St. Lukas: Protestant Church on the banks of the Isar River

St. Lukas in Munich: Information, history and importance of the church

The church of St. Lukas (St. Luke's) on the banks of the river Isar, called "Lukaskirche" for short, is one of Munich's most impressive church buildings.

Mariannenplatz 3 , 80538 München

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Umzugsgottesdienst am Sonntag, 21. April

Der letzte Gottesdienst vor dem zweijährigen Umbau des Innenraums von St. Lukas findet am 21. April um 10 Uhr statt. Anschließend pilgern die Pfarrer*innen, der Chor und die Besucher*innen der Messe zu Fuß zur katholischen Kirche St. Jakob am Anger auf dem Jakobsplatz und zelebrieren ein Abendmahl. In der Kirche der Armen Schulschwestern findet die evangelische Gemeinde ihre vorübergehende ökumenische Heimat für die Gottesdienste.

St. Lukas wird für geplante 15 Millionen Euro innen renoviert und auf den neuesten technischen Stand gebracht. Durch das Hauptportal kann man den Baufortschritt verfolgen und einen Blick ins Innere werfen. Das Kirchengeläut wird weiterhin erklingen und auch die Bienen auf dem Glockenturm sammeln weiter Honig.

The most important information

Its location on the west bank of the Isar (between Ludwigsbrücke and Maximiliansbrücke), and its impressive architecture gives the St. Lukas an urban dominance. It is considered the only almost completely preserved Protestant church of historicism in Munich and is worth a visit for several reasons:

St. Luke's dome is 64 meters high; the interior seats nearly 1,500 visitors.
The church is actually located at Mariannenplatz in Lehel, but the main entrance is directly on the Isar cycle path on the western bank of the Isar.
The high altarpiece by Gustav Adolf Goldberg shows the Entombment of Christ.
Church music concerts and other cultural events take place regularly

History of St. Lukas

The church was built between 1893 and 1896 according to plans by Albert Schmidt. It was the third Lutheran parish church in Munich after St. Matthew's and St. Mark's - and was intended to solve the space problems of the rapidly growing Protestant congregation.

The construction was preceded by long debates about the location of the church - which were rooted in the Bavarian ruling house's concern about the supremacy of the Catholic Church in Munich.

St. Luke's survived the Second World War without major destruction and is therefore considered today to be the only largely preserved Protestant church from the Historicist period.