St Egidien on Egidienplatz is the former

Benedictine Abbey The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they a ...

Saint Giles Saint Giles (, , , , ; 650 - 710), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 7th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly legendary. A ...

(''Egidienskirche''), now a church in the former free imperial city of

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, southern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is considered a significant contribution to the baroque church architecture of

Middle Franconia Middle Franconia (, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia, Germany, in the west of Bavaria bordering the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; the most populous and largest city is Nuremberg. Subdi ...

.Nürnberg, Reichsstadt: Politische und soziale Entwicklung
(Political and Social Development of the Imperial City of Nuremberg), ''

Historisches Lexikon Bayerns The Historische Lexikon Bayerns (abbr: ''HLB'') or Historical Lexicon of Bavaria is a specialist, historical lexicon about the History of Bavaria, which has been published as a genuine online publication. It is the first specialised lexicon on ...

History

The first church building was probably built in the years 1120/1130 on the site of the second, northern Nuremberg royal court. The royal courts administered royal possessions, agriculture and forestry. Thus, it had the status of a royal church. Around the year 1140

Emperor Conrad III The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

and his wife Gertrud raised the foundation to the rank of a benedictine abbey and endowed it generously. They made Carus, Abbot of the

Scots Monastery, Regensburg The Scots Monastery (in German ''Schottenkirche'', ''Schottenkloster'' or ''Schottenstift'') is the former Benedictine Abbey of St James (''Jakobskirche'') in Regensburg, Germany. It was founded in the 11th century by Irish missionaries and for ...

, their royal chaplain and the first Abbot of St Egidien. The monastery was rich immediately and subordinate in secular terms only to the

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

. The first monks came from the

and St. James's Abbey, Würzburg. It was a three-aisled basilica in the Romanesque style. In 1418, the monastery was impoverished and in debt. The altar vessels were mortgaged, and the

no longer guaranteed the debt. The abbey was taken over by German Benedictines from Reichenbach After the take-over the monastery was partially rebuilt, and the church and chapels were renovated. The Irish monks had to come to terms with the new regime or leave the abbey. At the Reformation in 1525 the monastery was dissolved, and the monastic estates transferred to the city authorities. After the

Peace of Augsburg The Peace of Augsburg (), also called the Augsburg Settlement, was a treaty between Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and the Schmalkaldic League, signed on 25 September 1555 in the German city of Augsburg. It officially ended the religious struggl ...

there were two unsuccessful attempts to recover the former monastic estates for the Benedictine order, firstly in 1578 by the Scottish Bishop

John Lesley John Lesley (or Leslie) (29 September 1527 – 31 May 1596) was a Scottish Roman Catholic bishop and historian. His father was Gavin Lesley, rector of Kingussie, Badenoch. Early career He was educated at the University of Aberdeen, where he ...

on behalf of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

, and from 1629 to 1631 by a Commission for the

Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg The Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg () was an ecclesiastical State of the Holy Roman Empire. It goes back to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamberg, Roman Catholic Diocese of Bamberg established at the 1007 synod in Frankfurt, at the behest of Ki ...

to implement a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Restitution Edict. On 6–7 July 1696 a fire destroyed the monastery and church. The church was rebuilt in the baroque style. The foundation stone was laid on 14 October 1711. The architects were Johann Trost and Gottlieb Trost. It was the largest construction project in Nuremberg in the 18th century. The stucco decorations were done by Donato Polli. The frescos were painted by Daniel Preisler and Johann Martin Schuster. The church was badly damaged during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in an air raid on 2 January 1945. The roof on the nave, crossing, transepts and choir collapsed and the outer walls were badly damaged. It was rebuilt between 1946-59 by Nuremberg architect Rudolf Gröschel in an economically interpretative way, as the costs to reconstruct the baroque interior with its ornate detail was unaffordable at the time.

Bells

There are six bells in the towers.

Organ

The church has a long tradition of fine music. The first organ was installed in 1460 by

Stephan Kaschendorf Stephan Kaschendorf (''Caschindorf'', ''Castendorfer'', ''Kastendörfer'') (ca. 1425 – after 4 February 1499) was an early German organ builder. He was born in Wrocław (then ''Breslau'') and at first was an apprentice to a carpenter. He onl ...

from Bratislava. Among its history of organists are: The current organ was installed in 1963 by

Rieger Orgelbau Rieger Orgelbau is an Austrian firm of organ builders, known generally as Rieger. The firm was founded by Franz Rieger. From 1873 it was known as Rieger & Söhne, and from 1879 as Gebrüder Rieger, after his sons took over. At the end of World Wa ...

.
It has 3 manuals and 43 stops. *Rückpositiv *Quintade 8' *Holzgedackt 8' *Prinzipal 4' *Koppelflöte 4' *Sesquialter 2²/₃' + 1³/₅' *Gemshorn 2' *Quinte 1¹/₃' *Scharff 1' 4f. *Schalmei 8' *Tremulant *Hauptwerk *Pommer 16' *Prinzipal 8' *Spitzflöte 8' *Oktave 4' *Nachthorn 4' *Quinte 2 2/3' *Superoktav 2' *Rauschwerk 2²/₃' 4f. *Mixtur 1¹/₃' 6f. *Fagott 16' *Trompete 8' *Schwellwerk *Prinzipal 8' *Spitzgambe 8' *Bleigedackt 8' *Prinzipal 4' *Rohrflöte 4' *Blockflöte 2' *Terz 1³/₅' *Nasat 2²/₃' *Plein jeu 2' 7f. *Cimbel ¹/₃' 3f. *Trompete 8' *Oboe 8' *Tremulant *Pedal *Prinzipal 16' *Subbaß 16' *Oktav 8' *Subbaß 8' *Choralbaß 4' 3f. *Pommer 4' *Hohlflöte 2' *Mixtur 2' 5f. *Posaune 16' *Zinke 8' *Clairon 4'

References

{{Authority control Lutheran churches in Nuremberg, Egidien Nuremberg Egidien Nuremberg Egidien Nuremberg Egidien Benedictine monasteries in Germany 1140s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1140 establishments in Europe