Jesuit Church

The Jesuit Church in Mannheim stands on the city’s Paradeplatz as a late-Baroque landmark begun in 1733 and finished in 1760. Its twin red-sandstone towers rise 75 metres and frame a dome adorned by Paul Egell’s Pheme figure. The church was built for the electors Charles Philip III and Charles Theodore to designs by Alessandro Galli da Bibiena. During the Second World War British and American air raids destroyed the choir and dome, yet post-war reconstruction reused original parts. It was consecrated to St Ignatius of Loyola and St Francis Xavier by the Prince Bishop of Augsburg in 1760. Inside, marble pilasters and Egid Quirin Asam’s frescoes cover more than 400 square metres of nave ceiling. The crossing holds four frescoes by Philip Jerome Brinckmann representing the continents. Peter Anton von Verschaffelt carved the marble high altar and side altars, while the 1747 Crowned Silver Madonna by Joseph Ignaz Saler remains the church’s most important sculpture. Two organs survive from the 18th century, one rebuilt after war damage, the other transferred from Heidelberg’s Carmelite convent. The rebuilt sanctuary now includes Klaus Ringwald’s modern silver-and-bronze altar and a new marble floor with names of Jesuits buried below. Outside, the eight Baroque bells are split between the two towers, the largest pair in the north-west tower. The church’s lobby displays wrought-iron gates by Philip Reinhard Sieber and monuments from the 1906 city anniversary. Among notable clergy who served here are Archbishop Johann Baptist Orbin and long-serving rector Joseph Bauer, who became an honorary citizen. The building remains rich in Baroque art, with side altars, confessionals and frescoes restored or preserved after the war.