Did you know that Ulm is the birthplace of Albert Einstein? Cool, no? But there is so much more that is fascinating about Ulm/Neu Ulm. The centerpiece of the city is an incredible cathedral, Ulmer Münster, which is the tallest in the world to this day. It was actually the tallest building of any in the world until 1910 or so. Generation after generation after generation worked on it, as it took centuries to complete, albeit there were countless years they had to abstain from working on it.
Beginning as a Catholic edifice, it switched to Protestant along the way. In Germany, I found it interesting that no matter how small the villages we would see, without exception, the Church would be perched on the most prominent piece of land and would dominate the landscape. The Münster grabs one's attention, alright. Just think, it began a hundred years before Christopher Columbus sailed to America! Isn't that like being an ancient redwood or something? It is truly monumental.
Sad to say, it was a trip we didn't take you on, because of the demanding exertion it takes to climb to the top, a total of over 700 steps. I really don't know how we managed as it was, even though we were young and strong. Towards the top, in the steeple, the spiral staircase is so narrow only one person can pass at a time, pretty difficult if you're going up and someone is coming down at the same time. I don't know how we could have done it carrying a baby, but I hope at some point you get the privilege of ascending that magnificent structure yourself. Breathtaking---on more than one level.
Here are some facts and pix I copied from Wikipedia and another site, Sacred Destinations:
The final stairwell to the top (known as the 3rd Gallery) is a tall, spiraling staircase that has barely enough room for one person.
German: Ulmer Münster, literally: minster is the tallest church in the world, with a steeple measuring 161.53 m (530 ft) and containing 768 steps. The massive interior has the capacity to hold 30,000 people. This great work of architecture also houses important pieces of art.
History
Construction on Ulm Cathedral began in 1377, financed by the city's inhabitants. After a long period of no building – and long after the church became Protestant – the spire was added in 1890.
What to See
At 161 meters, the Munster's great Gothic spire towers over all others. Those who climb its 768 steps of well-worn stone are rewarded with a superb panoramic view of Baden-Württemberg's Ulm and Bavaria's Neu-Ulm and, in the right weather conditions, a vista of the Alpine range including the Zugspitze, the highest mountain. Climbers also come face-to-face with a variety of stone gargoyles and monsters.
Construction work
In the 14th century, the parish church of Ulm was located outside the walled city. The burghers of Ulm decided to erect a new church within the perimeters of the city and to finance the costs of the erection.
In 1377 the foundation stone was laid. The planned church was to have three naves of equal height, a main spire on the west and two steeples above the choir. In 1392 Ulrich Ensingen (associated with Strasbourg Cathedral) was appointed master builder. It was his plan to make the western church tower the tallest spire (which it is to the current day).
The church, consisting of the longitudinal naves and the choir, covered by a temporary roof, was consecrated in 1405. However, structural damages, caused by the height of the aisles and the weight of the heavy vaulting, necessitated a reconstruction of the lateral naves. The side aisles were supported by a row of additional column in their centre.
In a referendum in 1530/1531, the citizens of Ulm converted to Protestantism during the Reformation and in 1543 construction work was halted at a time when the steeple had reached a height of some 100m. The halt in the building process was caused by a variety of factors which were political and religious (the reformation, the Thirty Years' War, the War of the Spanish Succession) as well as economic (the discovery of the Americas in 1492 and of the sea route to India in 1497, leading to a shift in trade routes and commodities). One result was economic stagnation and a steady decline, preventing major public expenditure. In 1817 work resumed and the three steeples of the church were completed. Finally, on 31 May 1890 the building was completed.
Bombing of Ulm in World War II
A devastating air raid hit Ulm on December 17, 1944, which destroyed virtually the entire medieval city of Neu Ulm with the exception of the Munster.
Works of art
The tympanon of the main Western entrance depicts scenes from the Genesis. The central column bears a sculpture by the local master Hans Multsacher, the Man of Sorrows. These works originated in the late medieval era.
The 15th century choir stalls by Jörg Syrlin the Elder, made from oak and adorned with hundreds of carved busts are among the most famous pews of the Gothic period.
The original main altar was destroyed by the iconoclasts of the reformation. The current altar from the early 16th century is a triptych, showing figures of the Holy Family and the Last Supper in the predella.
The five stained glass windows of the apsis, which is in the form of half a decagon, show biblical scenes and go back to the 14th and 15th century.
The pulpit canopy is by Jörg Syrlin the Younger.
The main organ of the church was destroyed by iconoclasts and replaced in the late 16th century. In 1763 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is known to have played it. For some decades it was the largest organ in existence. In the late 1960s it was reconstructed to solve acoustic problems of reverberation.
In 1877, the Jewish congregation of the synagogue of Ulm - including Hermann Einstein, the father of Albert Einstein - donated money for a statue of the Biblical prophet Jeremiah. The figure was placed below the main organ.
Later renovations in the modern era added gargoyles and a sculpture, The Beggar, by the expressionist Ernst Barlach.
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