathedral, and the Barcelona Cathedral.

A completely separate 20th-century usage employs the term "hall church" to mean a multi-purpose building with moveable seats rather than pews and a chancel area which can be screened off, to allow use as a community centre during the week. This was particularly popular in Britain in inner city areas from the 1960s onwards.

Contrast: Church hall.