The parish church of the Corpus Christi in Aachen by Rudolf Schwarz is arguably one of the most renowned churches in modern Europe. The one true visual and symbolic focus of Schwarz’s design is the church’s monumental presbyterium, which rests on an elevated podium at the main nave’s far end . At the turn of the 1980s, the original design for the presbyterium was altered - subtly, yet resolutely - through the addition of a dais topped by an ambo and a newly designed eucharistic altar. 

The original and the modified configurations of the church will be discussed at due length. It will be argued that, while bringing the celebration nearer to the community, the new presbyterium is by no means closer to the eyes of the laymen. Furthermore, we will contend that the transformation of the church severed the bond between space and liturgical action that lay at the very core of the original design.