Editing Ulm Minster

{{Short description|Lutheran church in Germany; tallest church in the world}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox church
| name             = Ulm Minster
| fullname         = 
| other name       = 
| native_name      = {{native name|de|Ulmer Münster}}
| native_name_lang = de
| image            = Landappbw 526530 1820 Ulmer Münster Luftaufnahme Ulmer Münster (cropped).jpg
| imagesize        = 250px
| imagealt         = 
| caption          = Ulm Minster, aerial view (2014)
| pushpin map      = Germany
| pushpin map alt  = 
| map caption      = Location in Germany
| coordinates      = {{coord|48|23|55|N|9|59|33|E|region:DE-BW_source:rowiki|display=inline,title}}
| location         = [[Ulm]]
| country          = [[Germany]]
| denomination     = [[Lutheran]]
| previous denomination = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]
| churchmanship    = 
| membership       = 
| attendance       = 
| website          = {{URL|http://www.ulmer-muenster.de/}}
| former name      = 
| bull date        = 
| founded date     = <!-- {{start date|YYYY|MM|DD|df=y}} - but see note below -->
| status           = [[Minster (church)|Minster]]<br />[[Parish church]]
| functional status = Active
| heritage designation = 
| designated date  = 
| architect        = [[Heinrich Parler]]
| architectural type = Minster
| style            = [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]]
| years built      = 
| groundbreaking   = 1377
| completed date   = 
| construction cost = 
| closed date      = 
| capacity         = 2,000
| length           = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| width            = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| width nave       = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| height           = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| diameter         = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| other dimensions = 
| floor count      = 
| floor area       = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| dome quantity    = 
| dome height outer = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| dome height inner = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| dome dia outer   = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| dome dia inner   = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| spire quantity   = 3
| spire height     = <!-- {{convert| }} -->
| materials        = 
| bells            = 13
| bells hung       = 
| bell weight      = <!-- {{long ton|0| }} -->
| division         = [[Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg]]<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.ulmer-muenster.de/| title=Herzlich Willkommen in der Münstergemeinde Ulm| trans-title=Welcome to the Münster community of Ulm| language=de| access-date=27 September 2018}}</ref>
| subdivision      = 
| organist         = 
| embedded         = {{Infobox building
|embed = yes
|name = 
|image = 
|image_size = 
|caption =
|highest_prev = [[Cologne Cathedral]]
|highest_next = [[Philadelphia City Hall]]
|highest_end = 1894
|highest_start = 1890
|coordinates = 
|height = {{Convert|161.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
|start_date = 1377
|completion_date = 31 May 1890
|references = <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.emporis.com/buildings/127335 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417160141/https://www.emporis.com/buildings/127335 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=17 April 2019 |title=Emporis building ID 127335 |work=[[Emporis]]}}</ref>
}}
}}
[[File:UlmMinster0061a.jpg|thumb|250px|Ulm Minster (2003)]]
[[File:Ulm-Minster-0160.jpg|thumb|250px|Ulm Minster (1910)]]
'''Ulm Minster''' ({{langx|de|'''Ulmer Münster'''}}) is a [[Gothic Architecture|Gothic]] [[church (building)|church]] located in [[Ulm]], State of [[Baden-Württemberg]] ([[Germany]]). It was originally built as a [[Roman Catholic]] [[church (building)| church]] but became a [[Lutheran]] Church in the [[16th Century]].

It is the [[List of tallest church buildings|tallest church in the world]] and in [[Europe]].<ref name=tallest>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DtS2iD79NgEC&q=tallest+church+in+the+world+ulm+steeple&pg=PA82 |title=Cathedrals |last=Oggins |first=Robin O. |page=82 |year=2000 |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. |isbn=978-1567993462}}</ref> The church was the [[List of tallest structures built before the 20th century|fifth-tallest structure in the world when the towers were completed in 1899]], with a [[Steeple (architecture)|steeple]] measuring 161.53 metres.<ref name=tallest/>

Though it is sometimes referred to as Ulm Cathedral because of its great size, the church is not a [[cathedral]] as it has never been the [[episcopal see]] of a [[bishop]]. Though the towers and all decorative elements are of stone masonry, attracting the attention of visitors, most of the walls, including the façades of the nave and choir, actually consist of visible brick. Therefore, the building is sometimes referred to as a brick church. As such, it lays claim to the rank of second- to fourth-largest, after [[San Petronio, Bologna|San Petronio Basilica]] in [[Bologna]] and together with [[Frauenkirche, Munich|Frauenkirche]] in [[Munich]] and [[St. Mary's Church, Gdańsk|St. Mary's Church]] in [[Gdańsk]]. The tower however was mainly built from sandstone.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.swp.de/suedwesten/staedte/ulm/forscherin-findet-heraus_-woher-baumaterial-fuers-muenster-kam-22113349.html |title=Forscherin findet heraus, woher Baumaterial fürs Münster kam {{!}} Südwest Presse Online |website=www.swp.de |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603142630/https://www.swp.de/suedwesten/staedte/ulm/forscherin-findet-heraus_-woher-baumaterial-fuers-muenster-kam-22113349.html |archive-date=2020-06-03}}</ref>

Ulm Minster was begun in the [[Gothic architecture]] of the [[Late Middle Ages]] but the building was not completed until the late 19th century after a hiatus of centuries. When work ceased in the 16th century all of the church except the towers and some outer decorations were complete, unlike at [[Cologne Cathedral]], where less than half of the work had been done before construction halted in the 15th century.

Visitors can climb the 768 steps that lead to the top of the minster's spire. At {{Convert|143|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} it gives 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 third Gallery) is a tall, spiralling staircase that has barely enough room for one person.

==History==
===First construction phase, 1377-1543===
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, Holy Roman 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 (architecture)|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]].<ref name="Ulmer1">[[#{{sfnref|Ulm.de}}|City of Ulm]]: [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}}</ref>

[[Michael von Gmünd|Michael Parler II]], who had experience from working at the [[St. Vitus Cathedral|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 Ensinger|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 Ensinger|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 [[Protestant Reformation|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.

<gallery widths="140" heights="180">
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)
</gallery>

=== Resumption and completion of construction, 1844-1890 ===
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.

===World War II===
{{main|Bombing of Ulm in World War II}}
[[File:Bombentreffer in der Dachkonstruktion des Muensterchors.jpg|thumb|A not-detonated WWII-bomb deformed the steel construction over the choir.]]
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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

===Current events===
Due to renovation work, the Minster Tower had been closed after the first platform (70m)<ref>{{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}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

== Bells ==
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 bell|tenor]] or [[Bourdon (bell)|bourdon]].
{| class="wikitable"
!No.
!Name (German)
!Name (International)
!Mass
(kg)
|-
|1
| colspan="2" |Gloriosa (Bourdon Bell)
|4,912
|-
|2
| colspan="2" |Dominica
|4,301
|-
|3
|Große Betglocke
|Large prayer bell
|3,800
|-
|4
|Leichenglocke
|Funeral bell
|1,750
|-
|5
|Kleine Betglocke
|Small prayer bell
|1,766
|-
|6
|Kreuzglocke
|Cross bell
|1,248
|-
|7
|Landfeuerglocke
|Country fire bell
|900
|-
|8
|Taufglocke
|Baptismal bell
|506
|-
|9
|Schiedglocke
|Arbitration bell
|345
|}

==Architecture==
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 (architecture)|tympanum]] of the main Western entrance depicts scenes from the [[Book of Genesis|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 [[pew]]s of the [[Gothic art|Gothic]] period.
* The pulpit canopy is by [[Jörg Syrlin the Younger]].
* The original high altar was destroyed by the [[Iconoclasm#Reformation iconoclasm|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 [[gargoyle]]s and a sculpture, ''The Beggar'', by the [[expressionist]] [[Ernst Barlach]].

<gallery>
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|[[Visitation (Christian)|The Visitation]] - Detail of the stained glass by [[Peter Hemmel of Andlau|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|"[[Ulm Sparrow|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
</gallery>

===Plan===
[[File:Ulm Minster plan.jpg|thumb|Plan of Ulm Minster]]
{{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.
}}

====Measurements====
*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.

== Gallery ==

<gallery>
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
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Gothic cathedrals and churches]]
* [[Strasbourg Cathedral]]
* [[Cologne Cathedral]]
* [[Gothic architecture]]
* [[Protestant Reformation]]
* [[List of tallest structures built before the 20th century]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{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=[[List of tallest buildings and structures in the world#History|Tallest building in the world]]| years=1890–1901<br /><small>161.5 m (530 ft)</small>}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Philadelphia City Hall]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[List of tallest buildings in Europe|Tallest Building in Europe]]| years=1890–1952<br /><small>161.5 m (530 ft)</small>}}
{{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]]