Ulm Cathedral Totally Explained

Everything about Ulm Cathedral totally explained

Ulm Münster is a Lutheran church, the tallest church in the world with a steeple measuring 161.53 m (530 ft) and containing 768 steps. Located in Ulm, Germany, it's a famous example of Gothic ecclesiastical architecture. After climbing to the top level at 143m there's a panoramic view of Ulm in Baden-Württemberg and Neu-Ulm in Bavaria and, in clear weather, a vista of the Alps from Säntis to the Zugspitze. The final stairwell to the top (known as the 3rd Gallery) is a tall, spiraling staircase that has barely enough room for one person.
The church isn't a cathedral in the proper sense as it has never been the seat of a bishop. This is indicated by the single steeple (where cathedrals generally possess two towers). The responsible bishop of the Evangelical Church in Germany resides in Stuttgart.
Like the famous Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) - another building of the Gothic era - Ulm Cathedral wasn't completed until the 19th century.

Measurements

The church has a length of 123.56m and a width of 48.8m.
The building area is c. 8,260 m².
The height of the central nave is 41.6m, whilst the lateral naves are 20.55m high.
The volume of the edifice is some 190,000m³.
The weight of the main steeple is estimated at 51,500 metric tons.
The church seats a congregation of 2,000.
In the Middle Ages, before pews were introduced, it could accommodate 20,000 people.
Ulm Cathedral is the largest Lutheran church and the second largest church in Germany (after Cologne Cathedral).

Gallery: Ulm Cathedral

Image:Ulm Muenster.jpg|West portal and main spire Image:Ulm-Muenster-BlickZumChor-061104.jpg|View toward the choir Image:Ulm-Muenster-BlickZurEmpore-061104.jpg|View toward the gallery Image:UlmMunster3.JPG|Spiral staircase to third gallery

Construction work

In the 14th century, the parish church of Ulm was located outside the walled city. The burghers of Ulm decided to erect a new church within the perimeters of the city and to finance the costs of the erection.
   In 1377 the foundation stone was laid. The planned church was to have three naves of equal height, a main spire on the west and two steeples above the choir. In 1392 Ulrich Ensingen (associated with Strasbourg Cathedral) was appointed master builder. It was his plan to make the western church tower the tallest spire (which it's to the current day).
   The church, consisting of the longitudinal naves and the choir, covered by a temporary roof, was consecrated in 1405.
   However, structural damages, caused by the height of the aisles and the weight of the heavy vaulting, necessitated a reconstruction of the lateral naves. The side aisles were supported by a row of additional column in their centre.
   In a referendum in 1530/1531, the citizens of Ulm converted to Protestantism during the reformation and in 1543 construction work was halted at a time when the steeple had reached a height of some 100m.
   The halt in the building process was caused by a variety of factors which were political (the Reformation, the Thirty Years' War, the War of the Spanish Succession) as well as economic (the discovery of the Americas in 1492 and of the sea route to India in 1497, leading to a shift in trade routes and commodities). This resulted in economic stagnation and a steady decline, preventing major public expenditure.
   In 1817 work resumed and the three steeples of the church were completed. Finally, on 31 May 1890 the building was completed.
Whilst some 80% of the medieval centre of Ulm was destroyed in air raids by the Allied forces during WWII, the church itself sustained only minor damages.

Works of art

The tympanon of the main Western entrance depicts scenes from the Genesis. The central column bears a sculpture by the local master Hans Multsacher, the Man of Sorrows. These works originated in the late medieval era.

The 15th century choir stalls by Jörg Syrlin the Elder, made from oaken wood and adorned with hundreds of carved busts are amonst the most famous pews of the Gothic period.

The original main altar was destroyed by the iconoclasts of the reformation. The current altar from the early 16th century is a triptych, showing figures of the Holy Family and the Last Supper in the predella.

The five stained glass windows of the apsis, which is in the form of half a decagon, show biblical scenes and go back to the 14th and 15th century.

The pulpit canopy is by Jörg Syrlin the Younger.

Like the altar, the main organ of the church was destroyed by iconoclasts and replaced in the late 16th century. In 1763 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is known to have played this instrument, which - for some decades - was the largest organ in existence. In the late 1960s the organ was reconstructed to solve acoustic problems of reverberation.

In 1877, the Jewish congregation of the synagogue of Ulm - including Hermann Einstein, the father of Albert Einstein - donated money for a statue of the Biblical prophet Jeremiah. The figure was placed below the main organ.

Later renovations in the modern era added gargoyes and a sculpture, The Beggar, by the expressionist Ernst Barlach.

Gallery: Works of art

Image:Ulm-Muenster-ReliefHauptportal-061104.jpg|Figures from Genesis above the main portal Image:Ulm-Muenster-SchmerzensMann-061104.jpg|Man of Sorrows on the main portal by Hans Multscher Image:Ulm-Muenster-ChorgestuehlHellespontische-061209.jpg|Hellespontine Sibyl by Jörg Syrlin t.E. (ca. 1470) Image:Ulm-Muenster-ChorgestuehlSyrlin-061209.jpg|Virgil by Jörg Syrlin t.E., possibly a self-portrait Image:Ulm-Muenster-HochAltar-061104.jpg|Main altar by Martin Schaffner (1521) Image:Ulm-Muenster-KramerFensterDetail-061209.jpg|Visitation - Detail of the coloured window "Kramerfenster" Image:Germany Ulm Gethsemane.jpg|Detail of the Garden of Gethsemane Image:Germany Ulm Dragon.jpg|Dragon on the way up the stairs of the Ulmer Münster steeple Further Information

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