This huge renaissance church, completed in 1597, is famous for its huge barrel-vaulted roof and as…read morethe burial place of King Ludwig II and his brother, King Otto.
The Church was commissioned by William V, Duke of Bavaria, as a centre for the Counter-Reformation, and a base for the Jesuits, who were already established in Munich.
Building began in 1583, but the church itself had to be partially rebuilt after the tower collapsed through the choir in 1590: ironically, it was the huge vault - then the widest after St Peters in Rome - that people feared would fall.
Rebuilding began immediately with a new choir and large transept, and an elaborate facade with statues depicting the lineage of the Bavarian Royal Family. It's early baroque style influenced many other churches, but it also incorporates many motifs of the Counter-Reformation within its decoration: the transept vaults appears as triumphal arches, and the bronze statue of St Michael on the main facade shows him fighting a humanoid devil - often taken as an allegory of fighting for the faith against the Protestants.
Badly damaged in World War Two, it's restoration was completed in 1983. It remains one of the largest renaissance churches, north of the Alps.
King Ludwig II and his brother King Otto are buried in the crypt, alongside other Wittelsbachs. Access to this is via stairs in the south (right-hand) transept. There's a fee of €2, but they don't accept small change and photography is not permitted. I don't mind that, or paying a fee, but the person taking the money had to the least welcoming and grumpiest individual in Munich. Not much of a Christian welcome, I'm sad to report.
