Frauenkirche, Munich

History

A late Romanesque church was added next to the town's first ring of walls in the 12th century, serving as a second city parish following the older Alter Peter church. The late Gothic cathedral visible today, which replaced the Romanesque church, was commissioned by Duke Sigismund and the people of Munich, and built in the 15th century. The cathedral was erected in only 20 years' time by Jörg von Halsbach. Because there was not a nearby stone quarry and for other financial reasons, brick was chosen as building material.

Construction began in 1468, and when the cash resources were exhausted in 1479, Pope Sixtus IV granted an indulgence. The two towers, which are both just over 98 meters tall, were completed in 1488, and the church was consecrated in 1494. There were plans for tall, open-work spires typical of the Gothic style, but given the financial difficulties of the time, the plans could not be realized. The towers remained unfinished until 1525.

German historian Hartmann Schedel printed a view of Munich including the unfinished towers in his famous Nuremberg Chronicle. Finally, because rainwater was regularly penetrating the temporary roofing in the tower's ceilings, the towers were completed in 1525 albeit by using a more budget-friendly design. The new design may have been modelled after the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. The building has a volume of about 200,000 m³, and originally had the capacity to house 20,000 standing people.

Considering that late 15th-century Munich had only 13,000 inhabitants and already had an established parish church in Alter Peter, it is quite remarkable that a second church of that magnitude was erected in the city. In 1919, Eugen Leviné, leader of a short-lived Bavarian Socialist Republic, had the Frauenkirche declared a "revolutionary temple". The cathedral suffered severe damage during the later stages of World War II. After Allied forces' air raids, the church roof collapsed, one of the towers suffered severe damage, and the majority of the church's irreplaceable historical artifacts held inside were lost. A multi-stage restoration effort began soon after the war. The final stage of restoration was completed in 1994.

Architecture

The Frauenkirche was constructed from red brick in the late Gothic style within only 20 years. The building is designed very plainly, without rich Gothic ornamentation and with its buttresses moved into and hidden in the interior. That, together with the two towers' special design (battered upwards, etc.), makes the construction, mighty anyway, look even more enormous and gives it a nearly modern appearance according to the principle of "less is more".

The Late Gothic brick building with chapels surrounding the apse is 109 m long, 40 m wide, and 37 m high. Contrary to a widespread legend that says the two towers with their characteristic domes are exactly one metre different in height, they are almost equal: the north tower is 98.57 m, and the south tower is 98.45 m, only 12 cm less. The original design called for pointed spires to top the towers, much like Cologne Cathedral, but those were never built for lack of money.

Instead, the two domes were constructed during the Renaissance and do not match the architectural style of the building; however, they have become a distinctive landmark of Munich. With an enclosed space of about 200,000 m³, with 150,000 m³ up to the height of the vault, it is the second among the largest hall churches in general and the second among the largest brick churches north of the Alps (after St. Mary's Church in Gdańsk). In accordance with a law passed in 2004, no buildings within Munich city limits may be built taller than the Frauenkirche towers.

Interior

Catholic Mass is held regularly in the cathedral, which still serves as a parish church. It is among the largest hall churches in Southern Germany. The hall is divided into 3 sectors (the main nave and two side aisles of equal height (31 m) by a double row of 22 pillars (11 at either side, 22 m) that help enclose the space. They are voluminous but appear quite slim because of their impressive height and the building's height-to-width ratio. The arches were designed by Heinrich von Straubing. From the main porta, the view seems to be only the rows of columns with no windows and translucent "walls" between the vaults through which the light seems to shine. The spatial effect of the church is connected with a legend about a footprint in a square tile at the entrance to the nave, the so-called "devil's footstep". A rich collection of 14th-to-18th century artwork of notable artists like Peter Candid, Erasmus Grasser, Jan Polack, Hans Leinberger, Hans Krumpper and Ignaz Günther decorates the interior of the cathedral again since the last restoration. The Gothic nave, several of the Gothic stained-glass windows, some of which had been made for the previous church, and the tomb monument of Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor, are major attractions. For the daily choral prayers, Erasmus Grasser created in 1495 to 1502 the choir stalls with busts of apostles and prophets and small statues, which survived the alterations of the Baroque period and the Gothic Revival but burned in World War II; only the figures had been relocated and preserved. Therefore, the Frauenkirche still has the largest surviving ensemble of characters from the Late Gothic in Germany. The optical end of the sanctuary is formed by a column on which stands the St. Mary statue by Roman Anton Boos, which he executed in 1780 for the sounding board of the former pulpit. The former high altar painting completed by Peter Candid in 1620 has been moved to the north wall entrance of the sacristy and depicts the Assumption of Mary into heaven. Much of the interior was destroyed during World War II. An attraction that survived is the Teufelstritt, or Devil's Footstep, at the entrance. It is a black mark resembling a footprint, which according to legend the place that the devil stood when he curiously regarded and ridiculed the 'windowless' church that Halsbach had built. In another version of the legend, the devil made a deal with the builder to finance construction of the church on the condition that it contain no windows. The clever builder, however, tricked the devil by positioning columns so that the windows were not visible from the spot at which the devil stood in the foyer. When the devil discovered that he had been tricked, he could not enter the already-consecrated church. The devil could only stand in the foyer and stomp his foot furiously, which left the dark footprint that remains visible in the church's entrance. Legend also says the devil then rushed outside and manifested his evil spirit in the wind that furiously rages around the church.

Organs

The current organs were built in 1993–1994 by Georg Jann. The Great Organ on the west gallery has 95 stops and 7,165 pipes, playable from two four-manual consoles. The Choir Organ near the altar stairs has 36 stops and can be played from a three-manual tracker console or the main consoles. Together they have 131 stops and 9,833 pipes, forming the largest organ ensemble in Munich.