Theatinerkirche St Cajetan

Destination Munich > Attractions > Old Town (north side)

I like mustard on my sausages, my chips and my toasted ham and cheese sandwiches. After seeing the Theatinerkirche, I like it on my churches too. This magnificent late-rococo designed church defines Odeonsplatz and brings a great deal of Italian flair.

This has got to be my favourite church in the city, just for the incredible detail of the interior and the sheer presence it has on the space around it.

With thanks to above
Prince Elector Ferdinand Maria and his wife Henriette Adelaide funded the church as thanks to the big guy upstairs for giving them a son, heir to the throne Max Emmanuel.  Work started shortly after he arrived in 1662 and when completed in 1690 the church became the headquarters of the Italian Order of Theatiner monks.
Inside it’s a wash of white.  But unlike the similarly pale Frauenkirche here there’s an explosion of intricate rococo decoration.  Angels, stuccos, flourishes and flowers garnish the walls, starkly contrasting the deep black pulpit.

Over and under the altar
The high alter holds a fresco from Caspar de Crayer (1646) showing a throned Mother Mary above an assortment of babies and holy men. Leading luminaries of Bavaria’s ruling Wittlesbach clan are buried under the high alter in the Fürstengruft, among them Prince Elector Karl Theodor, King Max II, King Otto of Greece and Crown Prince Rupprecht.

Birth and rebirth
Italian architects Aostino Barelli, Enrico Zuccalli and Munich rococo master Francois de Cuvilliés all had hands in designing the church.  Zucalli added the twin 70m towers almost as an afterthought to complement the green dome of the cupola, which rises above the church’s “crossing” section in the middle.  Parts of the church including the high altar were bombed in World War Two and rebuilt through the 1950s.

The Details