St. Paul's Church ( or ''Paulskirche'') is a large

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church in the

Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt (Central Bavarian: ''Ludwigsvorstod-Isarvorstod'') is one of the boroughs of Munich, Germany. It consists of the districts Ludwigsvorstadt, located south of Munich Hauptbahnhof and east of the Theresienwiese, and Is ...

quarter of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

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 was built in 1892–1906, designed by the Austrian architect

Georg von Hauberrisser Georg von Hauberrisser (19 March 1841 in Graz – 17 May 1922 in Munich) was a German-Austrian architect. Biography Hauberrisser’s father Georg Hauberrisser the Elder (1791–1875) was born in Erbach, Rheingau, Erbach in Rheingau and worked ...

in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

, north of the

Theresienwiese Theresienwiese is an open space in the Munich borough of Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt. It serves as the official ground of the Munich Oktoberfest. A space of , it is bordered in the west by the Ruhmeshalle and the Bavaria statue, symbolizin ...

Architecture

The construction consists mainly of limestone from

Ansbach Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk, administrative region of Mittelfranken, Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränk ...

for the exterior cladding. Upper Bavarian

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

was used for the interior, and the core of the masonry consists of brick. The height of the main tower is 97 meters; its model was the tower of the

Frankfurt Cathedral Frankfurt Cathedral (), officially Imperial Dome of Saint Bartholomew (), is a Roman Catholic Gothic church located in the heart of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is dedicated to Saint Bartholomew. It is the largest religious building in the c ...

. The two western towers are 76 meters high. The west facade is decorated by a large

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

above the main entrance.

History

During

World War II 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 ...

, St Paul's was heavily damaged by air raids, especially in December 1944, with large pieces of equipment were lost, including the high

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

. On 17 December 1960, a

Convair C-131D Samaritan The Convair C-131 Samaritan is an American twin-engined military transport produced from 1954 to 1956 by Convair. It is the military version of the Convair CV-240 family of airliners.Gradidge 1997, p. 20–21. This was one of the last radial en ...

crashed after striking the 318-foot tall steeple of St Paul's Church shortly after take-off from Munich-Riem Airport.

References

Roman Catholic churches completed in 1906 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Germany

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

Gothic Revival church buildings in Germany Buildings and structures in Munich Historicist architecture in Munich Cultural heritage monuments in Munich 1906 establishments in Germany {{Bavaria-struct-stub