St Paul's Cathedral Münster

St Paul's Cathedral Münster

St Paul's Cathedral is one of the defining buildings of Münster's old town.

St Paul's Cathedral in Münster dominates the city centre of Münster simply because of its size. Its 55-metre-high towers can be seen from afar. Construction of the present cathedral began in 1192. The history of its predecessors even goes back to the year 805.

The Roman Catholic church is located only a few metres from the famous Prinzipalmarkt and the historic town hall and should not be missed on a city tour of Münster. A tour of the interior is also highly recommended.

Outside of service times, the cathedral administration offers guided tours of Saint Paul's Cathedral. In addition to bookable group tours, barrier-free tours for people in wheelchairs, tours for the hard of hearing and deaf, tours for the blind and visually impaired, and tours in simple language are also offered.

Regular public tours for individuals take place on Saturdays at 1.30 pm. The maximum number of participants is 25.

The cathedral was built from 1225 to 1265 and consecrated by Bishop Gerhard von der Mark. Its two Romanesque west towers appear almost identical at first glance, but some of them differ significantly in their dimensions. The northern tower is wider and higher than its southern counterpart.

Inside the cathedral is an astronomical clock with a carillon. It is one of the few existing left-turning public clocks. It also shows the phases of the moon and the positions of the planets. Its perpetual calendar extends to the year 2071. Every hour on the hour, a wooden hooter trumpets and its wife rings a bell. Once a day, at noon, metal Magi leave their quarters with two wooden servants and surround a figure of Jesus in the lap of Mary.

The cathedral treasure of St Paul's Cathedral is kept in the cathedral chamber, which was added in 1981. Some of the liturgical objects are still in use today. The exhibition extends over three levels: The lowest level mainly shows historical paraments, while the top level offers a tour through the art-historical epochs to be found at the cathedral by means of selected examples. The middle level shows the most important pieces of the cathedral treasure, including St Paul's head, which dates back to the 11th century, and former furnishing elements of the cathedral, such as a picture cycle by Hermann tom Ring, remains of Brabender's rood screen and a series of monumental reliefs by Gröninger.