GIORGIO @ ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH MUNICH¤ NOTRE PERE- MAGIDA
Length: 3:40
Description: The former Jesuit church of St Michael in Munich is the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps. It was built by William V, Duke of Bavaria, known in German as Wilhelm, between 1583 and 1597 as a spiritual center for the Counter Reformation. [1] The foundation stone was laid in 1585. [2] The style of the building had an enormous influence on Southern German early baroque architecture.
In order to realise his ambitious plans, Duke Wilhelm had 87 houses in the best location pulled down, ignoring the protests of the citizens. [3] The church was erected in two stages. In the first stage (1583-88), the church was built by the model of Il Gesù in Rome and given a barrel-vaulted roof by an unknown architect, the vault being the largest in the world apart from that of St Peter's in Rome, spanning freely more than 20 meters. When the church was built, there were doubts about the stability of the vaulting. But it was the tower that collapsed in 1590, destroying the just completed quire. [4] Duke William V took it as a bad omen and so planned to build a much larger church. The second phase of construction continued until the consecration of the church in 1597. [5] Friedrich Sustris built on to the undamaged nave a new quire and a transept and a magnificent facade. [6]
The facade is impressive and contains standing statues of Duke Wilhelm and earlier rulers of the Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty, cast in bronze, in the form of a family tree. [7] Hubert Gerhard's large bronze statue between the two entrances shows the Archangel Michael fighting for the Faith and killing the Evil in the shape of a humanoid demon.
The church crypt contains the tomb of Eugène de Beauharnais. A monument was erected by Bertel Thorwaldsen in 1830 in the church. Eugène was the son of Josephine de Beauharnais, Napoleon's wife and her first husband, general Alexandre de Beauharnais. He married a daughter of King Maximilian I of Bavaria in 1806 and was created Duke of Leuchtenberg in 1817. In the right transept, there is a cross monument of Giovanni da Bologna. The crypt contains among others the tombs of these members of the Wittelsbach dynasty:
William V, Duke of Bavaria
Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria
King Ludwig II of Bavaria [8]
King Otto of Bavaria
Having suffered severe damage during the Second World War, the church was restored in 1946-48. Finally, between 1980 and 1983, the stucco-work was restored.
¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤
Die katholische Jesuitenkirche St. Michael in München, ist dem Erzengel Michael geweiht und steht stilistisch am Übergang von Renaissance und Barock. Viele Bauideen wurden von „Il Gesù", der römischen Mutterkirche der Jesuiten übernommen. So wurde die Münchner „Michaelskirche" vorbildgebend für viele barocke Kirchen im deutschsprachigen Raum. St. Michael war auch das geistliche Zentrum der Gegenreformation in Bayern.
Johannes Terhalle: ... ha della Grandezza de padri Gesuiti. Die Architektur der Jesuiten um 1600 und St. Michael in München. In: Reinhold Baumstark (Hrsg.): Rom in Bayern. Kunst und Spiritualität der ersten Jesuiten. Katalog zur Ausstellung des Bayerischen Nationalmuseums München, 30. April bis 20. Juli 1997. Hirmer, München 1997, ISBN 3-7774-7600-5, S. 83-146.
Klaus Gallas: München. Von der welfischen Gründung Heinrichs des Löwen bis zur Gegenwart: Kunst, Kultur, Geschichte. DuMont, Köln 1979, ISBN 3-7701-1094-3 (DuMont-Dokumente: DuMont-Kunst-Reiseführer).
Author: gchcorp
Source: YouTube
