Theatinerkirche, Munich

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The Theatinerkirche is my favorite church in all of Munich. Opposite the Hofgarten in Odeonsplatz this bold yellow church seems out of place with it's Italian Baroque style. This church was built as a gesture of thanks to god for the long awaited birth of Prince Max Emanuel. The interior is breathtaking and is a welcome (free) rest spot for weary feet.

A dominicans church since 1954. This church was built in honour of the birth of Crown prince Max Emmanuel born on 11 July 1662.The foundation stones were laid on 29 April 1663. It really is a wonderful experience to visit this church with its majestic interior.

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At Odeonsplatz you find this important and magnificent church -kirche- that was built in XVIIth century and while its facade is yellow it is quite completely white inside. It meant a great influence for bavarian baroque at the time. Its brilliant white stucco gives it an astounding inner light and it's crowned by a great 70 meter high dome. In contrast there is a big dark pulpit, one of the very few non-white things here. Inside the crypt you can find some of the most prominent Wittelsbach family members such as bavarian kings Maximillian I and II.

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I had a little time........actually, that's not quite true.....my insatiable curiousity got the better of me. That's more like it. So it was that I stepped through the door of the imposing Theatinerkirche. Built from 1663 to 1690, it was founded by Elector Ferdinand Maria and his wife, Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, as a gesture of thanks for the birth of the long-awaited heir to the Bavarian crown, Prince Max Emanuel, in 1662.
The church was built in Italian high-baroque style after San Andrea del Valle in Rome and designed by the Italian architect Agostino Barelli. His successor, Enrico Zuccalli, added two towers, which originally were not planned and then finished the 71 meter (233 ft) high dome in 1690. The facade in rococo style was finished only in 1768 by François de Cuvilles. Its Mediterranean appearance and yellow coloring became a well known symbol for the city and had much influence on Southern German baroque architecture.
The rich stucco ornaments inside the church have a remarkably light feeling owing to its brilliant white color. The stucco decorations were done by Nicolo Petri (1685 - 1688) while Wolfgang Leutner was responsible for the stucco figures. The great black pulpit is a work of Andreas Faistenberger (1686). The altars keep paintings of Caspar de Crayer, Carlo Cignani, George Desmareés and Joachim Sandrart. Balthasar Ableithner created the statues of Saint Marcus and Saint John. A small chapel contains the tombs of King Max II and his wife. The crypt also contains the Prince’s Tomb, where these members of the Wittelsbach family are interred:
Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria
Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria
Charles VII, Holy Roman Emperor
Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria
Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria
King Maximilian I of Bavaria
King Otto of Greece
Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria
Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria

A stunning colour for a church.

"The church's impressive yellow facade introduces a breath of Italy to Munich. Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, wife of the elector Ferdinand Maria, donated this church to the Italian Order of the Theatines in gratitude for the birth of the long-awaited heir to the throne Prince Max Emanuel. It was built in Baroque style and largely completed by 1688 by the masters Spinelli and Zucalli and received finishing touches in Rococo style by the Cuvilliés, father and son, in 1768. The donator did not live to see the church finished. The church's interior is unusual for Bavarian Churches. It is monumental and full of southern pathos , dominated by the white stucco works of the Italian stucco masters Moretti, Brenni and Perti. The church's high altar, whose gable figures represent dignitaries of the House of Savoy gives further evidence of the Italian influence.

Several members of the House of Wittelsbach have been buried in the Fürstengruft (Royal Sepulchre), amongst those the Elector Ferdinand Maria, his wife Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, their son Max Emanuel, elector Karl Theodor, the Emperor Karl VII, King Max I and King Otto of Greece, as well as Prince Regent Luitpold. Today the church's southern annex, the former monastery of the Theatines, houses the Bavarian State Ministry of Education and Culture."

The Theatinerkirhe Church (Saint Kaethan) is a basilica in style of a high baroque. Kurfurst Ferdinand Maria and his spouse founded church as a token of gratitude for a birth of the long-awaited successor of throne Max Emmanuel. After consecration the church St Kaethan was transferred to Theatinen monks. The construction proceeded till 1663 to 1770.

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Painted a bold naples yellow, this church lends a very Italian feel to Odeonsplatz. While having a similar structure to the nearby St Lukas, with twin dome topped spires flanking a central domed roof, it has a colour and Baroque facade that could have been ripped from any city in Italy. Diagonally opposite the Italianate Hofgarten, and at the beginning of the long, straight and wide boulevard of Ludwigstrasse, it creates an impression that is as much Milan as Munich.

This is the most stunning Church I have ever seen any where in the world.

The interior is from a Baroque style of Southern German architecture that meant everything is over done - you'll see where the influence comes from in many of Italy's bassilica!!

The walls are covered with the most amazing plaster and art work that create a feast for the eyes.

You must get to this Church to understand beauty in a Church.