Wetzlar Cathedral is a large church in the town of
Wetzlar
Wetzlar () is a city in the state of Hesse, Germany. It is the twelfth largest city in Hesse with currently 55,371 inhabitants at the beginning of 2019 (including second homes). As an important cultural, industrial and commercial center, the un ...
, located on the
Lahn
The Lahn is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
It has its source in t ...
river some 50 km north of
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...
(
Hesse
Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Dar ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
). Construction began in 1230 and is still unfinished, since the western front is still missing its northern
belfry. Because of its long period of construction, the church combines
romanesque,
gothic and
baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means t ...
.
The church has never been a
bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...
's seat, and therefore is not a
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
in the English sense. The German term for "cathedral", ''Dom'', often includes churches that lack a ''cathedra'' (a bishop's throne) and instead refers to any large medieval church. In Wetzlar, the main church has been called a ''Dom'' since the 17th century.
In 897,
Rudolf I, Bishop of Würzburg consecrated a
Salvator Church replacing an older church on the same location. In the early 10th century it became a
Collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by ...
devoted to
St. Mary. Around 1170 the church was rebuilt into a romanesque basilica with two western spires. Parts of the western portal are still visible in the contemporary building.
After 1230, the cathedral was rebuilt and extended again. Construction lasted until 1490 and remained unfinished. The church became a
Hall church
A hall church is a church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was invented in the mid-19th century by Wilhelm Lübke, a pioneering German art historian. In contrast to an archi ...
with two towers. Construction of the northern spire was started but abandoned long before completion (see image). The southern tower's steep pinnacle was made of wood and was destroyed by a fire in 1561. It was replaced by the baroque tower roof still extant today.
In World War II the cathedral was damaged by bombs. Most of the damage was repairable, but the precious stained glass windows and the
organ were lost and had to be replaced by modern equipment.
Since the 16th century, Wetzlar Cathedral has been used as a
simultaneum
A shared church (german: Simultankirche), simultaneum mixtum, a term first coined in 16th-century Germany, is a church in which public worship is conducted by adherents of two or more religious groups. Such churches became common in the German-s ...
by both Roman Catholics (whose congregations form part of today's
Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg
The Diocese of Limburg (Latin: ''Dioecesis Limburgensis'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. It belongs to the ecclesiastical province of Cologne, with metropolitan see being the Archdiocese of Cologne.
Its territory encompasses ...
) and Protestants, respectively. Today, the church is the main tourist attraction inside the historical city center of Wetzlar.
Cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
Former collegiate churches
Roman Catholic cathedrals in Hesse
Wetzlar Cathedral
Unfinished cathedrals
Churches in the Diocese of Limburg
{{Germany-RC-cathedral-stub