St. Sylvester is a Catholic church and parish in

Schwabing Schwabing is a borough in the northern part of Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria. It is part of the city borough 4 (Schwabing-West) and the city borough 12 (Schwabing-Freimann). The population of Schwabing is estimated about 100 ...

, now part of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, in the German state (''Bundesland'') of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. It began with a village church in the 14th century, first documented in 1315, and dedicated to

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

. A

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

church was remodelled in

Baroque style The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

in the 17th century, and received furnishings such as sculpture attributed to

Ignaz Günther Ignaz Günther (22 November 1725 – 27 June 1775) was a German sculptor and Woodworking, woodcarver working in the Bavarian Rococo tradition. He was born in Altmannstein, where he received his earliest training from his father, then studied in ...

or his school. The parish was split and renamed, and the part with one of the oldest churches in Munich became a parish dedicated to

Pope Silvester I Pope Sylvester I (also Silvester, 285 – 31 December 335) was the bishop of Rome from 31 January 314 until his death. He filled the see of Rome at an important era in the history of the Western Church, yet very little is known of him. The acco ...

in 1921. The church was expanded in 1925/26 by a new part connected to the old church. The new church features an altar painting depicting the patron saint kneeling in prayer for Schwabing, several other altars, and ceiling paintings in Casein technique including the vision of

Constantine the Great Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...

, the emperor who granted free religion to the Christians while St. Sylvester was pope. The church is located in the center of the early village, near the

Englischer Garten The ''Englischer Garten'' (, ''English Garden'') is a large public park in the centre of Munich, Bavaria, stretching from the city centre to the northeastern city limits. It was created in 1789 by Sir Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814), later Count ...

History

The first mention of a church in the village of Schwabing dates back to 1315, but probably the village had already a church at the site when it was first documented in 782. The first dedication was probably to

. Parts of the early church are part of the present structure. It was expanded around 1300 in

style. From 1654 to 1664, it was remodelled in

, with a higher

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

, new

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

s and stucco decoration. Probably at this time,

Saint Ursula Saint Ursula (Latin for 'little female bear', german: link=no, Heilige Ursula) is a legendary Romano-British Christian saint who died on 21 October 383. Her feast day in the pre-1970 General Roman Calendar is 21 October. There is little infor ...

became the main

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

, with

as secondary patron saint. The church features Baroque furnishings including the

high altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganis ...

from 1655, with a main painting by

Kaspar Amort Kaspar Amort (1612 – 7 March 1675) was a German painter, active in Munich. He is sometimes known as Kaspar Amort the Elder, to distinguish him from his son Kaspar Amort the Younger (born c. 1640). Life Amort was born in 1612 in the valley of th ...

: ''Das Martyrium der heiligen Ursula und ihrer Gefährtinnen'', focused on St. Ursula. Sculptures of St. Sylvester and St. Benno, the patron saint of Munich, were created by Matthias Schütz, probably in 1673. A group of sculptures depicting the

Annunciation The Annunciation (from Latin '), also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Christian celebration of the biblical tale of the announcement by the ange ...

has been attributed to

or his school. This and other works by the same school were acquired in 1770, also a figure of Judas Thaddäus, and busts of

St. Benedict Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...

and

St. Barbara Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Accounts place her in t ...

. Two statues by , of

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

and St. Elisabeth, dated to 1647, were moved to this church in 1898 from the then demolished "Leprosenkirche" St. Nikolaus in Schwabing. In 1811, the church became the parish church of Schwabing. Due to the growing village, a new church was built and consecrated to St. Ursula in 1897. The former village church was then made a

filial church A filial church, in the Roman Catholic Church, is a church to which is annexed the cure of souls, but which remains dependent on another church. The term comes from the Latin ''filialis'', from ''filia'', “daughter”. Description The term ''fili ...

. In 1921, the parish was split, and the new parish of St. Sylvester was created. Its church was expanded in 1925/26 by an octagonal hall, parallel to the old church in the north and connected to it. It was designed by in Baroque Revival style. The new church features artworks including a painting on the high altar, depicting the patron saint kneeling in prayer for Schwabing (''Papst Sylvester kniend in Fürbitte für Schwabing''), created by in 1927. The figures on the side depict St. Nicholas and St. Korbinian, probably created by in the 18th century. The figure of God the Father in the (superstructure) of the altarpiece (''Gottvater im Auszug'') was probably made by in the same period. The

casein paint Casein paint, (or cassein) derived from milk casein (milk protein), is a fast-drying, water-soluble medium used by artists. Description It generally has a glue-like consistency, but can be thinned with water to the degree that fits a particular ar ...

ings on the ceiling and upper walls were made by Ernst Kozicz in 1939/40. They depict the vision of

, the emperor who granted free religion to the Christians while St. Sylvester was pope, and six scenes from the

Passion of Jesus In Christianity, the Passion (from the Latin verb ''patior, passus sum''; "to suffer, bear, endure", from which also "patience, patient", etc.) is the short final period in the life of Jesus Christ. Depending on one's views, the "Passion" m ...

and his

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sylvester, St Sylvester Sylvester Munich Sylvester

History

References

Further reading

External links