The present cathedral was built from 1040 onwards by Bishop Bruno of Würzburgis. It likely was the third church on the site: the previous two, built in about 787 and 855, were respectively destroyed and severely damaged by fire. After Bruno's accidental death in 1045, his successor Adalbero completed the building in 1075. Due to several rebuildings, notably after 1133, the cathedral was only consecrated in 1187. This church already had the strong cross lay-out still present today: a long nave with a high choir, the broad transept and the two narrow western towers. After 1237, the originally lower eastern towers were raised, showing features of early Gothic style. The side aisles were remodelled in about 1500 in the late Gothic style. The stuccoist Pietro Magno decorated the cathedral in Baroquestucco work in 1701-04. In 1721-34, Balthasar Neumann built the burial chapel for the Schönborn bishops, north of the transept. Around the foot of the eastern tower, he also added a Baroque vestry and Ornatkammer. Additional changes made to the western façade and towers in 1879-85 were removed after 1946. The greater part of the building collapsed in the winter of 1946 in consequence of the fire bombing of Würzburg on 16 March 1945. Reconstruction was completed in 1967, in the course of which the Baroque components were removed in favour of a re-Romanisation. The new interpretation emphasizes the contrast between the surviving historical parts of the structure, resulting in a sometimes controversial combination of predominantly Romanesque with modern and Baroque elements. The Romanesque Revivalwest front with a rose window, the tripartite gallery and the opening for the clock were combined during the reconstruction with a plain pumice stone wall, and revealed again during renovation work up to November 2006. In 1988 the choir was redesigned by Hubert Elsässer. The stucco ceiling that had collapsed in 1946 was not rebuilt, but replaced by a flat wooden ceiling.
Description
With a length of 103 metres, the cathedral is reckoned to be the fourth largest Romanesque basilica in Germany.
Works of art
The cathedral contains numerous works of art, of which the following are of especial note:
Double crypt. The eastern part dates from 1040 and contains the tomb of Bruno. The western one was demolished around 1700 but rebuilt after 1962. It features an old well, the tomb of Conrad of Querfurt and the oldest piece of art of the cathedral: a bearded face which may be Carolingean or even Merovingian in origin.
Burial chapel/Sepulture: Like the chapter hall above, the Gothic structure was destroyed in the bombing raids but has been rebuilt. It now contains a cycle of stained glass by Georg Meistermann.
The main organ was built in 1969 by the organ builders Klais. There is a second organ for the choir, and a third is planned for 2010.
Bells
The cathedral today has 20 bells, with a total combined weight of 26 tons. The largest is the Salvator Bell with a diameter of 2.3 m and weighing in at 10 tons. Of the old bells only the "Lobdeburg Bell", by Cunradus Citewar of Würzburg, the most prominent bellfounder of his time, dates from 1257. Because it was taken down in 1933 and stored in the crypt, it is the only ancient bell of the cathedral to have survived the firestorm caused by the bombing of 16 March 1945. It now hangs in the south-west tower and is rung every Friday at 3.00 p.m., to mark the hour of the death of Jesus Christ. All the other bells melted and the liquid metal ran down into the basement of the towers, where the stored Cathedral treasure was destroyed.
Between 1971 and 1975 the Würzburg Synod convened in the cathedral at the wish of Cardinal Döpfner, to determine the application of the Second Vatican Council to Germany.
