Ulm Minster: Gothic Masterpiece and Landmark of the City

Location: Ulm Minster stands in the heart of Ulm’s historic old town and dominates the expansive Münsterplatz. Pedestrian streets and historic lanes spread out around the church through the city centre. The Danube flows just a few minutes’ walk south of Ulm Minster.

Significance: Ulm Minster is the city’s best-known landmark and one of Germany’s most famous Gothic churches. It is especially renowned for its 161.5-metre main tower, which was the tallest church tower in the world from its completion in 1890 until 2025. Today, it is the tallest church tower in Germany and, after the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, the second tallest in the world. Despite its monumental size, Ulm Minster has never been the seat of a bishop and is therefore not technically a cathedral under church law. It is a Protestant parish church and is regarded as the largest Protestant church in Germany. Ulm Minster remains an active place of worship and hosts more than 1,000 services and events every year.

Foundation: Construction of Ulm Minster began in 1377, when Ulm was a prosperous Free Imperial City. The existing parish church stood outside the city walls and was difficult to protect in times of war. The citizens of Ulm therefore decided to build a new church in the protected city centre and financed most of the project themselves.

From Hall Church to Five-Aisled Basilica: Heinrich II Parler initially designed Ulm Minster as a three-aisled hall church with naves of roughly equal height. As construction progressed, this concept was abandoned in favour of a basilica with a significantly higher central nave. Towards the end of the 15th century, structural problems made extensive reinforcement work necessary. Burkhard Engelberg strengthened the building and divided the wide side aisles with additional pillars. This created the five-aisled layout seen in Ulm Minster today.

Reformation and Centuries of Construction Stoppage: In 1530, the majority of Ulm’s citizens entitled to vote supported the Reformation, which also made Ulm Minster Protestant. During the iconoclasm of 1531, numerous altars and religious works of art were removed or destroyed. Other parts of the interior furnishings were also lost. At the same time, financial difficulties and political tensions made further construction increasingly difficult. In 1543, work came to a complete halt, leaving Ulm Minster unfinished for around 300 years.

Completion in the 19th Century: Construction work on Ulm Minster resumed in 1844. Between 1871 and 1880, Ludwig Scheu completed the two choir towers. From 1885 onwards, August Beyer continued work on the monumental west tower. On May 31, 1890, the final finial was placed at the top. Ulm Minster was therefore completed 513 years after the foundation stone had been laid. Its present appearance combines medieval Gothic architecture with the Neo-Gothic completion of the 19th century.

Financing: Ulm Minster was a civic project from the very beginning and was not financed by a bishop or prince. Much of the support for its completion in the 19th century also came from the local population. The Minster construction lottery was particularly successful, raising almost 3.6 million marks for the remaining building work.

Second World War: Despite the heavy air raids on Ulm, Ulm Minster remained largely intact. During the attack on December 17, 1944, mainly windows were shattered, while valuable medieval choir windows had already been moved to safety. On March 1, 1945, a 500-kilogram bomb pierced the roof and the choir vault but failed to explode. As a result, Ulm Minster narrowly escaped major destruction once again, only a few weeks before the end of the war.

Architecture: High vaults, slender pillars and large windows give the interior an exceptionally spacious and bright feel. The exterior walls are built mainly of brick, while sandstone was used primarily for the towers, building edges and richly decorated architectural elements. Without fixed seating, the vast interior once had room for more than 20,000 people. By comparison, when the foundation stone was laid in 1377, Ulm had fewer than 10,000 inhabitants.

Main Portal with Creation Tympanum: The large west portal is one of the most impressive works of art at Ulm Minster. Above the entrance is a richly decorated tympanum, an ornamental arched panel, probably created in the 1380s. Its central theme is the story of Creation. The upper sections also depict scenes from the Last Judgement. Particularly striking is the depiction of the Earth as a sphere surrounded by other celestial spheres. This motif reflects learned medieval ideas about the structure of the cosmos.

Man of Sorrows: The life-sized figure of Christ dating from 1429 is one of the most important sculptures in Ulm Minster. Hans Multscher depicts Christ with visible wounds, an intense facial expression and a degree of anatomical realism that was unusual for the period. The work is therefore regarded as an important example of the growing realism of late Gothic art. The original is now kept safely inside Ulm Minster. A copy at the west portal marks its former location.

Figures of Prophets and Apostles: The pillars of the main nave are decorated with monumental figures of prophets and apostles. Their medieval predecessors were lost after the Reformation, while the stone consoles survived. Between 1890 and 1912, the Ulm sculptor Carl Federlin created the present sculptures, restoring the historic programme of figures inside Ulm Minster.

Last Judgement: Above the choir arch is a monumental fresco of the Last Judgement covering around 145 square metres. The work was created in 1471 and is probably attributed to Hans Schüchlin or his workshop. It is considered the largest medieval fresco north of the Alps and is one of the most important works of art in Ulm Minster.

Sacrament House: Directly beside the choir arch stands the approximately 26.5-metre-high sacrament house, created between 1467 and 1471. Before the Reformation, consecrated hosts were kept in its central shrine. Beneath the stone staircase stand figures of Saints Sebastian and Christopher. Several popes and bishops are depicted on the balustrade. Hidden among the delicate ornamentation are also animals and grotesque figures, including monkeys, lizards and so-called tongue-pullers. With its slender proportions and rich sculptural decoration, this late Gothic masterpiece looks almost like a small tower inside Ulm Minster.

Choir Stalls: The choir stalls, created between 1469 and 1474, are among the most important works of art in Ulm Minster. Jörg Syrlin the Elder produced the elaborate woodwork, while Michel Erhart created the life-sized busts and figures. The wide variety of people represented is particularly unusual. Alongside biblical figures, there are also ancient philosophers and sibyls, female prophets from classical tradition.

Medieval Choir Windows: The choir windows, more than 15 metres high, preserve valuable stained glass from the late 14th and 15th centuries. The Anna and Mary Window, created around 1405, tells the story of Anne and Mary through numerous scenes leading up to the birth and childhood of Jesus. The Merchants’ Window includes the genealogy of Christ and events surrounding the birth of Jesus. The Council Window depicts important moments from the life of Jesus through to the Resurrection and Ascension. The two windows were donated by the merchants’ guild and the city council. Their presence still reflects the close relationship between Ulm Minster and the citizens of Ulm.

Besserer Chapel with Medieval Stained Glass: The small chapel beside the choir was donated by the Ulm patrician Besserer family and completed around 1430. Its colourful medieval stained-glass windows are especially impressive. Across numerous scenes, they tell the biblical story from Creation to the Last Judgement. The windows are among the most important examples of medieval stained glass in southern Germany and make the Besserer Chapel one of the highlights of Ulm Minster.

Oath Bell: The Oath Bell dates from the 14th century and probably originally hung in Ulm’s old parish church outside the city walls. It is the oldest bell in Ulm Minster that can still be rung and is still operated by hand. It plays a particularly important role on Oath Monday, when the Lord Mayor delivers the traditional oath speech and recites the historic oath formula. In this speech, the mayor publicly reviews the past year, reports on the current situation in the city and presents important plans for the period ahead. The oath formula dates back to the Small Oath Charter of 1345, which regulated the relationship between the city council, the guilds and the citizens and redefined the political order of the Free Imperial City.

Tower Climb: The main tower can be climbed via 768 steps to an observation platform at a height of 143 metres. There is no lift, so the entire ascent has to be made on foot. From the top, there are sweeping views across Ulm and the surrounding area. On exceptionally clear days, the Alps can be seen in the distance.

Legend of the Ulm Sparrow: According to one of Ulm’s best-known local legends, a small sparrow helped with the construction of Ulm Minster. The builders are said to have loaded long wooden beams sideways onto their carts and only realised, after watching a sparrow, that they could transport them lengthways through the city gate instead. The earliest known written version of the legend was published by Carl Hertzog in 1842. A figure specifically designed as the Ulm Sparrow, holding a stalk in its beak, was placed on the roof of Ulm Minster in 1858 and replaced in 1888 by the gilded copper sparrow seen today. An older bird figure on Ulm Minster is documented from before 1550. Its original meaning is unclear, however, and it may have represented a dove.