Freiburg Minster

About

Standing at the heart of the old market square of Freiburg, the minster was begun around the year 1200 in Romanesque style under the last Duke of Zähringen, and continued from about 1230 in the Gothic manner that gives it its present character. Some of its foundations belong to an earlier church present from the city's founding in 1120.

The church belonged to the Diocese of Konstanz throughout the medieval centuries, becoming a cathedral only in 1827 when the Archdiocese of Freiburg was raised and the minster became its seat. The 116-metre tower with its dodecagonal star gallery and pierced stone spire was completed in 1330, the only major Gothic church tower within today's German borders finished in the Middle Ages.

A notable mercy of recent history is the minster's survival of the air raids of November 1944, which devastated the houses around it. Faithful staff had removed the windows of the spire in advance, and lead anchors held the stonework together through the bombing.

Within, devotees encounter a high altar by Hans Baldung, a chapel altar by Hans Holbein the Younger, and stained-glass windows donated by the medieval guilds whose emblems still mark them. The peal of nineteen bells is among the largest in Germany, and the venerable Hosanna bell of 1258 still rings on Thursdays after the Angelus and each 27 November in remembrance of the war dead.

History

Construction began around 1200 in late Romanesque style under the dukes of Zähringen, who founded the city. After their dynasty ended, the work continued from 1230 in the new Gothic manner, and the soaring west tower was completed by 1330, making it one of the rare medieval German spires finished in the Middle Ages.

The minster served as a parish church under the Diocese of Konstanz until 1827, when the newly founded Archdiocese of Freiburg made it a cathedral and seat of its archbishop. The cathedral survived the bombings of 1944 largely intact, a preservation attributed to its lead anchors and the foresight of staff who removed the spire's windows.