The Jesuit Church Of St. Micheal In Passau

In the shadows of the Stephan's Cathedral is St. Michael, the former Jesuit Church, situated on the bank of the Inn river. It was probably constructed with twin baroque-styled towers by Pietro Francesco and Carlo Antonio Carlone, the architects of St. Stephan's Cathedral, between 1670 and 1677. After a complaint by the Bishop, who wished to preserve the architectural dominance of the cathedral, this Jesuit church ended up less ostentatious than originally planned. Weber made this sketch of the church in 1983.

The interior stucco work, created by Giovanni Battista Carlone and his workshop, is reminiscent of the cathedral. Most notable of the furnishings is the high altar done by the Jesuit architect from Breslau Father Christoph Tausch, in 1712, with an altarpainting by Carlos Innocenzo Carlone in 1714. The black and gold side alters were completed by the local artists, Johann Seitz and Matthias Högenwald from Passau in 1678. Other paintings in the church are the works of Johann Spillenberger, Frans de Neve, Bartolomeo Altomonte and others. The splendid pulpit completed in 1715 is presumably the work of Jospeph Matthias Götz. The casing for the organ was carved by Joseph Hartmann in 1715. The seminary buildings now house the Catholic theological faculty of the university. On the southern wall of the church is the chapel dedicated to Franz-Xaverius decorated uniformly in the style of Early-Rokoko in 1725.

East of the complex is the massive seminar building complex of the former Jesuit college. It is separated into three buildings. The former monastery building is currently a Humanistisches Gymnasium,a college preparatory school with emphasis on the Classics. It was founded in 1612 and has a number of rooms decorated with stucco from the 17th and 18th century. The "Old School Building" which was renovated in 1912 to the current Philosophy and Theology Department of the university. It has an observatory tower. The third building "Seminary" is the old trade school with its cloistered walk. There is the State Library which evolved from the former Jesuit library between the Gymnasium and Observatory. The main reading room is decorated in stucco from 1725. The library has valuable manuscripts (Vornbach Bible of 1421), a coin collection and incunabulum dating back to the 15th century.

Link (here)