t. Ludwig is the main catholic church of Darmstadt. Its striking dome rises in a prominent position above the city center at the end of the boulevard-like Wilhelminenstrasse. In the vernacular, the Ludwigskirche is also known as Käseglocke or "Kääsglock".
The Ludwigskirche was built between 1822 and 1827 according to plans by Georg Moller as the first Catholic church in Hesse-Darmstadt since the Reformation.
With Article 47 of the Vienna Congress Act, the Grand Duchy of Hesse was assigned additional areas in 1815/16, including Worms, Alzey, Bingen and Mainz, an area that was referred to as Rheinhessen and thus Protestant Darmstadt became the capital of a sovereign state governed by this Territorial gains received numerous Catholic citizens. Grand Duke Ludwig I commissioned his court architect Georg Moller to build a representative church in Darmstadt. The building, which corresponds to a pantheon, was to be dedicated to the spirit of enlightenment and religious tolerance deo uno (to the one God – as was the dedication above the portal until 1944) beyond any denominational narrowness. The Grand Duke provided the building site on the Riedeselberg in an exposed location and considerable amounts of money.
Due to limited financial resources, a central domed building was built instead of the originally planned vaulted basilica, with three colonnades, a raised choir, two towers and a vaulted high vestibule.
On February 19, 1827, on the fiftieth wedding anniversary of Grand Duke Ludwig I and Princess Luise Henriette Karoline of Hesse-Darmstadt, five years after the start of construction, the new church was consecrated. In honor of the Grand Duke, the church was named after St. Named Louis of France. The temple-like and oversized church with an initially very minimalist interior was not accepted by the small Catholic community.
In the fire night of September 11, 1944, St. Ludwig was destroyed down to the outer walls and the colonnade. In 1951 an emergency roofing of the walkway and the altar took place. The reconstruction of the dome was completed in 1955. In the years 1975 to 1977 the destroyed capitals were rebuilt, in the years 1993 to 1995 the dome was re-covered and the exterior was renovated. Only the refurbishment of the interior and sanctuary from 2002 to 2005 brought the festive splendor back to the classical basic idea.
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