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Freiburg Minster

Freiburg Minster (German: Freiburger Münster) is the cathedral of Freiburg, southwest Germany. It was built in three stages, the first beginning in the year 1120 under the dukes of Zähringen, the second beginning in 1210, and the third in 1230. Of the original building, only the foundations still exist. The church became the seat of the Catholic archbishop of Freiburg, and thus a cathedral, in 1827.

[edit] Architecture

Waterspouts and other statuary of Freiburg Minster

The Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt is quoted as having said that the church's 116-metre tower is the most beautiful tower in Christian architecture^{[citation needed]}.

The tower is nearly square at the base, and at its centre is the dodecagonal star gallery. Above this gallery, the tower is octagonal and tapered, and above this, is the spire.

It is the only Gothic church tower in Germany that was completed in the Middle Ages (1330), and miraculously, has lasted until the present, surviving the bombing raids of November 1944, which destroyed all of the houses on the west and north side of the market. The tower was subject to severe vibration at the time, and its survival of these vibrations is attributed to its lead anchors, which connect the sections of the spire. The windows had been taken out of the spire at the time, and so these also suffered no damage.

Freiburg Minster was not the seat of a bishop until 1827, long after it was built.

The tower has 16 bells, the oldest being the "Hosanna" bell from 1258, which weighs 3,290 kilograms. This bell can be heard on Thursday evening after the Angelus, on Friday at 11:00 am (a time consequently known as "Spätzleglocke"), on Saturday evenings, and each year on 27 November in remembrance of the air raid.

[edit] Interior

Window of Freiburg Minster

There are two important altars inside the cathedral: the high altar of Hans Baldung, and another altar of Hans Holbein the Younger in a side chapel.

The windows were donated by the guilds, and the symbols of the guilds are featured on them. The deep red color in some of the windows is not the result of a dye, but instead the result of a suspension of solid gold nanoparticles.^[1]

In 2003, the Lenten cloth was restored and backed with a supporting material. It now weighs over a ton, and so must be carried from the workshop with heavy machinery for its use during Lent.

[edit] Burials

Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen

[edit] The Legal Situation

From the time of its construction, the cathedral was not owned by the Roman Catholic Church but by the people of Freiburg. In the Middle Ages, the situation changed so that the building was self-owned, and administered by a guardian appointed by the people of the city. More recently, the Münsterbauverein association was created, which now legally owns the cathedral.

[edit] Conservation

Looking up into the belfry of Freiburg Minster

For the conservation of the cathedral, the Freiburger Münsterbauverein ("Freiburg Association for the Structure of the Minster") was established. The association invests several million euros each year in the care and maintenance of the building and its interior. The present architect in charge is Yvonne Faller and the chair of the association is Sven von Ungern-Sternberg.