Klostergebäude

The Paulanerkirche stood in Munich’s Au district as a Baroque monastery church. Hans Krumpper built it between 1621 and 1623 in early Baroque style and regarded it as his masterwork. The church was dedicated to Saint Charles Borromeus in 1625 after funds from the elector’s wife. In 1627 the Paulaner monks took over the site and enlarged the monastery with a new wing funded by Elector Ferdinand Maria in 1660. Michael Wening’s 1702 copperplate shows the completed complex. The church served as the parish church for the Au while the Paulaners ran parish care. After the monastery was dissolved in 1799 it became a military hospital, then a prison. A fire in 1885 destroyed all interior furnishings, and in 1902 the building was converted into a courthouse. Today the former nave is marked by lighter paving stones in the courtyard of the Munich district office. Visitors find the courtyard outline where the church once stood, with a simple pattern of lighter stones against the darker pavement. The nearby Paulaner brewery still carries the name of the old monastery. The Mariahilfplatz location keeps the memory of the church alive in the daily life of the district.