Meissen Cathedral, Lutheran cathedral in Meissen, Germany
Meissen Cathedral is a Lutheran church on Burgberg hill in the Saxon city of Meissen, located in eastern Germany. Two towers on the western end rise 81 meters (266 feet) above the ground, while the building stretches 97 meters (318 feet) in length and follows the forms of the Gothic style.
A small chapel founded in 968 with the Bishopric of Meissen was rebuilt between 1006 and 1073 as a four-towered Romanesque basilica. Around 1260 the Gothic hall church was begun from the east; the choir and cloister were in use by 1268. In 1581 the diocese was dissolved and the cathedral became Lutheran.
The name recalls the time when bishops led the church before the Reformation transformed it into a Protestant place of worship. Worshippers gather here for Lutheran services, and the building welcomes visitors who come to see its interior and attend concerts.
Opening hours run daily from 9 to 18 from April through October, and from 10 to 16 between November and March. Visitors should be prepared for stairs and uneven floors inside, as the age of the building has preserved its original construction.
The west towers stayed unfinished for centuries: a storm destroyed their wooden tops around 1413, lightning ruined the spires in 1547, and until 1909 a transverse roof nicknamed the "Schafstall" (sheepfold) capped the west end. The 81-metre Neo-Gothic spires by Carl Schäfer were added only in 1903–1909, against protests from art historians such as Cornelius Gurlitt and Georg Dehio.
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