University Church of the Blessed Name of Jesus

The Church of the Name of Jesus in Breslau, now the University Church – a Baroque church, built by the Jesuits between 1689 and 1698, and work on its furnishings and decoration continued for another almost 40 years until the end of 1734. The designer of the church was the Italian architect Teodor Moretti, and the construction was entrusted to Matthew Biener and Jan Knoll (after Biener’s death in 1692, Knoll was the sole manager of the construction).

The church was consecrated on 30 July 1698, but it was not until 1700 that the west façade was completed, and between 1703 and 1706 Johann Michael Rottmayr painted a series of illusionist frescoes on the walls and vaults of the church. In the fresco of the nave, Rottmayr’s self-portrait is among numerous figures of saints and Austrian emperors of the time.

From 1722 to 1734, the sculptural decoration of the church was carried out under the direction of Krystof Tausch, and included stucco work, pilasters, cornices, the pulpit, sculptures, as well as the pews, confessionals, candelabra and candlesticks, some of which have been preserved to this day. The monumental main altar, completed in 1726, was designed by Tausch himself, who also painted the altar painting depicting the circumcision of Jesus in 1725. The Passion altar of 1725 in the Chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows was also created by Tausch.

The sculptures of the pulpit (1727-1728) and some of the sculptures of the saints at the entrance to the presbytery (1726) are the work of the well-known Silesian sculptor Mangoldt, while the rest of the sculptures mentioned are the work of another famous sculptor, Siegwitz, who is also the author of two richly decorated confessionals.