St. Kilian's Cathedral

Fun Facts

• • Between 1701 and 1706, the cathedral's interior was transformed by Giovanni Pietro Magno and his team, who created outstanding European Baroque stucco art, though some intended framed elements were never filled with paintings.
• • During the Nazi era, the Würzburg Catholic Church and its representatives, including Bishop Matthias Ehrenfried, courageously issued decisive statements and led public demonstrations against the regime from the cathedral.
• • During the medieval period, the Domschule (cathedral school) in Würzburg was one of the most prominent cathedral schools within the Holy Roman Empire, rivaling those in Liège and Worms.
• • From 1971 to 1975, the Würzburg Synod convened in the cathedral, an important assembly tasked with implementing the results of the Second Vatican Council for Germany.
• • From the 13th century until the end of the 16th century, Würzburg bishops had a unique burial practice: their hearts were interred in Ebrach Abbey, their entrails in the chapel of Marienburg Fortress, and their bodies within the cathedral itself.
• • In 1253, Bishop Hermann I of Lobdeburg financed a new altar for the cathedral using income from six 'apothecis,' which were early forms of general or spice stores, long before modern pharmacies existed.
• • Its patron saint has changed over the centuries: initially dedicated to Salvator (855-circa 1000), then to St. Andrew (circa 1000-1967), and since 1967, to the Frankish martyrs Kilian, Kolonat, and Totnan.
• • The Würzburg Cathedral holds the distinction of being the fourth-largest Romanesque church building in Germany, a testament to its imposing scale and historical significance.
• • The cathedral houses one of Germany's largest bell ensembles, comprising 20 bells with a total weight of 26 tonnes. The oldest is the 1257 Lobdeburg Bell, which miraculously survived the 1945 firestorm.
• • The cathedral suffered catastrophic damage during the bombing of Würzburg on 16 March 1945, and then endured a partial collapse, particularly of its north wall, in February 1946.
• • The main organ, consecrated in 1969 and built by Johannes Klais Orgelbau, is a impressive instrument featuring 6652 pipes and 87 registers.
• • The monumental 5.50-meter-high main portal doors, unveiled in 1962, depicting the biblical 'Creation', are a significant work by the internationally renowned Würzburg-born sculptor Fritz Koenig.
• • The post-war reconstruction, completed in 1967 under the direction of diocesan and cathedral architect Hans Schädel, involved a controversial 're-Romanization' that intentionally removed much of the Baroque substance in favour of a blend of Romanesque, modern, and surviving Baroque elements.
• • Within the cathedral are significant artworks, including two renowned funerary monuments by Tilman Riemenschneider, one for Bishop Rudolf II von Scherenberg and another for Bishop Lorenz von Bibra.