Braunlauf

The construction of a chapel in Braunlauf, authorized by Archbishop Joseph Clemens of Cologne in 1704, was completed two years later and restored in 1898. However, a new building, which had become necessary due to dilapidation and was supported by the population and the “building priest” Nols, was not consecrated until the spring of 1966 by the Bishop of Liège, Wilhelm-Maria Van Zuylen. For twelve years, difficulties had arisen with the Royal Commission for the Protection of Historical Monuments when the designs by the architect Robert from Gouvy were submitted, which finally only approved the fourth project proposal. The fifty von Braun families raised a third of the construction costs from their own funds.

A church with a lateral “campanile” tower was built at the intersection of Maldingen and Thommen streets. In the choir with the wooden cross, the stone altar table was already facing the people, a remarkable innovation at the time. The black and gold tabernacle and the eternal light are located to the left of the main altar. Some statues from the old chapel have been reinstalled. The church of Braunlauf originally belonged to the parish of Thommen and since 1803 to the parish of Aldringen.

Source: Churches and chapels in East Belgium by Freddy Derwahl and Johannes Weber