Ulm Minster

The original parish church in Ulm was built at the gate of the city outside the walls, and this caused much trouble for the citizens of the city in the 14th century's conflicts that involved Ulm, as demonstrated by Emperor Charles IV's siege of the city. This parish church had also been subordinated to Reichenau Monastery by Charlemagne in 813, and the denizens of Ulm wanted a new, independent church inside the city's walls. To this end, the near 10,000 inhabitants of the city decided to finance construction themselves. On 30 June 1377, Mayor Ludwig Krafft laid the first stone, the foundation stone, of the new church. This church, whose design would be given to Heinrich Parler, the architect of Holy Cross Minster in Schwäbisch Gmünd. The first plan was to build a stepped hall church with aisles as wide and almost as high as the central nave, with a main spire on the west and two steeples above the choir ({{convert|29|m|ft|sp=us}} long, {{convert|15|m|ft|sp=us}} wide).{{citation needed|date=October 2017}} The women of the Ulmer Assemblage would also make their contributions to the foundation works, something memorialized by 17th and 18th century composer Barbara Kluntz.#{{sfnref: [http://www.ulm.de/ulmer_geschichte_die_ulmer_sammlung_1230%E2%80%931808.31191.3076,.htm?_druck=1&id=31191&navi=3076 Ulmer Geschichte(n) - Die Ulmer Sammlung 1230–1808] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304035430/http://www.ulm.de/ulmer_geschichte_die_ulmer_sammlung_1230%E2%80%931808.31191.3076,.htm?_druck=1&id=31191&navi=3076|date=4 March 2016}}

Michael Parler II, who had experience from working at the Dombauhütte in Prague, assumed construction of the church in 1381 and continued work on the nave, which had originally been conceived as a triple-aisled hall church with approximately equal height and width. From 1387 to 1391, Heinrich III Parler managed construction as head of the Bauhütte. Then in 1392 Ulrich Ensingen, associated with Strasbourg Cathedral, was appointed master builder. It was Parler's plan to construct the Ulm Minster's {{convert|150|m|ft|sp=us}} spire, the highest of any church. In order to balance its proportions, the nave was now to be much taller than the Parlers had intended, making a noticeable difference in height between the chancel and nave. The church was consecrated on 25 July 1405. In 1446, Ulrich's son Matthäus took over construction and finished the choir vault in 1449 and the vault over the northern nave in 1452. When he died in 1463, his own son, Moritz, took over construction. Himself dying in 1471, he completed the vaulting over the nave and constructed the sacrament house, finally making the church a basilica according to Ulrich's plan.

In 1477, Matthäus Böblinger took over and made changes to the plans of the church but especially to the main tower and in doing so caused the church's first major structural threat: the heavy vaults of the wide aisles and high nave burdened the columns with too much lateral force at different heights. A new master builder, Burkhart Engelberg of Augsburg, tackled the structural damage by reinforcing the foundation of the west tower and demolishing the heavy aisle vaults and replacing them with vaults of half widths, which afforded rows of additional columns dividing each of the aisles in two. Although catastrophe had been avoided, the walls were left without their buttresses for 350 years and the northern wall of the nave bulges outward by {{convert|27|cm|in|sp=us}} even today.

In a referendum in 1530/31, the citizens of Ulm converted to Protestantism during the Reformation. Ulm Minster became a Lutheran church. Despite its vast size, it is not a cathedral, as the responsible bishop of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg – member of the Evangelical Church in Germany – resides in Stuttgart.

In 1543, construction work ceased at a time when the steeple had reached a height of some {{convert|100|m}}. The suspension of the building process was due to a variety of factors which were political and religious, like the Reformation, as well as economic, since the discovery of the Americas during the voyages of Christopher Columbus 1492–1504, the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India in 1497–99, and Magellan's circumnavigation of the globe led to an epochal shift in trade routes and commodities. One result was economic stagnation and a steady decline, preventing major public expenditure.

File:Münster Ulm June 2014001 18.jpg|Center aisle, looking east to the sanctuary

Ulm_Münster_Innen_Chorbogen_1.JPG|Due to the changed plans, the nave is much higher than the choir and aisles.

Ulmer_Münster_Nordschiffe_Reichsadler844.jpg|Northern aisle, divided in two by an additional arcade. The base of one arch covers an imperial eagle painted before modification of the vaulting.

Muensterplatz Ulm-1643-Merian.jpg|Ulm Minster in 1643, depicted by Matthaeus Merian

Ulm_Münster_1854.jpg|Photo of 1854, before completion of much of the second phase

Ulmer Muenster 1887.jpg|Photo of 1887, with new flying buttresses and lateral towers

File:RAU 3880.jpg|Ulm Minster as seen from the western city

File:Church bells of Ulm Minster (2019).jpg|Church bells of the Ulm Minster seen from above (2019)

In 1817, the interior frescos were covered by painting the walls grey. In 1844, construction work resumed. After a phase of repairs lasting until 1856, the central nave was stabilized by the addition of flying buttresses. Then the small steeples beside the choir were built – without medieval plans. At last, the main steeple was completed, changing the available medieval plan in making it about ten metres taller. Finally, on 31 May 1890 the building was completed.

{{main|Bombing of Ulm in World War II}}

File:Bombentreffer in der Dachkonstruktion des Muensterchors.jpg

A devastating air raid hit Ulm on 17 December 1944, which destroyed virtually the entire town west of the church to the railway station and north of the church to the outskirts. The church itself was barely damaged. However, almost all the other buildings of the town square (Münsterplatz) were severely hit and some 80% of the medieval centre of Ulm was destroyed.

A 500 kg-bomb fell on March 1, 1945 in the choir-room of the minster, but it did not explode.{{Cite web |date=2018-10-19 |title=Steinschlag-Gefahr: Unterm höchsten Kirchturm der Welt wird neu verputzt |url=https://www.augsburger-allgemeine.de/neu-ulm/Ulm-Steinschlag-Gefahr-Unterm-hoechsten-Kirchturm-der-Welt-wird-neu-verputzt-id52494016.html |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=augsburger-allgemeine |language=de}}

Due to renovation work, the Minster Tower had been closed after the first platform (70m){{cite web |title=Ulmer Münster Gemeinde |url=https://www.ulmer-muenster.de/page/16/%C3%B6ffnungszeiten |website=www.ulmer-muenster.de |access-date=2023-04-13}} and parts of the nave have been closed to visitors since March 2023, however as of August 2024 the tower is now open up to the second platform and only the uppermost portion remains off limits.{{cite web |title=Ulmer Münster gesperrt |url=https://www.swp.de/lokales/ulm/ulmer-muenster-wieder-ist-ein-teil-des-deckenputzes-abgestuerzt-69878309.html |website=swp.de |date=26 March 2023 |access-date=2023-04-13}}

The tower contains 13 bells in total and only 10 of the 13 swing. 6 bells in including the bourdon Gloriosa were cast by Heinrich Kurtz in Stuttgart 1956. Three bells serve for the clock, Leichenglocke is responsible to chime the quarter-hours, followed by the second largest bell Dominica chimes the hours. Prior to Dominica chiming the hours, a small bell called the Schlagglocke in the octagon also calls the hours.

Only 9 of the 10 main bells swing electronically, this is because one of them known as the Schwörglocke rings only on Oath Monday via hand. The Schwörglocke is also the oldest bell in the Minister. In Germany, the bells are always numbered from largest to smallest, Bell 1 is always the tenor or bourdon.

While the walls of the choir, the side aisles and the tower were constructed of brick, the upper levels of the nave are ashlar, using sandstone from Isny im Allgäu. Limestone from the nearby Swabian Jura was used in small quantities.

Works of art

• Late medieval sculptures include the tympanum of the main Western entrance depicts scenes from the Genesis. The central column bears a sculpture, the Man of Sorrows, by the local master Hans Multscher.
• The 15th century choir stalls by Jörg Syrlin the Elder, made from oak and adorned with hundreds of carved busts are among the most famous pews of the Gothic period.
• The pulpit canopy is by Jörg Syrlin the Younger.
• The original high altar was destroyed by the iconoclasts of the Reformation. The current altarpiece 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 apse, which is in the form of half a decagon, show Biblical scenes and date to the 14th and 15th century.
• The main organ of the church was destroyed by iconoclasts and replaced in the late 16th century. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is known to have played it in 1763. For some decades it was the largest organ in existence. In the late 1960s it 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 gargoyles and a sculpture, The Beggar, by the expressionist Ernst Barlach.

File:Ulmer Münster 3.+4. Joch v N 847.JPG|Northern façade clerestory. The upper levels of the nave are built in stone while the rest of the church is built of brick.

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-HochAltar-061104.jpg|Main altar by Martin Schaffner (1521)

Image:Ulm-Muenster-KramerFensterDetail-061209.jpg|The Visitation - Detail of the stained glass by Peter Hemmel

Image:Germany Ulm Dragon.jpg|Dragon gargoyle on the way up the stairs of the Ulmer Münster steeple

Image:Ulmer Muenster - Blick zur Hauptorgel (West) - 2013.jpg|The west end and organ

File:Ulm-Muenster-ChorGestuehl-061104.jpg|The choir stalls

Image:Ulm-Muenster-ChorgestuehlSyrlin-061209.jpg|Virgil by Jörg Syrlin t.E., possibly a self-portrait

File:Ulm-UlmerSpatz-Original.JPG|"Ulmer Spatz": the original of 1858 by the cathedral roof is now in the Ulmer Münster near the entrance in a display case.

Image:Ulm-Muenster-NeithartKapelleAltarbild-061209.jpg|Altar table by Bartholomäus Zeitblom (about 1489–1497)

Image:Glasmalerei der Gotik.png|Stained glass St. Georg by Hans Acker, about 1440

File:Ulm-Muenster-BlickZumChor-061104 adj.JPG|View toward the choir showing the ancient glass in the apse and the wooden filigree canopy of the nave pulpit

File:Ulm Minster plan.jpg

{{unbulleted list

|A. Entrance hall.

|B. Main porch.

|C. Tower hall.

|D. Nave.

|E. Aisles.

|F. Choir.

|G. Sacristy.

|H. Besserer Chapel.

|J. Reithart Chapel.

|K. High altar.

|L. Old tabernacle.

|M. Choir stalls.

|N. Tabernacle.

|O. Baptismal font.

|P. Holy-water font.

|Q. Side porches.

|R. Organ entrance.

|S. Pulpit.

}}

• The height of the steeple is {{convert|161.53|m}}. Ulm Minster is the world's tallest church.
• The church has a length of {{convert|123.56|m}} and a width of {{convert|48.8|m}}.
• The building area is approximately {{convert|8260|m2}}.
• The height of the central nave is {{convert|41.6|m}}, whilst the lateral naves are {{convert|20.55|m}} high.
• The volume of the edifice is some {{convert|190000|m3}}.
• The weight of the main steeple is estimated at {{convert|51500|t}}.
• The church seats a congregation of 2,000.
• In the Middle Ages, before pews were introduced, it could accommodate 20,000 people, when the population of the town was about 5,000.

File:Ulm Kathedral top.jpg

File:Ulm cathedral gallery.jpg

File:Ulm cathedral panno.jpg

File:Ulm cathedral white gallery.jpg

File:Ulm cathedral colonna.jpg

File:Ulm cathedral outdoor.jpg

File:Ulm cathedral glasses.jpg

• Gothic cathedrals and churches
• Strasbourg Cathedral
• Cologne Cathedral
• Gothic architecture
• Protestant Reformation
• List of tallest structures built before the 20th century

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Ulm Minster}}

• {{in lang|de}} [http://www.ulmer-muenster.de/ Official Website]
• {{in lang|de}} {{cite web|title=Start|url=https://www.ulm.de/start.3076.htm|website=ulm.de|publisher=City of Ulm|ref={{sfnref|Ulm.de}}}}
• {{Structurae|id=20000112|title=Ulm Cathedral}}

{{S-start}}

{{S-ach|rec}}

{{S-bef|rows=2|before=Cologne Cathedral}}

{{S-ttl|title=Tallest building in the world| years=1890–1901
161.5 m (530 ft)}}

{{S-aft|after=Philadelphia City Hall}}

{{S-ttl|title=Tallest Building in Europe| years=1890–1952
161.5 m (530 ft)}}

{{S-aft|rows=2|after=Kotelnicheskaya Embankment Building}}

{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Former world's tallest buildings

Category:Roman Catholic churches completed in 1890

Category:Landmarks in Germany

Category:Buildings and structures in Ulm

Category:Gothic architecture in Germany

Category:Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism

Category:Churches of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg

Category:Sandstone churches

Category:1890 establishments in Germany