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the church of the holy spirit is the most famous church in heidelberg , germany . it stands in the middle of the marketplace in the old center of heidelberg not far from the heidelberg castle . the steeple of the church , rising above the roofs , dominates the township . the church of the holy spirit is first mentioned in a manuscript from 1239 . in 1398 , the foundations of the current late gothic church were laid on the site of a late romanesque basilica which , in turn , had been erected in the place of even an older church . thus the current church is the third sacral building on the site . documents name arnold rype , who was also mayor of heidelberg for a time , as the master builder . in the usage of the time , the term " master builder " referred not to the architect but the financial coordinator . the only known architects of the church of the holy spirit are hans marx , who worked on the church until 1426 as well as jorg , who was responsible until 1439 . both men probably supervised work on the nave . under the reign of prince elector frederick i a notes specialist in the construction of church towers , nicklaus eseler came from mainz to heidelberg and was probably responsible for the execution of the primary work on the spire of the church of the holy spirit . nevertheless , the steeple was completed by lorenz lechler . the construction lasted for some one hundred and fifty years . the choir was consecrated in 1411 and the nave was finished in 1441 . probably in the same year the construction of the steeple was started . the work was interrupted until 1508 and the tower was finished in 1544 . in 1709 , after the church had been set on fire by the french during the war of the Palatinate succession , it was rebuilt and received a baroque spire . in the 14th century , the church of the holy spirit took over as parish church from st . peters church , which became the university church for the university of heidelberg . originally , the church of the holy spirit contained the tombs of the pala ? |
