Collegiate Church

The origins of the collegiate church date back to the 13th century, when it existed as the parish church of St. Giles. Palatine Count Rudolf II stipulated in his will that the church should be transformed into a memorial site for the House of Wittelsbach and that he wished to be buried there. After his death in 1353, he was laid to rest in the altar area of the church. His successor, Elector Ruprecht I, founded the Liebfrauen Collegiate Monastery of Neustadt in 1356, fulfilling his brother's wish for a place of prayer and remembrance for the family. He had the Romanesque parish church extended with a magnificent Gothic choir, the construction of which began in 1368. A new nave with a paradise and two church towers were also erected. The church was consecrated to St. Mary, with St. Giles remaining as a secondary patron. The canons were tasked with praying daily for the House of Wittelsbach and celebrating masses. Elector Ruprecht I and his wife Beatrix von Berg were also buried in the new choir. With the introduction of the Reformation by Elector Ottheinrich in 1556, the monastery was dissolved in 1566, and the church passed to the Protestant parish. After a period of changing denominations and the re-admission of the Catholic faith, the collegiate church was used simultaneously from 1698. A Palatine religious declaration of 1705 led to the erection of a partition wall, allocating the choir to the Catholics and the nave to the Protestants.

The collegiate church is located in the center of Neustadt an der Weinstraße in Rhineland-Pfalz, Germany. Its choir is conventionally oriented to the east, closing off the medieval market square to the north towards Kartoffelmarkt.

Today, the collegiate church serves as a divided place of worship, utilized by both Catholic and Protestant communities, and is protected as a cultural monument.

• Winzingen Castle Ruin (castle, approx. 809 m away)
• Haardt Castle (castle, approx. 887 m away)
• Wolfsburg Castle Ruin (castle, approx. 2152 m away)
• Heidenburg Castle Remains (castle, approx. 2281 m away)