Eichstätt Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Willibald and St. Salvator is the 11th-century cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Eichstätt and is located in the city of

Eichstätt Eichstätt () is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Dioce ...

, in the state of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, in

Southern Germany Southern Germany (, ) is a region of Germany that includes the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, which includes the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia in present-day Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and the southern portion of Hesse ...

History

The first

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

cathedral of Our Lady and Sts. Willibald and Salvator in Eichstätt was built in the 8th century. The current building is long. Together with the cloister and the mortuary, the two-aisled cathedral is regarded as one of the most important medieval monuments in Bavaria.

Bells

The cathedral has a collection of 18 bells, making it one of the churches with the most bells in Germany. The bells are distributed between the north and south tower and are not rung together, but in four separate groups.

Main Peal

The oldest bell in the peal is dedicated to

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, () and dates from the beginning of the 14th century. The bell named Hallerin was cast by Nuremberg master Hans Glockengießer in 1540. The Magnificat bell of 1975 is also known as the Bishop's Bell (). The Benedict Bell was donated by church musician Wolfram Menschick.

North Tower

South Tower

The two bells of 1256 have a very characteristic sound, resulting from their special rib bell shape (). Two bells are rung for weekday vespers, one bell each for rosary devotions, and every Friday at 11 o'clock for the Passion of Christ.

Death Bell

In the North Tower is the Death Bell (), known as Klag, which is only rung to commemorate the death of a member of the cathedral community. It was probably cast by Hermann Kessler at the beginning of the 14th century and has a strike tone of a″ +¹/₁₆. It weighs about and has a diameter of .

Museum

Attached to the cathedral is a museum name
Cathedral Treasury and Diocesan Museum

Burials

*St Willibald's tomb * Joseph Schröffer

References

* Buildings and structures in Eichstätt (district) Roman Catholic cathedrals in Bavaria Eichstätt {{Bavaria-struct-stub