Dominating the view across the Isar from the Ludwigsbrücke, St Luke's is the largest Lutheran…read moreChurch in southern Germany and known locally as the "Cathedral of the Munich Protestants", though it is not in fact a cathedral.
Although Munich had had a Protestant community since the Reformation, the Catholic Bavarian monarchs were disinclined to allow them to erect their own churches and their activities were suppressed.
This began to change when, in 1799, Prince-elector Max IV Joseph married a Lutheran princess, Friederike Karoline Wilhelmine. Munich's growth as a trading and manufacturing centre in the 19th Century also saw an increase in the city's population of Lutherans.
Two smaller churches were built, but by the end of the century it was clear a larger building was needed, and construction of St Luke's began in 1893. It was consecrated in 1896.
The building is something of a smorgasbord of architectural styles: the exterior incorporates largely neo-Romanesque motifs, executed in red brick. At first sight, the arrangement of a dome and two west towers seems conventional, but the choice of corner-facing towers is nothing if not eccentric.
Equally eccentric is the choice for Gothic forms for the interior, which takes the shape of a Greek cross with substantial galleries.
The interior is rather a disappointment after the drama of the exterior, and is somewhat bare, save for an impressive altarpiece and pulpit. The church had an extensive and noted scheme of stained glass, but this was lost in World War Two. The church continues as a parish Church and is also a venue for concerts.
