Schlosskirche

In the location's words:

The castle church "St. Maria von den Engeln" can be considered one of the most beautiful churches in western Germany from the Baroque period. On the outside, the single-nave church is characterized by simple late Gothic style and a simple ridge turret. The interior reveals the radiant splendor of the Baroque period. Built by Elector Hermann IV of Hesse and consecrated on 8 December 1493, St. Mary of the Angels served as a monastery church for the Franciscan order based here until secularization in 1802. It is entrusted to Mary, the Mother of God, as its patron saint. The added designation "of the angels" goes back to the church of St. Mary of the Angels near Assisi, the nucleus of the Franciscan order.

Under Clemens August, Elector of Cologne from the House of Wittelsbach, the church was remodeled in the first half of the 18th century. An oratory was added to the choir and connected to the palace by an orangery. A simple Gothic religious church was transformed into a magnificent court and palace church in the Rococo style. It was given an ornate wrought-iron grille separating the monks' room from the lay room, two side altars and a pulpit. The showpiece was a double-sided main altar designed by Balthasar Neumann, which can probably be regarded as the most magnificent canopy altar in the Rhineland. It consists of two main parts, the actual altar and the canopy crowning it. Both parts are made of wood, covered in colored stucco marble and partially gilded. The altar has a front and a rear mensa so that two masses could be said at the same time: at the front for the monks and the people, and at the back for Clemens August and his entourage, who could follow the proceedings from the oratory.

A magnificent round mirror in the middle of the altar structure is adorned with an equilateral triangle in its center, symbolizing the eye of God. The mirror also had a very practical function: it covered a wall opening (now bricked up) in the upper oratory. A tilting mechanism allowed the mirror to be adjusted so that Elector Clemens August could follow the mass being said at the altar at the back.

With the secularization in 1802, the church and the Franciscan monastery became the property of the French state. In 1807, the church was once again handed over to the parish and was used as a branch church of the parish of St. Margaret. On December 28, 1944, it was hit by two bombs and largely destroyed. Restoration work began in 1949, culminating in its reopening on December 8, 1953 and its elevation as a rectorate church. In 1961, the first mass was celebrated at the rebuilt high altar. The restoration work was completed with the restoration of the former side altars in 1999. In the meantime, in 1958, the rectorate had become a parish and St. Mary of the Angels a parish church. Today, the church shines in its former glory and impresses with its picturesque spatial effect, just as it did in Clemens August's time.