Augsburg Cathedral
Augsburg Cathedral stands in the heart of Bavaria with a secret hidden beneath its floors: the excavated foundations of a building that may date to the 4th century, predating Christianity's firm hold on this part of Europe. That ancient layer sits within what was once the Roman walls of Augusta Vindelicorum, the city the Romans built long before Augsburg took its modern name. What questions does that buried past raise about everything built on top of it? How does a single building absorb a thousand years of fire, reform, and artistic ambition and still hold together as one cathedral? The answers lie in bronze panels, prophets rendered in glass, and the particular stubbornness of red brickwork.
The first church on the site is documented from 822, though historians trace its origins back even further to the reigns of bishops Wikterp and Simpert in the late 8th century. That early structure did not survive intact. The Magyars damaged the building, and it took the authority of Bishop Ulrich to restore it in 923. A second blow came in 994, when the western apse crumbled. Empress Adelaide stepped in to fund the repairs, lending imperial weight to the cathedral's survival.
Bishop Henry III commissioned the Romanesque structure that forms the cathedral's bones today, beginning in 1043. It was finished by 1065, and the two towers that the source says are visible from the whole city were completed ten years later, in 1075. A century of Gothic ambition followed, stretching from 1331 to 1431, during which builders added the eastern choir and other Gothic elements to the older Romanesque shell.
The Protestant Reformation stripped the interior of most of its religious artworks, though some pieces eventually returned. The 17th century brought Baroque redesign. Then the 19th century reversed part of that, restoring the interior toward its late medieval character while introducing neo-Gothic elements. The northern tower was also heightened in 1565, an alteration that changed the cathedral's silhouette for good. World War II caused only limited damage, concentrated in the Chapel of Our Lady.
One object in Augsburg Cathedral carries the weight of the whole 11th century. The bronze door, originally positioned in the southern choir portal, is now housed in the Cathedral's Museum. Its 35 panels are arranged in two vertical series, each reading like a compressed theological library.
The left series moves through the Old Testament: the creation of Eve and her meeting with Adam, the Garden of Eden and the Serpent, Moses transforming his rod into a serpent, the miracle of Aaron over the Egyptians' rods, and Samson both taming a lion and killing the Philistines. The right series turns to the New Testament, depicting the woman who lost a piece of silver, the birds of heaven, and a vineyard. It also names predecessors of Christ by name: Melchizedek, Moses, Aaron, David, Judas Maccabaeus, and other Prophets.
Between the sacred figures, the craftsman worked in lions, bears, birds, and centaurs. These are elements of medieval symbolism rather than scripture, and they remind a modern visitor that the people who made this door lived in a world where religious narrative and natural wonder were not clearly separated. The door is now off the cathedral floor, in the museum, but its 35 panels remain a complete medieval argument cast in metal.
Five stained glass windows in the southern clerestory carry a distinction that belongs to no other windows in the country. Dated to the late 11th to early 12th centuries, they are the oldest surviving stained glass windows in Germany. They portray the prophets David, Jonah, Daniel, Moses, and Hosea, and the source notes they may once have been part of a larger series whose other panels are now missing.
The southern aisles hold a separate set of medieval windows from between 1330 and 1340, depicting stories of the Virgin Mary. These are centuries younger than the clerestory windows but still medieval in origin. The western choir holds a more recent addition: three windows by Johannes Schreiter that represent the Coming of the Kingdom of God through symbolic imagery. Three distinct campaigns of glassmaking, across nearly a millennium, exist within the same building.
Hans Holbein the Elder painted four scenes from the life of Mary on the nave pillars in 1493. That same year places this work in the decades before the Reformation would strip the interior. The northern transept carries a series of bishop portraits begun in 1488 and continued through to modern times, making it a living record of the diocese stretching across centuries.
Augsburg Cathedral is built on a basilica plan with a nave and four aisles, primarily in red brickwork supported by buttresses. One of its more unusual features is the absence of a true facade and the presence of two choirs. The western apse is preceded by a transept, and the towers end with triangular pediments and copper spires. In front of the building lie the excavated foundations of the 10th-century church of St. John and remains of the Roman walls themselves.
The southern portal, dated to 1356, is carved with scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary on the tympanum and central column, while the jambs carry stories of the apostles. The northern portal, from 1343, shows the Annunciation, the Birth of Christ, the Adoration of the Magi, and the Death and Coronation of the Virgin. Some of those figures have since been moved inside the cathedral.
Other furnishings trace the full range of the building's long life. The bishop's throne dates to around 1100 and rests on two crouched lions. The bronze tomb of Bishop Wolfhart Rot, made in 1302, anchors the medieval commemorative tradition. A large fresco of St. Christopher in the southern transept was painted in 1491. The Chapel of Our Lady was designed in 1720-21 by Gabriel de Gabrieli. The cathedral also holds a Romanesque crypt beneath the western choir, dating to the 10th century, and an attached cloister that gives the whole complex a monastic edge.
Common questions
When was Augsburg Cathedral founded?
Augsburg Cathedral's first known church is documented from 822, with origins traced to the late 8th century reigns of bishops Wikterp and Simpert. The current Romanesque structure was commissioned by Bishop Henry III in 1043 and completed in 1065.
What are the oldest stained glass windows in Germany and where are they?
The oldest surviving stained glass windows in Germany are the five windows in the southern clerestory of Augsburg Cathedral, dated to the late 11th to early 12th centuries. They depict the prophets David, Jonah, Daniel, Moses, and Hosea.
Who painted the nave pillar works in Augsburg Cathedral?
Hans Holbein the Elder painted four scenes from the life of Mary on the nave pillars in 1493. The works predate the Protestant Reformation, which later stripped much of the cathedral's religious art.
What is the bronze door in Augsburg Cathedral?
The bronze door is an 11th-century work originally located in the southern choir portal and now housed in the Cathedral's Museum. It consists of 35 panels arranged in two series, depicting Old Testament and New Testament scenes alongside figures such as Melchizedek, Moses, Aaron, David, and Judas Maccabaeus.
How large is Augsburg Cathedral and how tall are its towers?
Augsburg Cathedral measures 113 by 40 metres. Its two towers stand 62 metres high and were completed in 1075.
What is the Chapel of Our Lady in Augsburg Cathedral?
The Chapel of Our Lady is a chapel within Augsburg Cathedral designed in 1720-21 by Gabriel de Gabrieli. It suffered limited damage during World War II, which was the main area of harm the cathedral sustained in that conflict.
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