St. Lorenz Basilica is a baroque minor Basilica and the former abbey church of the Benedictine Kempten Abbey. A church was built on the site in the 13th century but was burned down in 1478.
Roman Giel of Gielsberg, the Abbot of Kempten, commissioned the master builder Michael Beer from Graubünden to build a new church to serve the parish and monastery. The foundation stone of the Basilica of St. Lawrence was laid on 13 April 1652. This was one of the first large churches built in Germany after the end of the Thirty Years' War.
Michael Beer built the nave, the ground floor of the towers and the choir. He was succeeded by Johann Serro on 24 March 1654. The church was consecrated on 12 May 1748.
In 1803 the monastery was dissolved and the church became a purely parish church. In 1900 the twin towers were finally completed. They were build of concrete which is heavier than the used material before that time. Cracks at the connections to the main building are the result of the completed towers.
In 1969 Pope Paul VI bestowed the honorary title of basilica minor.
References:The Clementinum is a historic complex of buildings in Prague. Until recently the complex hosted the National, University and Technical libraries, the City Library also being located nearby on Mariánské Náměstí. The Technical library and the Municipal library have moved to the Prague National Technical Library at Technická 6 since 2009. It is currently in use as the National Library of the Czech Republic.
Its history dates from the existence of a chapel dedicated to Saint Clement in the 11th century. A Dominican monastery was founded in the medieval period, which was transformed in 1556 to a Jesuit college. In 1622 the Jesuits transferred the library of Charles University to the Klementinum, and the college was merged with the University in 1654. The Jesuits remained until 1773, when the Klementinum was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.