St. Michael in Berg am Laim is a church in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

, southern Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, built from 1738 to 1751 by Johann Michael Fischer

Johann Michael Fischer

Johann Michael Fischer was a German architect in the late Baroque period....

 as Court Church for Prince Archbishop Clemens August of Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

, a son of the Bavarian Elector Maximinial Emmanuel

Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria

Maximilian II , also known as Max Emanuel or Maximilian Emanuel, was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and an elector of the Holy Roman Empire. He was also the last Governor of the Spanish Netherlands and duke of Luxembourg...

. It was also served by a Brotherhood of St. Michael the Archangel. This Catholic church is one of the chief works of the Bavarian 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...

 period.

Architecture

The elegant facade with its twin towers provides a strong vertical accent was designed as the terminal feature of a street to the inner city which was never built.

Large round-headed arches divide the interior of the church in different sections. The central space is decorated by pilasters and columns and the corners are rounded off by several niches. The stucco and frescoes were created by Johann Baptist Zimmermann

Johann Baptist Zimmermann

Johann Baptist Zimmermann was a German painter and a prime stucco plasterer during the Baroque.Zimmermann was born in Gaispoint, Wessobrunn. He and his brother Dominikus Zimmermann were descended from an artist family of the Wessobrunner School...

 in 1743, the altars were constructed by Johann Baptist Straub

Johann Baptist Straub

Johann Baptist Straub was a German Rococo sculptor.-Biography:Straub was born in Wiesensteig, into a family of sculptors. His father Johann George Straub and his brothers Philipp Jakob, Joseph, and Johann Georg Straub were also sculptors, as was his nephew Franz Xaver Messerschmidt. J. B...

. The gilded figures on either side of the tabernacle are a contribution of Ignaz Günther

Ignaz Günther

Ignaz Günther was a German sculptor and woodcarver working in the Bavarian rococo tradition.He was born in Altmannstein, Germany, where he received his earliest training from his father, then studied in Munich under the court sculptor Johann Baptist Straub from 1743 to 1750 and during his...

.

See also

• Saint Michael (Roman Catholic)