A challenging monument of the Counter-Reformation: Studies on the Planning and Building History of the Jesuit Church of St. Michael in Munich

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Alexander von Kienlin
• Subject Area: Architecture, Building and Construction History, Construction Research, Sustainable Building Technology
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 551025823

The Church of St. Michael in Munich is one of the most important Renaissance buildings north of the Alps and a model for numerous Baroque churches in southern Germany. As the heart of the Munich Jesuit College, the building is the most prominent structural manifestation of the German Counter-Reformation; its planning is associated with the then important southern German master builders Friedrich Sustris and Wendel Dietrich. However, the church and the college share the fate of many prominent buildings, which are well known due to their prominent position, but at the same time are currently only insufficiently researched and documented. Various, sometimes very different, hypotheses about the construction and planning history of the building complex, as well as its authorship, are offset by insufficient (and in important parts incorrect) planning material and archives that have not been systematically recorded. Preliminary investigations and a (provisional) laser scan of the church building by the Technical University of Munich have revealed some significant deviations from the existing floor plans and identified numerous findings that cannot be explained by the previous research hypotheses or even contradict them. The first goal of the project is therefore to create reliable sets of plans for St. Michael, on the basis of which further analyzes of the design and planning are possible. At the same time, all visible findings on the building should be mapped, which can provide information about its planning and construction history. In conjunction with a systematic review and critical presentation of all relevant archives, the ultimate aim is to develop a planning and construction chronology of the church that is as detailed as possible from the laying of the foundation stone up to the 20th century. One methodological goal is to create representative data sets (from raw data to CAD modeling), which, together with the online platform baureka.de, should serve as a new standard.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants