Waldau village church, Bernburg

Waldau is the earliest documented settlement in Saxony-Anhalt. The church of St. Stephen, a fieldstone construction built in the late 12th century, is considered the prototype of Romanesque village church architecture.

It is almost in its original condition, thanks to a programme of restoration in 1910 and the reversal of later rebuilding work. The layout of the homogenous structure is typical of a pattern which was very widespread in the 12th century; it comprises a west transverse tower, a somewhat broader nave and an apse. Examples of Romanesque decoration on the exterior are the stepped portal on the south side with its columns, whose cubiform capitals are decorated with palmettes, and a tympanum (the space enclosed by an arch), in which ‘half a man’ is to be seen. Inside, Romanesque engravings of crosses have survived on the door from the tower into the nave. The only surviving mediaeval artefact is the heavy Romanesque baptismal font with its octagonal bowl. Extensive restoration work was undertaken in 1930; a stone was publicly brought to the church from Jerusalem in memory of St. Stephen.