Over the month of December, Erin Giffin visited the Bavarian Holy Houses at Neusäß (in the outskirts of Augsburg), and Türkheim.

The Holy Houses at Neusäß and Türkheim are two of the oldest extant Loretan structures in southern Germany. The Neusäß Holy House, which today doubles as the high altar apse of Kobelkirche, has undergone multiple reconstructions and restorations since its initial 1602 commission by Karl von Langenmantel. The Kobelkirche also contains an ornately decorated chapel [the so-called the Beichtkapelle, or Confessional Chapel], which is directly accessible from the Holy House. Johann Wolfgang Baumgartner decorated the Holy Cross chapel interior in 1758, including a ceiling fresco depicting the Madonna and Child selecting the site of Kobelkirche as a new location for the Santa Casa.

The Türkheim structure is a later commission of the Bavarian Ducal family, attributed to Duke Maximilian Philipp von Bayern and Duchess Mauritia Febronia, consecrated 4 April, 1684. Located along the periphery of a Capuchin monastery, the sacred structure offers a semi-independent devotional interior and reflects the state’s support of local Marian devotion. 

These visits are part of a larger exploration of replicas of the Santa Casa di Loreto across Europe. To find out more, see the research profile “Devotional Translations.”