The people of Munich have their very own Christkindl or Christ child. Every year it is displayed for worship from the first day of Christmas until Epiphany in the Bürgersaal Church.

You can see the Augustinian Christkindl at the Munich Bürgersaalkirche in form of a precious, lifesize Baby Jesus wrapped in ornate silver ribbons.

The daily mass is at 5 pm has a long tradition and is a highlight of the Christmas season.

The Legend

As of a legend, in 1624 a Monk of the Augustinian Order was sneaking by night to the now so famous Christkindl to hold it in his arms and cradle it. In his excitement he dropped the valuable treasure of his monastery, and the almost life-like little head with the beautiful glass eyes burst into a thousand pieces. Desperately, the monk cleared the pieces in a cupboard and asked God for help.

As Christmas approached, he had to confess to the Abbot his offense. However, when they opened the cupboard together, the face had miraculously reassembled. Only a crack on the cheek bears witness to the fall. Since then, the people of Munich have been worshiping their Augustinian Christkindl.

Baby Jesus found a new home in the civic hall of the Marianischen Männerkongregation, after the turmoil of secularization and the abolition of the Augustinian monastery 

Bürgersaalkirche in Munich where the Augustinian Christkindl lies: