St. Ann's Church in Augsburg

Augsburg

Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...

, Germany is an historic church building that was built as a monastery in 1321.

History

St. Anne's was built in 1321 by Carmelite monks. In 1518 Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...

 stayed there with the Carmelite friars when he was staying in Augsburg to meet the papal legate, Cardinal Cajetan, who wanted Luther to submit to the pope

Pope

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...

. The church converted to Lutheranism

Lutheranism

Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...

 in 1545. The Goldsmith's Chapel was added in 1420, the Fugger's Chapel in 1509. The spire was added in 1607 by Elias Holl.

The building

The church ceiling is decorated with Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

 and Rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

 stuccowork, with frescoes by Johann Georg Bergmüller

Johann Georg Bergmüller

Johann Georg Bergmüller was an important painter, particularly of frescoes, of the Baroque.- Life :Bergmüller was born in Türkheim near Buchloe and received his first artistic education at his father's cabinet making workshop. From 1702 until 1708 he was apprentice to court painter Johann Andreas...

. The Goldsmith's Chapel (Goldschmiedkapelle) was donated in 1420 by Conrad and Afra Hirn.

The Fugger chapel, which is the burial chapel of the Fuggers, is the earliest example of Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...

 in Germany. It was endowed in 1509 by Ulrich and Jacob Fugger. Among the features are a marble pavement, an organ with painted shutters, stained glass, choir stalls, a sculptural group of the Lamentation of Christ

Lamentation of Christ

350px|thumb|Lamentation by [[Giotto di Bondone]] in the [[Scrovegni Chapel]]The Lamentation of Christ is a very common subject in Christian art from the High Middle Ages to the Baroque. After Jesus was crucified, his body was removed from the cross and his friends and family mourned over his body...

 and memorial relief tablets in the style of Dürer

Albrecht Dürer

Albrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker, engraver, mathematician, and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...

.