St. Maria zur Höhe (Hohnekirche)

Built around 1220/30 from local green sandstone, the three-nave hall church, also known as the Hohnekirche, rises above an archaeologically documented predecessor building. Its interior design deviates from conventional symmetries, as the interior is designed to be wider than it is long. This established it as an important hall church in the history of development, whose unconventional design had a formative effect on early hall churches in the Hellweg region. The substructure of the tower, a relic of the previous building, is integrated into the new building through an architecturally remarkable construction. After a collapse in 1671, the top floor of the tower was rebuilt in the Baroque style.

The wall and ceiling paintings of the 13th century, which dominate the interior, were created in three periods around 1220, 1240 and 1260. After being painted over for a long time, they are now recognized as outstanding testimonies of their time, also due to their Arabic-like character. All of the figurative depictions show the characteristic jagged style.

In addition to the altarpiece created around 1470 by the Master of Liesborn, the so-called disc cross is a central piece of decoration. This work of art, a Latin cross with figuratively carved relief discs on a circular disc with a diameter of 2.72 meters, is a rarity in Germany; comparable examples can only be found on the Swedish island of Gotland.

The organ façade from 1679 and the Romanesque baptismal font, the dimensions of which exceed those of the entrances to the baptistery, are also worthy of mention. This distinguishes the Hohnekirche from the Wiesenkirche in Soest and makes it one of the oldest buildings in the city.