The Church of the Holy Spirit is the most famous church in Heidelberg, Germany. It stands in the middle of the market place 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.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 Palatinian Succession, it was rebuilt and received a baroque spire.