Holy Cross, Gothic parish church in Forstenried, Munich, Germany

Holy Cross is a late Gothic parish church in Forstenried, Munich, with a nave under a saddle roof and a recessed choir under a hipped roof, supported outside by buttresses. Its tower, square below and octagonal above, carries an onion dome. Inside, a richly stuccoed barrel vault with pointed ends replaces the original ribbed vault, and the high altar of 1611 frames the Romanesque Forstenried Crucifix.

A chapel dedicated to Saint Bartholomew stood here by the 12th century; Forstenried gained parish rights in 1194. The present late Gothic church was built in the second third of the 15th century, and the name Heilig Kreuz is documented from 1524. Kaspar Zuccalli remodelled it in Baroque style in 1672, and the tower was raised and given its onion dome in the first third of the 17th century.

The name Heilig Kreuz means Holy Cross, and the church's main treasure is the Forstenrieder Kruzifix, a Romanesque crucifix painted in Byzantine style around 1200. Pilgrims still follow the old route marked by wayside crosses at the edge of Forstenried, and the church's north entrance was replaced by a south entrance after 1803.

The church stands slightly set back from Forstenrieder Allee in Forstenried's old village core, opposite Gasthof Alter Wirt and next to the rectory and Forsthaus. The surrounding churchyard is a listed ensemble. The main entrance is on the south side, not the north as in pilgrimage times.

The Forstenrieder Kruzifix, a Romanesque crucifix painted in Byzantine style around 1200, is one of the earliest in German-speaking lands to show both feet of Christ fixed with a single nail. It is set into the high altar of 1611, flanked by figures of Saint Helena and the Apostle Bartholomew.