Muenster - Cathedral

Muenster, the cultural centre of Westphalia, is a city with a population of more than 250.000 of which nearly 50.000 are students at the University of Muenster. This surely helped Muenster to gain the status of the "bicycle capital of Germany".

Charlemagne sent out St. Ludger in 792 to evangelise the area, so Ludger built a school here. When the Diocese of Muenster was founded in 805, Ludger the first bishop here.
He had the first church built at this place, named "Ludgerus-Dom", that existed upto 1377, when it got demolished and replaced by a gothic cloister. Next to the "Ludgerus Dome" a new church was built, when Dodo was bishop in Muenster 967-993. This one got the name "Ottonischer Dom". Bishop Hermann of Katzenelnbogen added a westwork to this building in 1192, that got integrated into the third chathedral built here 1225 - 1264. This cathedral still exists, though it was a ruin after WWII and the old westwork never got rebuilt. The cathedral is a mixture of late romanesque and early gothic style - and it is huge.

The cathedral is 109 meter long.

The nave, seen here, is 28,30 meter wide - and 22,50 meters high. The gigantic St. Christopher was carved by Johann von Bocholt. It is - not counting the tree- at least 6 meters high.