Schleswig Cathedral, Lutheran cathedral in Schleswig, Germany
Schleswig Cathedral is a brick structure built in the Gothic style with a central tower rising 112 meters that shapes the city skyline. Inside, you find a nave with side aisles and a choir showing the typical layout of a medieval cathedral.
The first church at this location began around 850 as a mission station in Haithabu but was later relocated. The current Romanesque basilica began construction in 1134 and was rebuilt and expanded over centuries in the Gothic style.
The cathedral's showpiece is the Bordesholm Altar, a 12.6-metre oak carving made by Hans Brüggemann between 1514 and 1521, showing Christ's arrest to the Ascension after Dürer's "Little Passion". Duke Christian Albrecht of Holstein-Gottorp had it moved here from Bordesholm in 1666; Emil Nolde helped restore it in Flensburg. In the cloister called the Schwahl, an art market is held during Advent.
Visitors can climb stairs to a viewing platform at 65 meters high and look out across the Schleswig area from there. This view is especially worthwhile on clear days when you can see far across the city and surrounding landscapes.
The Romanesque Petri Portal dates from around 1180 and mixes granite, red sandstone from Skåne, limestone from Gotland and tuff from the Rhineland. On the tympanum Christ appears among evangelists and saints; the figure holding a key is presumably Peter, the one receiving the scroll with the mission is Paul. A weathered lion sculpture stands beside the portal, and another is on the sacristy's outer wall.
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