The St. Bernhard Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in neo-Gothic style in Karlsruhe. It is located in the east of the city at Durlacher Tor, where the foundation stone for it as the third Catholic parish church in the city was laid in 1893. The sacred building made of red sandstone until 1901 reflects on the one hand the efforts of Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden to achieve confessional balance by emphasizing the increased importance of Catholicism in the traditionally Protestant part of Baden (Baden-Durlach line) in the 19th century State capital gives expression. [1] On the other hand, the building, including the 86 m high tower facing the city center, forms the structural end of Kaiserstraße in the east, which is visible from afar. In terms of urban morphology, the church at Durlacher Tor corresponds to the Christ Church at Mühlburger Tor in the west of the city.

The church was built from 1893 to 1901 according to the plans of the archbishop's building inspector Max Meckel. Previously, Grand Duke Friedrich I had designated a plot of land in the court kitchen garden of more than 5200 m2 as a building site for the third parish church in the city. The building has a cross-shaped floor plan and cites the architectural treasure trove of the Gothic, namely the Teutonic Order Church of St. Elisabeth in Marburg, built between 1235 and 1283. As a single-tower facade, it is also based on the Freiburg Minster. Seven bells were cast in 1902 by the B. Grüninger foundry in Villingen. Six of them were confiscated during World War II, but were eventually found again and returned along with another in 1947.

St. Bernhard, the second main Catholic church in the city after St. Stephen, is a three-aisled basilica with the highest church tower in the city. The high altar with a crucifixion group, completed in 1905, is one of her furnishings. St. Bernhard is considered to be an important neo-Gothic sacred building in the former Grand Duchy of Baden. A statue of the patron saint of the church, Margrave Bernhard II of Baden, characterizes the west side of the tower at a height of 21 m. It was created by Fridolin Dietsche.