This mechanism displays the phases of the moon. Ensingen worked on the cathedral from 1399 to 1419, taking over from Claus von Lohre, and Hltz from 1419 to 1439, completing the building at last. In the portal of the Last Judgement, (right) Christ sits on his throne sorting the virtuous from the wicked. The genuinely Romanesque chevet can only be seen from the courtyard of the adjacent complex of 18th-century buildings. The four bells in the octagon tower are rung on the hour. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Strasbourg and one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in Europe. [20] Erwin von Steinbach's son Johannes von Steinbach served as magister operis, or Werkmeister (chief architect) from (at least) 1332 until his death in 1341. [36], A series of major reconstructions and restorations were carried out in the second of the century Gustave Klotz[fr] from 1837 to 1888. One of the most amazing facts about Strasbourg Cathedral is that an addition was made in the early 16th century in the post-Gothic, early-Renaissance style, as well. By the use of buttresses and a double wall, the outer wall decorative with wide spaces, and the inner wall bearing the weight and having large windows, the interior of the cathedral could have more light. [71], Two chapels, devoted to Saint Andrew and Saint John the Baptist, were attached to the two sides of the apse. [49], In 2000, an Al-Qaeda plot to bomb the adjacent Christmas market was prevented by French and German police. Construction of the original, on the exact site of a Roman temple, was initiated in 1015 but later destroyed by a fire. It was originally made in 1498 by Nicolas Roder for the cemetery of Saint-Thomas, and was based on engravings by Martin Schongauer and Albrecht Drer. Another two old bells by Mathieu Edel (1787) ring on the quarter hours. the choir and south portal, still have very Romanesque features, with more emphasis placed on walls than on windows. The Cathedral stands on the exact site of a roman temple built on a little hill above the muddy ground. However, between 1250 and 1255 they decided to become more ambitious, and used what was called the "Parisian style"; this created three levels with a total height of 32 meters from the floor to the vaults. The South Transept contains the Pillar of Angels, a massive supporting pillar for the ceiling. Today, about 275,000 people live there (with around 780,000 in the metropolitan area ). Strasbourg is the seat Council of Europe, of the European Court of Human Rights and of the European Parliament. [23] He completed the installation of the rose window, and above it twelve statues of the apostles. At 142 metres (466 feet), Strasbourg Cathedral was the world's tallest building from 1647 to 1874 (227 years), when it was surpassed by St. Nikolai's Church, Hamburg. The cathedral was hit by British and American bombs during air raids on the centre of Strasbourg on 11 August 1944, which also heavily damaged the Palais Rohan and the Sainte-Madeleine Church. [72], The creation of Adam and Eve (Narthex) (12801345), The lower bay on the south has stained glass windows that depict the Last Judgement, while the north bay windows illustrate twelve episodes from the Book of Genesis, including the creation of Adam and Eve, the original sin, the expulsion from Paradise, and Noah's ark. The statues in the portals are all standing upon realistically carved capitals decorated with the signs of the zodiac. The tower was saved, however, when in May of the same year citizens of Strasbourg crowned it with a giant tin Phrygian cap of the kind the Enrags themselves wore. Strasbourg Cathedral or the Cathedral of Our Lady of Strasbourg , also known as Strasbourg Minster, is a Catholic cathedral in Strasbourg, Alsace, France. One of the most fascinating facts about Strasbourg Cathedral is that it took hundreds of years to complete. In addition to the grand organ in nave, the cathedral has two smaller organs: The baptismal font by Jost Dotzinger (1453), Judgement of Solomon window in north transept (late 12th c.), Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist (3rd quarter of 12th century), left window of north transept, The transept and the apse were built atop the Romanesque crypt, making them a little higher than the nave; they are reached by a short stairway, giving the impression that the choir and apse are the stage of a theater. Klotz's dome was in turn heavily damaged by bombing raids during World War II, and restored between 1988 and 1992. The rounded arches of tympanum over the doorway contain sculpture of the Virgin Mary dying, surrounded by the Twelve Apostles and being crowned by Christ. The octagonal vault is covered with arches and lacelike interlaced sculpture in the late Gothic Flamboyant style. It dates to the end of the 15th century. A monument has been erected in his honor in a town nearby called Steinbach which is part of the town of Baden-Baden, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) to the northeast of Strasbourg. It is the seat of a Bishop. In 1682, the choir screen (built in 1252) was broken out to expand the choir towards the nave. After the war, it was returned to the cathedral by the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section of the United States military.[47]. Because of this amazing trick, the spire was saved! The second wave of construction started in the 12th century, when the Gothic style of architecture had started to develop. On the bottom, figures of the Four Seasons surround a mechanical astrolabe, which indicates the location of the planets according to Copernicus, and is surrounded by the signs of the zodiac. [34] The main or high altar, a major work of early Renaissance sculpture, was also demolished that year. Each pillar bundles sixteen smaller columns, of which five reach upward to support the vaults overhead. The choir was given its multicolour painted decoration, by douard Steinl and Charles Auguste Steinheil, finished in 1879. In height to the vaults it is 32.616 metres (107.01ft). The guard's house, located in the spot planned for the second spire, reflects a rich history going back to the 16th century. What makes this monument extraordinarily impressive are the steeple with . Marvel at the oldest Gothic cathedral of Europe with your local tour guide. While its most definitely assumed that drawings of buildings were made before the construction of this cathedral, the construction of this particular church marked an important moment in architectural history. They were eventually returned and installed, along with numerous other works of art, by the specially created Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives section of the United States military. It was electrified after 1807, and was restored and modified several times, most recently in 193435 and in 197581, giving it the current forty-seven jeux.[76]. [57] Following their destruction during the French Revolution, several of the sculptures have been replaced in the 19th century by works by Philippe Grass,[58] Jean-tienne Malade,[59] and Jean Vallastre. The Director of public works of Strasbourg, Grold, quickly took down and protected the statues of the portal, but 215 statues of the voussures over the portals were smashed with hammers, as were the angels atop the gables on the facade, and the crowns and sceptres of the statues of the kings. The church marked a historic moment in architecture, 11. The same was about to happen to the spire of Strasbourg Cathedral as the agitators who ruled the city during the revolution, referred to as the Enrags, planned to demolish it in April of 1794. (15th c.), The chapel as it appeared in the 14th century (19th-century engraving), Tomb of Bishop Conrad de Lichtenberg (131020), The Chapel of Saint John the Baptist is located just to the left of the apse, at the northeast end of the cathedral. One of the most fascinating churches in the world can be found in the east of France. Together with the Cologne Cathedral, the faade of the Strasbourg Cathedral is considered to be one of the first buildings in history which made architectural drawings necessary to make it conceivable. [81], The man on the balustrade (south transept). It was the tallest building of world for over 227 years. From the platform of Strasbourg Cathedral, 66 meters above the ground, discover a striking panorama of the city in 1490 to the west, and in 1730 to the east. The Strasbourg Cathedral in France is known for its unique spire, because of it the cathedral was the highest monument in the world for more than two centuries! The north tower was the world's tallest building from 1647 (when the taller spire of St. Mary's Church, Stralsund burnt down) until 1874 (when the tower of St. Nikolai's Church in Hamburg was completed). The Bishop appealed to the new Emperor, who granted one eighth of his revenues in the province toward the construction of a new Cathedral. This switch was made under the influence of architects who worked on the Cathedral of Chartres. In the south transept, the lancet and oculus windows in the two large bays on the east, built in 12201227, are modelled after those in the lower choir of Chartres Cathedral. One of the architects was Erwin von Steinbach. A round, Baroque sacristy of modest proportions was added north-east of the northern transept in 1744 by the city's chief architect Joseph Massol according to plans by Robert de Cotte and between 1772 and 1778 architect Jean-Laurent Goetz surrounded the cathedral by a gallery in early Gothic Revival style in order to reorganise the merchants' shops that used to settle around the building (and would do so until 1843). The Gothic style also appeared in the statuary, particularly the Pillar of the Angels, and in the tympanums over the double portals on the south transept, which showed the influence of the sculpture in French Gothic cathedrals. A statue on the west side of the pillar represents a famed preacher contemporary with the cathedral; Johann Geiler von Kaysersberg (d. 1510); a small sculpture along the railing of the stairs depicts Geiler's dog, mourning his master on steps of the pulpit where he once preached. Strasbourg Cathedral (official French: Notre-Dame de Strasbourg ,German: Liebfrauenmnster zu Straburg, Our Lady of Strasbourg) is the Cathedral in Strasbourg. The cathedral is illuminated by one of the most remarkable collections of stained-glassed windows in the world. A little history about Notre-Dame de Strasbourg Strasbourg's cathedral is an emblematic monument of the city, built on a site that was occupied by an important Roman camp when the city was called Argentoratum, and which has hosted many places of worship over the centuries. It's the most. One can see 30 kilometers from the observation level, which provides a view of the Rhine banks from the Vosges all the way to the Black Forest. He in 1284 and developed a western facade, with a thousand sculptures and an elegant rosette window. In 1524, the city council assigned the cathedral to the Protestant faith, while the building suffered some damage from iconoclastic assaults. These include some of the original statues from the portals and faade dating from the 13th century, including the statues of "The Church" and "The Synagogue" from the portal of the south transept. The tracery and decoration of the interior are very much like of that exterior, with blind galleries and delicate parallel vertical lines, like the strings of a harp. Strasbourg (UK: / s t r z b r /, US: / s t r s b r , s t r z-,-b r /, French: (); German: Straburg [tasbk] (); Bas Rhin Alsatian: Strossburi [dsbui] (), Haut Rhin Alsatian: Strossburig [dsbui] ()) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the . Strasbourg's 11th-15th-century Cathedral of Notre-Dame, damaged in 1870 and again in World War II, has been carefully restored. [54][55] It presents a virtual theater of late Gothic flamboyant architecture and decoration, including three interlocking arches over the doors, containing a statue of the Saint during his martyrdom. Use them in commercial designs under lifetime, perpetual & worldwide rights. Archaeological excavations below and around the cathedral have been conducted in 1896-1897, 1907, 1923-1924, 1947-1948, between 1966 and 1972, and finally between 2012 and 2014.. Choir pipe organ, north side of the choir, Height of observation deck: 66m (217ft), Exterior height of central nave: 40m (130ft), Inside height of central nave: 32m (105ft), Inside width of central nave: 16m (52ft), Inside height of lateral naves: 19m (62ft), Exterior width of west faade: 51.5m (169ft), Diameter of west faade rose window: 13.6m (45ft). The wicked attempt, without success, to seduce the noble Virgins, but succeed with the foolish virgins. A pointed arch frames the window, and a row of blind arches at the lower level completes the decoration. It is still in place.[86]. [84], The stained glass window in the axis of the apse depicts the Virgin of Alscace. After the annexation of the city by Louis XIV of France, on 30 September 1681, and a mass celebrated in the cathedral on 23 October 1681 in presence of the king and prince-bishop Franz Egon of Frstenberg,[33] the cathedral was returned to the Catholics and its inside redesigned according to the Catholic liturgy of the Counter-Reformation. [18]. Several of the original Romanesque structures were torn down to make way for this revolutionary new architectural style. The cathedral has a rich history, dating back to the . The Steinbachs's plans for the completion of the cathedral were not followed through by the chief architects who took over after them, and instead of the originally envisioned two spires, a single, octagonal tower with an elongated, octagonal crowning was built on the northern side of the west facade by master Ulrich von Ensingen and his successor, Johannes Hltz. 1. The work of Professor Robert O. Bork of the University of Iowa suggests that the design of the Strasbourg faade, while seeming almost random in its complexity, can be constructed using a series of rotated octagons. Other objects and works from the cathedral, including the mechanism of the original astronomical clock, are found in the Muse des arts dcoratifs de Strasbourg. Some of the windows were assembled with glass from different periods: in the windows devoted to the Emperors Frederick II and Henry II of Bamberg, the heads were made between 1250 and 1275, but in 1522 were remounted onto the bodies of other kings from earlier windows made in about 1180. Like the city of Strasbourg, the cathedral connects German and French cultural influences, while the eastern structures, e.g. (New York, NY) April 21, 2011 - Axis Mundi was invited to submit a proposal for a new cathedral for the city of Strasbourg, France.