Maria-Schnee-Kapelle, church building in Regensburg, Upper Palatinate, Germany

The Maria-Schnee-Kapelle is a small chapel in Regensburg with a simple baroque design featuring a modest tower and a high colored-glass window. The interior consists of a single room with a barrel-vaulted ceiling, an altar from the late 18th century, and a collection of religious paintings and statues including representations of the Holy Family and angels.

A foundation by auxiliary bishop Gottfried Langwerth von Simmern in 1730 funded an orphanage built in 1731; the chapel was installed in 1734, possibly designed by Linz architect Johann Michael Prunner. In 1789 auxiliary bishop Anton Freiherr von Schneid consecrated it to Maria Schnee. In 1853 the orphanage moved to the Ostengasse, and the Bischof-Wittmann-Stiftung took over the buildings.

The chapel's name refers to the Roman basilica Santa Maria Maggiore, where, according to tradition, snow fell in August. The former baroque painting on the east altar was a copy of the venerated image there; it was replaced between 1965 and 1975 and is now considered lost. Since then, Mass in the extraordinary form of the Roman rite has been celebrated here regularly.

The chapel sits at the corner of Prinzenweg and Heiliggeistgasse in Regensburg's eastern old town, its small tower and seamless join with the neighbouring building making it easy to miss from a distance. A two-winged oak portal on the Prinzenweg side opens into the single-nave interior; opposite the entrance door a passage leads to the stairwell of the adjacent Bischof-Wittmann-Haus. Services in the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite are held here regularly.

The ceiling paintings' painter is unknown; Martin Speer and Otto Gebhardt, court painter to the Prince-Bishop of Regensburg, are candidates. The south painting shows Fides with cross, chalice and host, and Spes with anchor and lily branch; the north shows Pietas with a flaming heart and Caritas with two children, centred on a wooden dove for the Holy Spirit.