"A beautiful venue with great acoustics. Ideal for concerts"

Wolfgang Korduletsch

"History of the Holy Spirit Foundation and its Church

In 1347, Urban Gundacker, the wealthy, respected city judge and princely mint master, and his wife Plektraud, with the approval of Prince-Bishop Gottfried von Weisseneck and the cathedral chapter, had a chapel built on the rear street of the Neumarkt square. They provided an annual annuity of 12 pounds of Passau pennies. The chapel was dedicated to the Holy Spirit and Our Lady.
Eleven years later, – the endowment document is dated October 5, 1358 – they founded the Holy Spirit Hospital. The original parchment document with which Prince-Bishop Gottfried confirmed the foundation states that "the new hospital should accommodate 13 poor men, not women, who have left their means and are no longer able to work due to illness." Three of these beneficiaries are said to be priests and celebrate Holy Mass daily in the adjacent church.

The present Holy Spirit Church was likely built soon after this endowment.
Mayor Wenzel Gerhard increased the Gundacker Foundation so significantly that, according to the deed of donation from 1445, the church could be significantly enlarged and almost rebuilt.
The original chapel resembled an old-style hospital, with a rib-vaulted church interior and an adjacent infirmary. The expansion after 1445 added another nave with star-shaped vaults north of the old chapel, as well as the choir. The two naves and generous fenestration are what make this remarkable church special.
Later, the chapel received Baroque furnishings in keeping with contemporary taste. The originally pointed-arched windows were rounded.
With the secularization of 1803, the administration of the foundation passed from the Prince-Bishop to the city. The church remained unchanged for half a century. It was Bishop Heinrich Hofstätter, who held the church particularly dear to his heart, who had it renovated in 1851 and furnished it in the purest Neo-Gothic style. He paid for it out of his own pocket. He placed particular value on stained glass, which he commissioned from Scherer, one of Bavaria's leading workshops. He also had numerous red marble epitaphs brought here from other churches.
Today, it is no longer possible to determine whether, for example, the tracery of the windows belongs to the original building or was a free copy.
One hundred years later, people were completely dissatisfied with the Neo-Gothic style, and the city decided on a thorough renovation in the style of the 1950s. An altarpiece by Passau painter Franz Spann, an organ parapet depicting the Stations of the Cross by the artist Gretli Fuchs, and a new wrought-iron larder gave the space a new character. The organ, removed from the cathedral choir, was installed in the gallery and on the north façade. The mentor of this installation was the cathedral music director, Monsignor Max Tremml.
In 1989, the last service was held in the church, which served as the school church for all surrounding schools, enjoyed great popularity as a place of worship, and was a popular wedding venue.
In 1999, the church was deconsecrated. It is now to be converted into a versatile event space. The non-profit Förderverein Heilig Geist Kirche e.V. (Holy Spirit Church Association) was recently founded to achieve this goal."

Dagmar S.

"A central yet easily accessible venue on the edge of the Fuzo in Passau. Cultural and musical events take place in the former church."

Franz Dietz