The Münster St. Johannes (or simply Johanneskirche) is a Gothic hall church and the most important and largest church in Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz. As a Catholic church, it belongs to the deanery of Neumarkt and thus to the diocese of Eichstätt. The church is dedicated to John the Baptist and celebrates its patron saint on June 24th. The 72 meter high tower characterizes the silhouette of the old town. On June 24, 2015, St. John was elevated to the rank of Minster
The construction of the Johanneskirche as a Catholic place of worship, like the construction of the Hofkirche and the Residenz, fell into the reign of Count Palatine Johann, who resided in Neumarkt from 1410 to 1443. Exact data on the construction time or even the master builder are not known, but there are some clues:
A dendrochronological determination of the age of the beams of the roof truss suggests that these trees were probably felled in the winter of 1406/1407
Franz Seraph Seel, who headed the Johanneskirche from 1853 to 1874, tried very hard to reconstruct the history of the church. He states that the foundation stone was laid in 1404 and it was completed in 1432.
The construction was therefore started before Johann moved into Neumarkt. However, it is obvious that the Count Palatine, known as the master builder, also promoted the construction of the Johanneskirche considerably.
The construction and shape of the church give reason to assume that two master builders (probably one after the other) managed the construction. One designed the western half of the church with the tower in a rather dainty and sober manner and was also based on the previous building. The tower in particular bears a striking resemblance to the towers of Nuremberg's Lorenzkirche. The second master builder was then responsible for the east half with the choir room, which is designed much more elegantly and magnificently.
After its completion, the Johanneskirche had 12 altars, a tabernacle and an organ. It was decorated with numerous paintings, stained glass windows and sculptures.
The catholic Neumarkter Bürgerkirche, dedicated to John the Baptist, the largest and most important church in the city, was promoted to a cathedral in 2015 due to its central pastoral position - a special honor.
The late-Gothic hall church (built 1404-1434) does not open onto the market square, but onto the opposite small church square with the beautiful baroque vicarage. It impresses with the Romanesque baptismal font (1230), the late Gothic Madonna in a halo, a Gothic body of Christ and the Gothic picture panels (1478) in the Marienkapelle. The greatest treasure of the church, however, is a copy of the famous Grünewald "Isenheimer Altar", created around 1512-1515. The copy, made between 1975 and 1985 by the brothers Steff and Cornelius Menzel from Göppingen, shows the three sides "The Crucifixion of Light", "The Growth of Light" and "Holy Models". The sandstone ashlar building of the church - one of the first late Gothic hall churches in Germany - is towered over by the highest tower in the diocese of Eichstätt, at 72 metres.