Germany Guide
Munich
St Michael
Address: Neuhauser Strasse
The eastern end of Neuhauser Strasse is dominated by the Jesuit church of St Michael, built under the auspices of Duke Wilhelm V between 1583 and 1597 to replace an earlier church – the first Jesuit church north of the Alps, based on the order's mother church of Il Gesù in Rome – whose tower collapsed before it could even be consecrated. This was the cue to build an even larger and more splendid church, whose financing bankrupted the state and forced Wilhelm to abdicate upon completion. Inside, the twenty-metre-wide, stucco-ornamented barrel-vaulted roof dominates; stylistically it was the prototype for scores of churches built later in southern Germany, though postwar restoration after severe bomb damage was not entirely accurate. The Fürstengruft, or crypt (Mon– Fri 9.30am–4.30pm, Sat 9.30am–2.30pm; €2), contains the graves of Wilhelm and another extravagant Wittelsbach, "Mad" King Ludwig II, who commissioned the fairytale castle of Neuschwanstein, the mock Versailles of Herrenchiemsee and the more modest, but still opulent, Schloss Linderhof.