Munich's magnificent Michaelskirche is the largest Renaissance church north of the Alps. It took 14 years to complete the construction of the church, which was built by Duke Wilhelm V as a center for the Counter Reformation, in response to Luther's call to the Catholic church for reform.St. Michael's Church was built in two stages. The first encompassed the years 1583-1588. Though the architect of the original church is unknown, the church was designed to be one of the largest and finest Jesuit churches in the world. This first phase involved a large barrel-vaulted roof which was second only to the one at St. Peter's in Rome. The vaulting was so massive that locals feared it would collapse.