This & That - Mobile phone blog: 01/10/2008

Saturday, 11 October 2008

Ulmer Münster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulm_Cathedral

Ulm Cathedral (German: Ulmer Münster) is a Lutheran church, the tallest church in the world, with a steeple measuring 161.53 m (530 ft) and containing 768 steps. Located in Ulm, Germany, the church is not a cathedral in the technical ecclesiastical sense, as it has never been the seat of a bishop. (The responsible bishop of the Evangelical Church in Germany resides in Stuttgart.) However, it is a famous example of Gothicecclesiastical architecture and is typically and mistakenly described as a cathedral. After climbing to the top level at 143m there is a panoramic view of Ulm in Baden-Württemberg and Neu-Ulm in Bavaria and, in clear weather, a vista of the Alps from Säntis to the Zugspitze. The final stairwell to the top (known as the 3rd Gallery) is a tall, spiraling staircase that has barely enough room for one person.

Measurements

The church has a length of 123.56m and a width of 48.8m.
The building area is c. 8,260 m².
The height of the central nave is 41.6m, whilst the lateral naves are 20.55m high.
The volume of the edifice is some 190,000m³.
The weight of the main steeple is estimated at 51,500 metric tons.
The church seats a congregation of 2,000.
In the Middle Ages, before pews were introduced, it could accommodate 20,000 people.
The Ulm Münster is the largest Lutheran church and the second largest church in Germany (after Cologne Cathedral).