Heilig Geist

Heilig Geist in Munich is a Gothic hall church whose architecture records centuries of construction, alteration, damage, and restoration. Its name means Holy Spirit.

Originally part of the Hospice of the Holy Ghost, the church gained Baroque and Rococo features through Ettenhofer and the Asam brothers. Rococo frescoes and stucco shape the interior.

A Neo-Baroque façade, added by Franz Löwel, draws inspiration from Viscardi’s Trinity Church and marks the historic building. The high altar combines Nikolaus Stuber’s design with Ulrich Loth’s altarpiece and angel sculptures by Johann Georg Greiff.

The altarpiece depicts the Effusion of the Holy Ghost. The Hammerthaler Madonna is a fifteenth-century wooden sculpture.

Peter Jacob Horemans painted wall scenes about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, while a late Gothic crucifix appears in the Kreuzkapelle. Bronze memorials by Hans Krumpper add another layer of artistic detail.

World War Two heavily damaged Heilig Geist, and Erwin Schleich’s later restoration work returned the original frescoes after simpler white interiors. The spot is wheelchair accessible.