Founded in 1019, the Romanesque church was rebuilt twice in the Gothic era, and then in the Baroque style at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1944 it was very badly damaged by the bombing, and after the war it was restored by Dominik Boehm (the largest German architect of religious buildings of the first half of the 20th century, the father of Gottfried Boehm), but his restrained but expressive design was by the beginning of the 21st century. heavily distorted by later layers.
In 2007, the church community got rid of most of the unnecessary details during the "visual fast" (art project Void), but the structure itself also needed updating, and the parishioners invited John Pawson, the author of one of the remarkable religious buildings of the early 21st century, to cooperate. -
monastery Novi Dvur in the Czech Republic.
Like the Czech project, Pawson chose white for St. Moritz: this austerity, according to the customers, emphasizes the high purpose of the church against the background of the now widespread "cozy" temples. The floor is lined with slabs of light beige Portuguese limestone, and the altar is also made of it. The choir windows are covered with thin onyx plates glued to the glass: diffused light penetrates through them.
At night, the interior is illuminated by LEDs installed in the apse, at the base of the nave columns and in the domes.
The dark stained wood benches contrast with the light interior. The baroque past of the church is reminiscent of complex-shaped windows and sculptures by prominent masters of the 17th century. Georg Petel and Ergott Bernhard Bendl: these expressive statues look very different in the renovated ideal space of the church than they once did in the lavishly decorated interior.