1.2 Construction of the current building

Archbishop Albrecht II von Kefernburg decided to construct a completely new cathedral. Since Albrecht was very educated for its time and studied in France and Italy, he knew about the new Gothic architecture developed in France, but yet completely unknown in Germany. Subsequently he decided to build the new cathedral in the modern French style. Yet the craftsmen did not know the style, and only slowly learned the gothic style. The construction of the choir started in 1209, only two years after the fire that destroyed the previous church, but this choir is still in a very romanesque style, initially still using romanesque groin vaults, combined with a gothic center stone, which however is not needed for romanesque groin vaults.

The gothic influence increased especially between 1235 and 1260 under archbishop Wilbrand. As the construction was supervised by different people in the span of 300 years, lots of changes were made to the original plan, and the cathedral size expanded greatly. The people of Magdeburg were not always happy with this, since they had to pay for the construction. In some cases already constructed walls and pillars were torn down to suit the wishes of the current supervisor.

Construction stopped after 1274. In 1325, archbishop Burchard III. von Schraplau was killed by the people of Magdeburg because of extreme taxes. Folklore says that especially the beer tax increase caused much anger. Afterwards Magdeburg was under a ban, and only after the donation of five atonement altars did the construction of the cathedral continue under archbishop Otto von Hessen. Otto was also able to complete the interior construction, and formally opened the dome in 1363 in a week-long festival. At this time the cathedral was dedicated not only to Saint Maurice as before, but also to Saint Catherine.

In 1360 the construction stopped again after the uncompleted parts have been covered provisionally. Only in 1477 did the construction start again under archbishop Ernst von Sachsen, including the two towers. The towers were constructed by master builder Bastian Binder, the only master builder of the cathedral known by name. The construction of the cathedral was completed in 1520 with the placement of the ornamental cross on the north tower.

1.3 Luther, the Swedes, and Napoleon

On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, starting the protestant reformation leading to protestantism. Luther also preached in Magdeburg in 1524. Some smaller churches in Magdeburg changed to protestantism soon thereafter. The unpopularity of the archbishop Albrecht von Brandenburg also furthered the reformation, and after his death in 1567 there was no successor. Magdeburg became a leader in the protestant reformation, and was outlawed by the emperor. The catholic church stored the cathedral treasure in Aschaffenburg for safekeeping, but the treasure was lost later to the Swedes in the Thirty Years' War. The Priests of the cathedral also changed to protestantism, and on the first advent Sunday in 1567 the first protestant mass was held in the cathedral.

However, during the Thirty Years' War 1618– 1648 Magdeburg was raided, and only a small group of 4000 citizens survived the murdering, raping, and looting by seeking refugee in the cathedral. The head priest Reinhard Bakes begged on his knees for the lives of his people before Johan Tzerclaes, Count of Tilly. The cathedral survived the fires in the city, and was dedicated again to the catholic religion. However, as the Swedish forces left Magdeburg, the cathedral was completely looted, and the colorful windows were shot out. 20,000 people of Magdeburg died during the war, and at the end of the war Magdeburg had a population of only 400. Magdeburg became part of Brandenburg, and was transformed into a large fortress.

In 1806 Magdeburg was given to Napoleon, and the cathedral was used for storage, and also as a horse barn and a sheep pen. The occupation ended in 1814, and between 1826 and 1834 Frederick William III of Prussia financed the much needed repairs and reconstruction of the cathedral. The glass windows were all replaced in 1900.

1.4 The 20th Century

The cathedral survived World War I without damage. During World War II, most of Magdeburg was destroyed, and the frequent bombings destroyed all windows of the cathedral. During the heaviest firebombing on January 16 1945, one bomb hit the dome on the west side, destroying the wall, the organ, and some other parts of the building. Fortunately the fire brigades were able to extinguish all the firebombs in the roof structure in time, and the damage to the cathedral was only moderate and repairable. The cathedral was opened again in 1955, and a new, smaller organ was installed at a different location in 1969.

After World War II Magdeburg fell under Russian occupation, who established the Communist Party-led state German Democratic Republic in 1949. Communism tried to suppress religion as a potential threat for the communist doctrine, and being active in church was a disadvantage for other social advances. However, they were unable to eradicate religion, and there were weekly peace prayers in the cathedral since 1983 in front of the Magdeburger Ehrenmahl, a sculpture by Ernst Barlach. This lead to the famous Monday demonstrations in 1989 in Leipzig and Magdeburg, which played a large role in the German reunification.

Currently, the cathedral is under reconstruction that started already during the East German regime in 1983. In 1990 a number of solar cells have been installed on the roof, being the first solar installation on a church in East Germany. The solar cells provide energy for use in the church, and excess energy is added to the regional power network. The maximum output is 418 Watt. In 2004 a funding drive for a new organ that was started in 1997 was completed, collecting 2 Million Euro. The new organ has been ordered from a company near Potsdam, constructing a 36 ton instrument with 93 registers and approximately 5000 pipes. The construction is planned to be completed in 2007, and the new organ will hopefully be used for the first time in 2008.

The Magdeburger Ehrenmahl in the cathedral is also again the starting point of many Monday demonstrations, this time aimed against social reforms reducing government welfare. However, these demonstrations are on a much smaller scale, and the comparison to the Monday demonstrations of 1989 is mainly for publicity reasons.

2 Architecture

The current cathedral was constructed over the period of 300 years starting from 1209, and the completion of the steeples took place only in 1520. As the Gothic architecture style was developed in the 12th century in France, there were no previous examples of gothic architecture in Germany, and German craftsmen were still very unfamiliar with the style at the start of the construction. Hence they learned by doing, and their progress can be seen in small architectural changes over the construction periods, which started with the Sanctuary in the east side of the church near the river Elbe and ended with the top of the towers. This sanctuary shows a strong Romanesque architecture influence. Different than other French gothic cathedrals, Magdeburg cathedral does not have flying buttresses for support of the walls.

The building has an inside length of 120 meter, and a height to the ceiling of 32 meter. The towers rise to 104 meter, and are the highest church towers in eastern Germany. The layout of the cathedral consists of one nave and two aisles, with one transept crossing the nave and aisles. Each side of the transept has an entrance, the south entrance leading into the cloister. The ceiling in the nave is higher than in the aisles, allowing for clerestory windows to give light to the nave. There is a separate narthex (entrance area) in the west. The presbytery in the east is separated from the nave by a stone wall, serving the same function as a rood screen. The sanctuary and the apse follow the presbytery. The apse is also surrounded by an ambulatory . (See Cathedral diagram for details on cathedral layouts) A secondary building around a large non-rectangular cloister is connected to the south side of the cathedral. The cloister, whose south wall survived the fire of 1207 and is still from the original church was parallel to the original church. Yet, the current church was constructed at a different angle, and hence the cloister is at an odd angle with the church.

The ground around the Elbe river in Magdeburg is soft, and it is difficult to construct tall buildings, except for one large rock. Hence the cathedral was constructed on top of this rock, called Domfelsen in German, which means Cathedral Rock. At low water levels, this rock is visible in the Elbe. As in old times low water meant a small harvest, this rock is also called Hungerfelsen, meaning starvation rock. In any case, the rock was not big enough for the cathedral, and on the west end only the north tower could be placed on a solid rock foundation, whereas the south tower stands on soft ground. To reduce weight the south tower is therefore only an empty shell with no interior or stairs, and all the heavy bells are in the north tower with a solid rock foundation. However, the south tower is slightly higher than the north tower, which is optically corrected by adding an ornamental cross on the north tower.

3 Art

Despite the looting and plundering, the Cathedral of Magdeburg is rich in art, ranging from antiques to modern art. The following list is not complete and only a summary of the most significant pieces. The list is roughly sorted by the time of creation.

• Antique pillars made from marble, porphyry, and granite are used in the apse, originating from buildings Ravenna, transported to Magdeburg for the construction of the first building in 937
• The Baptismal font made of rose porphyr from a site near Assuan, Egypt. Originally designed as a fountain with a hole in the center, the item may be thousands of years old, and is still used for baptism today.
• The Grave of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor from 973. During an exhumation in 1844 it was found that the grave contains a skeleton and some remains of clothes, but all offerings have been looted, presumably during the thirty year war. The Latin bronze inscription is made similar to historic designs.
• The sculpture of Saint Maurice, created around 1250, is the first realistic depiction of an ethnic African in central European art, showing clearly the ethnic features as for example a broad nose. The figure is no longer complete.
• The sculpture of Saint Catherine, also around 1250, was created by the same artist as the sculpture of Maurice.
• The Royal Couple (Herscherpaar) in the sixteen sided chapel, also around 1250, shows a very realistic and lifelike expression. The identity of the couple is unknown, but may be Emperor Otto I and his wife Editha, or Jesus in heaven with his wife the holy church.
• The sculptures of the five wise and the five foolish virgins (see The ten virgins from the List of Bible stories), also around 1250. This is the most remarkable piece of art in the cathedral. The five wise virgins are prepared and bring oil to a wedding, whereas the five foolish virgins are unprepared and bring no oil. Hence they have to go find oil and subsequently arrive late and cannot join the wedding anymore. The unknown artist masterfully expresses the emotions in the faces and the body languages of the girls, showing a much more realistic expression than what was common in art around that time. All figures are different, and have ethnic Slavic features. The sculptures are outside of the north entrance to the transept.
• The seats in the choir from 1363 are masterfully carved and show the live of Jesus. The unknown master also created the seats in the choir in Bremen.
• The Magdeburger Ehrenmahl by Ernst Barlach was ordered as a heroic war memorial, but due to his voluntary participation during World War I Barlach was against the war and showed the pain and suffering of the war instead. This created a great controversy, and the work was almost destroyed. The spot in front of this sculpture was also the starting point of the Monday demonstrations
• The Lebensbaumkruzifix (literally: Tree of life cross) is a painted bronze sculpture from 1986 and expanded in 1988 that shows Jesus nailed to a tree instead of a cross. Jesus is attached to the tree only with his hands and feet, and is otherwise hanging freely. The sculpture was designed not only to be viewed from the front but from all sides. The tree is barren except for a small leave of hope/life where the blood of Jesus drips on the tree. The artist, Prof. Jürgen Weber, wanted the sculpture to be the center piece near the altar, but the sculpture was placed on the south side of the transept against his wishes.

4 Tourist Info

Days	Opening Times	Guided Tours
Monday till Saturday	10:00 to 16:00 (18:00 in Summer)	10:00 and 14:00 (except Monday)
Sunday	11:30 to 16:00 (18:00 in Summer)	11:30 and 14:00

Religious Services: Sunday, 10:00 to 11:30, and church holidays
Special permission for photography is needed and can be obtained near the entrance.

5 References

• Nicola Coldstream (2002) "Medieval Architecture (Oxford History of Art)", Oxford University Press, ISBN: 0192842765
• "Der Dom zu Magdeburg", DKV Kunstführer Nr. 415/2, München
• Buchholz, Ingelore (2001): "Magdeburg: Der Stadtführer", Verlag Janos Stekovics, BooksEnthsiast.com
• Sussman, Michael (1997): "Der Dom zu Magdeburg", Passau
• Ullmann, Ernst (1989): "Der Magdeburger Dom: ottonische Gründung und staufischer Neubau", Leipzig

6 See also

• Cathedral diagram
• Cathedral architecture
• List of tallest churches

7 External Links

• Official Homepage of Magdeburg
• Magdeburg Cathedral by Andrew Love
• Der Magdeburger Dom (in German)
• Kirchen und Klöster zu Magdeburg (in German)
• City of Magdeburg Tourist Information
• Catholic Encyclopedia

German cathedrals Gothic architecture

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