Notre Dame de Rouen. The façade of the Gothic Church in France. Photographer: Hippo1947. Licence: SHUTTERSTOCK.

Tuesday 6 January 2015

Würzburg Cathedral, Bavaria, Germany.


Text and Illustrations from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia,
unless otherwise stated.



Deutsch: Würzburg, Dom St. Kilian,
hochbarocker Chorromanisches Langhaus.
English: Würzburg Cathedral.
Baroque Choir.
Photo: June 2011.
Source: Own work.
Author: Bbb.
Attribution: Attribution: Bbb at wikivoyage shared
(Wikimedia Commons)


Würzburg Cathedral (German: Würzburger Dom) is a Roman Catholic Cathedral, in Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany, dedicated to Saint Kilian. It is the Seat of the Bishop of Würzburg. With an overall length of 105 metres it is the fourth largest Romanesque Church in Germany, and a masterpiece of German architecture from the Salian period.

The present Cathedral, built from 1040, onwards, by Bishop Bruno of Würzburg, is the third Church on the site: The previous two Churches, built about 787 A.D., and 855 A.D., were destroyed and severely damaged by fire. After Bishop Bruno's accidental death, in 1045, his successor, Adalbero, completed the building in 1075.

The Side Aisles were re-modelled, about 1500, in the Late Gothic Style. The Stuccoist, Pietro Magno, decorated the Cathedral in Baroque Stucco Work in 1701.



Deutsch: Der Dom von Würzburg vor der Renovierung im Sommer 2011.
English: Würzburg Dom. Closed for renovation, Summer 2011. No Pews.
Photo: 15 July 2011.
Source: Own work.
Author: CSvBibra.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The greater part of the building collapsed in the Winter of 1946, in consequence of the bombing of Würzburg on 16 March 1945. Reconstruction was completed in 1967, in the course of which the Baroque components were removed in favour of a Re-Romanisation.

The new interpretation emphasises the contrast between the surviving historical parts of the structure, resulting in a sometimes controversial combination of predominantly Romanesque, with Modern and Baroque elements. The Neo-Romanesque West Front, with a Rose Window, the Tripartite Gallery, and the opening for the Clock, were combined during the reconstruction with a plain pumice stone wall, and revealed again during renovation work up to November 2006. In 1988, the Choir was redesigned by Hubert Elsässer.



Deutsch: Würzburger Dom, Chor.
English: Würzburg Cathedral, Germany.
This File: 8 January 2009.
User: Southgeist.
(Wikimedia Commons)



The Cathedral of Würzburg (Dom St. Kilian),
as seen from Festung Marienberg.
Photo: 12 January 2014.
Source: Own work.
Author: DXR.
(Wikimedia Commons)


The Cathedral has twenty Bells, with a total combined weight of 26 tons. The "Lobdeburg Bell", by Cunradus Citewar, of Würzburg, the most prominent Bell-Founder of his time, dates from 1257, and, because it was taken down in 1933 and stored in the Crypt, is the only Ancient Bell of the Cathedral to have survived the firestorm caused by the bombing of 16 March 1945. It now hangs in the South-West Tower and is rung every Friday, at 3.00 p.m., to mark the Hour of the Death of Jesus Christ.

Between 1971 and 1975, the Würzburg Synod convened in the Cathedral, at the wish of Cardinal Döpfner, to determine the application of The Second Vatican Council to Germany.



Deutsch: Seitenaltar im Würzburger Dom.
English: Side Altar in Würzburger Cathedral.
Photo: 28 September 2014.
Source: Own work.
Author: Hajotthu.
(Wikimedia Commons)

2 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, what a delight! Such beauty

    ReplyDelete
  2. Glad you like it, John.

    They don't make them like this, these days.

    More's the pity.

    in Domino

    ReplyDelete

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