Holy Trinity Church, Kappl

Holy Trinity Church at Kappl stands at 599 m in a hollow between the Glasberg and Dietzenberg hills near Waldsassen and is one of the most unusual church buildings in Germany. The architect Georg Dientzenhofer translated the Holy Trinity into architecture here: almost everything comes in threes. From afar you can make out its three towers with their onion domes.

History

The church stands on former land of the Cistercian abbey of Waldsassen. A wooden chapel is said to have been built under Abbot Daniel in the 12th century for an image of the Trinity regarded as miraculous. Wars and the dissolution of the abbey brought repeated destruction. After the abbey was restored, Georg Dientzenhofer, who also led the building of the abbey in Waldsassen, designed the present church. It was built 1685–1689; Dientzenhofer died shortly before it was finished. It was only consecrated in 1711. A fire in 1880 destroyed the Baroque frescoes and the bells.

What to see

• Exterior: a centrally planned building with three towers and three roof turrets, all with onion domes.
• Interior: three apses are arranged around an imaginary equilateral triangle, topped by three half-domes, with three columns in the corners. In total there are three times three altars.
• Ceiling paintings: by Oskar Martin-Amorbach, 1934–1940, in imitation Baroque style. The depiction of Wehrmacht soldiers as Good Samaritans is controversial.
• Organ: built 1734–1738 by four Bohemian organ builders, with twice 333 pipes; the case and gallery also play on the number three. It was rededicated in 2020 after restoration.

Tripto tips

The church itself takes 30 to 60 minutes. Combine it with the abbey basilica and library in Waldsassen, just a few kilometres away. Service times and tour dates are on the parish website. Keep quiet during Mass; the church is still a place of pilgrimage, especially on Trinity Sunday.