Heiligen-Geist-Kirche: A Late Baroque Parish Church in Essing, Germany
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.7
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- Duchy of Bavaria, Electorate of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page14 sections
History
Heiligen-Geist-Kirche is a Catholic parish church in Essing, Germany, dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Built in the early eighteenth century in the late Baroque period, it developed from a Gothic collegiate church associated with the Neuessing collegiate foundation.
Medieval collegiate foundation
The medieval predecessor belonged to the Neuessing collegiate foundation, established in 1367 by Ulrich the Elder of Abensberg and his sons. A collegiate foundation was a religious institution served by a community of canons rather than monks, and its collegiate church served as the institution’s principal church. An infirmary connected with the foundation provided care for sick members or dependants.
The church’s later decoration preserved the memory of this foundation. Among the subjects represented in the nave is its establishment in 1367, linking the eighteenth-century building with the institution that had shaped the religious history of Essing since the fourteenth century.
War damage and eighteenth-century rebuilding
The Gothic predecessor was heavily damaged during the Thirty Years’ War, the major European religious and political conflict fought from 1618 to 1648. It was restored in 1660 and 1661, but substantial renewal followed in the next century.
The nave was renewed in 1711, while the choir was renewed in 1717. The core of the choir remained Gothic during this work. Both building phases are attributed to Joseph Bader of Rohr in Lower Bavaria, who also executed the church’s stucco decoration. Johann Valentin Reischl of Waldmünchen painted the ceiling of the nave in 1711 and that of the choir in 1717.
The former collegiate building on the west side of the church now serves as the parish residence. Heiligen-Geist-Kirche remains a protected architectural monument in Bavaria.
Remains
Exterior and spatial arrangement
Facade and tower
The west facade is crowned by a square gable turret that changes to an octagonal upper section and ends in an onion dome. A building inscription survives above the north portal of the nave. On the west side, the former collegiate building remains physically associated with the church and is used as the parish residence.
Nave and choir
The church has a single nave covered by a barrel vault with lunettes, curved openings cut into the vault above the windows. Flat wall piers with pilaster strips divide the interior. Their Corinthian stucco capitals support substantial entablature sections with several moulded layers. A west gallery carries the organ.
The short choir is set back from the nave and ends in a five-eighths termination, an arrangement in which the eastern end forms five sides of an imagined octagon. Its surviving structure incorporates the Gothic core retained during the 1717 rebuilding.
Stucco and ceiling paintings
Nave decoration
The 1711 stucco decoration of the nave follows the Wessobrunn school, a German Baroque tradition known for elaborate foliage and ornamental plasterwork. Broad acanthus scrolls surround the tall, round-arched windows. Large ceiling paintings are enclosed by stucco foliage and flower friezes, while smaller scenes occupy stucco panels decorated with angels’ heads and leaf scrolls. The gallery parapet also carries substantial acanthus ornament.
The large nave paintings portray the miracle of Pentecost and the foundation of the Neuessing collegiate foundation in 1367. In the foundation scene, Count Ulrich holds the foundation charter and Pope Innocent VI holds the papal confirmation. Innocent VI, who reigned from 1352 to 1362, had died before the foundation was established. Smaller paintings show episodes from the lives of Mary and Jesus, including the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, and Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan.
Choir decoration
The stucco in the choir and on the chancel arch belongs to the 1717 alteration phase. Its finer leaf scrolls are associated with the Régence style, an early eighteenth-century decorative manner that preceded and helped develop the Rococo. The choir ceiling fresco shows the sign of Yahweh surrounded by angels.
Monochrome grisaille paintings, also called camaieu, represent churches placed under the authority of the Essing collegiate foundation. The series includes the churches of Au, Lobsing, Eggersperg, Sindlbach, and Groppenhofen.
Altars and pulpit
High altar
The high altar dates from 1717 and was made by the Eichstätt carpenter Jakob Bochler. Its altarpiece, painted by Johann Gebhard in 1710, depicts the Coronation of Mary, a Christian devotional subject showing Mary being crowned in heaven. The apostles Peter and Paul stand at the sides of the central image.
Side altars
Johann Gebhard also painted the altarpieces of the side altars in 1711. The north altar depicts the Annunciation and includes Saint Catherine in its upper section. The south altar is dedicated to Saint Leonard of Limoges and has Saint Barbara in its upper section.
Pulpit
The pulpit was made in 1711, with its figures created by Ulrich Voraus. It forms part of the church’s surviving ensemble of early eighteenth-century furnishings and decoration.
