The Church of the Holy Spirit in Bern was built between 1726 and 1729 on the ruins of the older Spitalkirche church, which belonged to the Monastery of St. Spirit. Temples had been built on this site since the arrival of Christianity in this land. There are records that show the existence of other churches here from 1228 and 1482. It is also known that during the construction works in 1726, material objects were found to confirm this fact.
The Church of St Spirit was built under the direction of Niklaus Schiltknecht and Daniel Stürler, and with the participation of the Hungarian master John Palus Nader. The building was made of local sandstone. The church can accommodate more than 2,000 parishioners and is one of the largest Protestant churches in the whole of Switzerland.
Only the bell on the new bell tower has survived from the ancient elements of the church. Some historians speculate that the church was part of a monastery before the Reformation, but there is no written evidence of this. Today it is listed among the country's finest examples of Renaissance architecture.
The church building is in the Baroque style. When entering the interior, the arched colonnade immediately catches the eye, which, although visually reduces the interior space, but does not harm the beauty of the interior of the temple. For those times such a circular gallery was a new and unusual element, even more so for a church. On the choirs one can notice a marvellous ornament of stucco.
