Description of the attraction
The history of the construction of the Church of St. Michael is closely connected with the reign of William V the Pious. During the Counter-Reformation, he allowed the Jesuits to build this church, which became the most significant Renaissance church north of the Alps. The costs of its construction almost led to the bankruptcy of the state. Construction started in 1583 was interrupted by the collapse of one of the towers. In 1597 the church was consecrated.
The three-story facade of the church of St. Michael, divided by powerful horizontals, looks like a town hall. The end forms a sharp triangular pediment. Under the marble portal at the entrance, a bronze statue of the Archangel Michael in the fight against the Evil of the world, created in 1588, "stands on guard". In the niches there are stone statues of the Wittelsbach princes.
Inside the church, under the choir, is the Wittelsbach Royal Crypt, in which, among others, are buried Duke William V, Elector Maximilian and the "fairytale king" Ludwig II. On the north side of the church there is a shrine with the relics of Saints Cosmas and Damian (circa 1400).
