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Beginnings
Building began around 1200 on the foundations of an older church
The last duke of Zähringen started the building around 1200 in Romanesque style. Work continued in 1230 in Gothic style. It stands partly on the foundations of a church there since 1120, and became a cathedral only in 1827.
The spire
It is the only Gothic church tower in Germany completed in the Middle Ages
The tower is 116 metres high. It is nearly square at the base, with a dodecagonal star gallery at its centre, an octagonal tapered section above, and then the spire. The tower was completed in 1330.
116metres, the height of the tower
“...the church's 116-meter tower will forever remain the most beautiful spire on earth”
Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss historian
Red glass
The deep red in some windows comes from gold, not dye
The nave windows were donated by the guilds and carry their symbols. The deep red in some of them is a suspension of solid gold nanoparticles. Inside are altars by Hans Baldung and, in a side chapel, Hans Holbein the Younger.
November 1944
The tower stood through the bombing raids of November 1944
The raids of November 1944 destroyed all of the houses on the west and north side of the market. Lead anchors connect the sections of the spire, and church staff had taken the windows out. The Hosanna bell of 1258 rings each year on 27 November in remembrance.
Day 1, morning
Next is Historical Merchants' Hall.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Freiburg Minster, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.