Dom Cathedral and Tower

As you read in the History section, the Dom (or St Martins cathedral) already existed in the early middle ages. In the early thirteenth century the Romanic predecesser of the current church became too small to suit the catholic church need for presentation. So in 1254 the forst stone was laid for a new gothic church of inmence proportions. According to the first plans the cathedral would be 120 x 45 meters with a roof as heigh as 40 metres. During the next years tha plans were simplified. The cathedral is now 32 metres heigh. In the 14th century much attention was given to the building of the enormous Dom tower. In its time, it was the second highest tower in Europe and the highest in the european mainland.

The Dom tower

Propably due to the enormous efforts to build this tower, the interrest and absence of  the necessary (finacial) means, the church remained unfinished for several centuries. Only in 1517 the nave was close and the church was more or less finished however withoud the appropriate construction measure needed for gothic cathedrals. Also the stone cieling remaind unfinished in the nave. At the and of the 16th century the church came into protestant. hands, which meant the completion of the building to become very unlikely.

The interior of the church with the Batz organ

A hurricane in August 1674 caused the nave to collapse with the exception of the two most south eastern chapels (now the building's entrance).  During the next centuries the remains of the nave were removed and the Dom square was constructed (around 1830). Restaurations took place in the 1920th and 1980's. The nave of the cathedral as wel as several grave stones are marked in the pavements of the Dom square.

The choir section of the church

The tower consists of two large chapel spaces, situated on top of each other and the bell tower, which is completely open. The tower can be visited with a guide who takes you to the very top by climbing 485 stairsteps. The chapels are sometimes rented for meetings and parties. 

The cloister

This image has a noce story:. When the contracters were building these figures, one of them got a reprimande from his boss for the figures didn't fit properly. "Oh" he sais, "Well.than I will tie them together". When his boss checked the work a few days later and asked for explanation the contracter said: "This rope will stay here longer than we live.". And so it was. For this reason this part was never restored.