Stiftskirche Herrenberg, Gothic church in Herrenberg, Germany
The Stiftskirche Herrenberg is a Gothic hall church featuring a museum dedicated to its remarkable collection of bells. The building rises 57 m (187 feet) high and is topped with a Baroque onion dome that replaced the original Gothic towers.
Construction began in 1276 and was completed in 1493, making it the first Gothic hall church to be finished in the Württemberg region. The 200-plus year building process reflects the scale of the project and its importance to the community that undertook it.
The stone pulpit crafted in 1504 displays the artistry of Master Hanselmann, while carved wooden choirstalls from 1517 demonstrate skilled craftsmanship from that era. These pieces show how local artists contributed to making this church a repository of medieval skill and design.
The church houses a bell museum with more than 35 operational bells that visitors can explore to understand bell-making craftsmanship. Guided tours are available in German and English to help you understand the collection and the building's heritage.
The Maxima bell weighs about 6.4 tons and the Gloriosa bell about 3.6 tons, forming part of one of the world's largest collections of functioning bells. This extraordinary assembly makes the site a rare window into the history of bell-making and the sounds that shaped church life over centuries.
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