Pilgrimages held enormous importance in the Middle Ages and Pilgrimage sites such as Rome, Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostella, enjoyed special popularity. In Germany, the first pilgrimages were undertaken as early as the 10th Century, and, in Westphalia, and the Ruhr Region, we can still find traces of these first pilgrims and the local worship of saints.

St Victor is still venerated today in the Xanten Cathedral. In Xanten, as early as the 6th Century, a Christian community was formed and a Christian church was built. This church was a memorial to St Mallosus and Victor, which functioned as the precursor to the later abbey church. After several extensions and conversions in centuries to follow, the foundation stone was laid in 1263 for the new abbey church construction, which was essentially completed in 1519.

With the construction of this building, pilgrim traffic to the Xanten cathedral began to increase steadily. Pilgrims came in large numbers to see St Victor's Shrine, established in 1129-1150 which today is at the centre of the high altar. Originally, it was much more impressively decorated with precious stones, antique gemstones and pearls. This stock of jewels has considerably decreased throughout the centuries, though theft, and through sale in times of need.

In the 11th Century, the church supported the pilgrimages, and granted indulgence to all those who made the journey. Whilst the patronage by saints, and altars dedicated to them demonstrate impressively the spreading cult of saints in Westphalia and the Ruhr Region, pilgrim houses and guesthouses - still preserved - illustrate the everyday life of the pilgrim en route.

In 1364, a pilgrim house with a chapel was founded in Stalleiken am Hellweg, located between Essen and Bochum. The founders were probably knights from Leithe, who established this house to accommodate poor pilgrims who could not afford accommodation in the towns. The original name "Pilgrimhaus und Hospital" ("Pilgrim House and Hospital") was eventually lost, as the number of pilgrims decreased with time. Gradually "pilgrims" became known as "travellers" or "wayfarers", and the "Pilgrim House“ became a "guest house“. The chapel was comprehensively renovated in 1971-1972. Today, a small plaque identifies this as an “Autofahrerkapelle” (Motorists' Chapel).

Another saint, whose relics are the focal point of the Santiago de Compostella pilgrimage, is St James, who is also venerated in Westphalia. The former St James Church in Breckerfeld, now the evangelical church, bears impressive witness to the veneration of St James and the lively pilgrim traffic in Westphalia.
In this late mediaeval basilica, a rood screen once separated the small clerical community in the choir from the lay community in the transept and the nave.
The three keystones of the transept vaults are the three altars set up here: in the middle of the rood screen is the altar of St James - patron saint of pilgrims, whom the guild of the Breckerfeld smiths also chose as a patron saint. A Lady altar and a St Nicholas altar stood in front of the east walls of the aisles, aligned with the St James altar. The transept was the meeting place for pilgrims, who held their own masses at the altars, and could be described as a true St James pilgrim church. This is underlined by the fact that even in 1757, scallops framed the keystones, or were attached to the chandelier chain.