Church of the Holy Spirit, Heidelberg, Gothic church at Market Square, Heidelberg, Germany.

The Church of the Holy Spirit is a Gothic hall church built of red Neckar valley sandstone, standing on Heidelberg's marketplace with its choir apse facing the square. A steep dark slate roof covers a nave whose tall pointed windows are separated by buttresses, and a square west tower carries a clock face, a baroque hood and a small cupola. Inside, a triumphal arch separates the nave from the brighter choir.

The present church is the third on the site: a 1239 chapel was replaced around 1300, and Elector Ruprecht III began the Gothic building in 1398, with the choir consecrated in 1411 and the nave finished in 1441. French troops set it on fire on 22 May 1693 during the Palatine War of Succession, destroying the tower, which was rebuilt in Baroque form in 1709.

The church's name comes from its 1239 predecessor, a chapel dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Its door once served as the university's notice board, and the Heidelberg Catechism was commissioned under Elector Friedrich III, who made the church Calvinist. A 15th-century ceiling painting in the nave shows eight angels playing instruments; restorer Harry MacLean added a bassoon to one of them in the 1950s.

The church is open to visitors on most days but functions as an active place of worship, so hours may change depending on services and events. Checking ahead before your visit helps you find the best time to explore the architecture without disrupting congregational activities.

The dividing wall stood from 1706 to 1936, not continuously: it was torn down in 1719 on the orders of Elector Karl III Philipp, whose soldiers occupied the church, then rebuilt under political pressure, removed again in 1886 and restored during the Kulturkampf before its final removal on 24 June 1936. The nave was Protestant, the choir Catholic.