Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The Lutherkirche is the reconstruction of an Evangelical Lutheran church in 1883-1884 and named Luther on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the reformer.

Magdeburg Cathedral is a symbol of the city. It is the oldest gothic cathedral completed on German soil. It was built in 1207 or 1209 as a cathedral of the Archdiocese of Magdeburg and consecrated in 1363. The cathedral is a funerary church of Otto the Great.

The St. Nicholas Church is the ruin of an old Lutheran church. It is now a memorial dedicated to "the victims of war and tyranny between 1933 and 1945". The building was built from 1195 to 1874, a long process due mainly to the height of the spire.

St. Martin's Cathedral in Mainz was founded in 975 by Archbishop Willigis, who was also Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire. As the most powerful man in the Church after the Pope, Willigis demanded the construction of a church of impressive size, which was consecrated in 1009. On the day of his consecration, however, it was destroyed by fire. The new building was completed in 1036. After another fire in 1081, it was rebuilt under Emperor Henry IV (1084-1105). It was only much later that Gothic and Baroque additions were made. From 1872 to 1877, the cathedral was restored under the direction of P.J.H. Cuypers. The cathedral, together with the cathedral churches of Speyer and Worms, is a highlight of Romanesque architecture along the Rhine. These three churches are collectively called the Kaiserdome.

The Margrethausen Monastery is a former Franciscan monastery founded in 1338 by the local lord Conrad von Tierberg. During the Thirty Years' War, the village and the monastery church were largely destroyed. The monastery church was rebuilt as early as 1707 and the consecration of the new monastery building took place in 1723, so that monastic life could continue. The monastery was dissolved in 1811 and the monastery buildings were then used as a school, teachers' residence and for local administration. Of the four former wings of the monastery, only the east wing, which directly adjoins the parish church, remains today.

The pilgrimage church of Maria Hilf was founded in 1984 as a chapel of the Capuchin monastery of Neumarkt. Due to the popularity of the chapel as a pilgrimage destination, a baroque church was built on the site from 1718 to 1727, its tower was completed later in 1757. After a period of decline in the 19th century due to the departure of the Capuchins in 1802, the church was restored as a place of pilgrimage by the Carmelites who founded a monastery nearby in 1907.

Maria Regina Martyrum is a Roman Catholic built in 1960-1963. The church was conceived as a tribute to the martyrs of the freedom of belief and conscience of the years 1933-1945. It is located near the place of execution of Nazi resistance fighters and opponents in Plötzensee prison, today the memorial Gedenkstätte Plötzensee.

The Maria-und-Martha-Kirche was first mentioned in 1359 in what is now Steinstraße. In 1382, its name appears in connection with a Maria-Martha hospital. The hospital and the church were destroyed by fire several times, in 1488, 1620 and 1686. During the strong growth of the city towards the east from about 1870, the old church was demolished and it was decided to build a new one. Between 1888 and 1891, the new Maria-und-Martha-Kirche was built as a catechism and garrison church in neo-Gothic style according to the plans of the Dresden architect Christian Schramm.

The pilgrimage church Mariahilf in Passau was built in 1624-1627 and houses a painting of the Virgin Mary, made in 1620 by the artist Pius of Passau. When Vienna was besieged by the Turks in 1683, Leopold I fled to Passau. The imperial couple prayed daily for victory over the Turks in front of the painting. After the Turkish defeat in Vienna, the Mariahilf of Passau became an icon of the Habsburg monarchy.

The Marienkirche was erected in the first half of the 13th century. It is a building of Romanesque-Gothic transition, as the building simultaneously combines late Romanesque and early Gothic building forms. Between 1876 and 1879, a major exterior and interior renovation took place. In 1934, during the renovation work, the few frescoes in the choir were rediscovered and brought to light, which had not been destroyed during the renovation in the 19th century.