Elisabethkirche

St. Elisabeth Church on Jakobsplatz in Nuremberg is a Roman Catholic parish church with an eventful history. In 1209, a commandery of the Teutonic Order was founded on this site, including a hospital and a small chapel dedicated to St. Elizabeth of Thuringia. After the Reformation, it remained the only Catholic church in the Protestant imperial city. When the Gothic predecessor church became too small in the late 17th century, negotiations for a new building began in 1718 and were not successfully concluded until 1780. In 1784, the old building was torn down to make room for a new, larger house of worship.

The construction of today's neoclassical building was marked by numerous changes of architect, since the original plans were considered too costly. Wilhelm Ferdinand Lipper eventually took over the project, but he too died before its completion. After the commandery was secularized in 1806, construction stalled until the Archdiocese of Bamberg acquired the property. The church was not finished until 1903, 118 years after the foundation stone was laid. The architecture is divided into three spaces: a square entrance area, a central rotunda with a dome 50 meters (164 feet) high, and a choir. Forty red columns give structure to the interior and lend each area its own distinct character.

Inside the church, you will find a mix of classical and modern art. The entrance area holds a baptismal font and a relief sculpture by the artist Kiki Smith. The central domed space houses four altars and a white marble altar for celebrating Mass, beneath which a relic of St. Elizabeth is set. The choir is dominated by a stone Crucifixion group. The crypt beneath the entrance area has a special atmosphere: it is done in reddish sandstone and stands out for its permanent exhibition of the Eucharist and sculptural works by Heinrich Schreiber and Luis Rauschhuber. The organ, built in 1903, is the oldest original organ in Nuremberg that has been preserved and contributes to the acoustics of the services.