Plan of the cathedral.
Bamberg Cathedral.
The Bamberg Cathedral (Bamberg, Germany, completed in the 13th century. The cathedral is under the administration of the Roman Catholic Church and is the seat of the Archbishop of Bamberg.
The cathedral is a late Romanesque building with four imposing towers. It was founded in 1002 by the emperor Henry II, finished in 1012 and consecrated on May 6, 1012. It was later partially destroyed by fire in 1081. The new cathedral, built by St. Otto of Bamberg, was consecrated in 1111, and in the 13th century received its present late-Romanesque form.
The cathedral is about 94 m long, 28 m broad, 26 m high, and the four towers are each about 81 m high. Of its many works of art may be mentioned the magnificent marble tomb of the founder and his wife, the empress Cunigunde, considered the masterpiece of the sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider, and carved between 1499 and 1513.
Another treasure of the cathedral is an equestrian statue known as the Bamberg Horseman (). This statue, possibly depicting the Hungarian king Stephen I, most likely dates to the period from 1225 to 1237.
Construction
In 1004, the construction of the church was commissioned by King Henry II. of Germany. In the same year he laid the foundation stone. In 1007 Bamberg was elevated to a bishopric, only now turning the yet to be finished church into a cathedral. That circumstance may explain why - compared other "imperial" cathedrals, notably the "three by the Rhine" (Mainz, Worms, Speyer)- this one had quite modest dimensions and inititally "only" two towers. The building was erected on a hill upon the foundations of the former Babenburg that gives the town its name. The King had inherited the ruin from his late father. Construction was overseen by his confidant Eberhard von Abenberg. This man also became the first bishop. Bamberg cathedral was consecrated in 1012. In 1014, together wis his wife Cunigunde of Luxembourg, Henry was finally crowned emperor in Rome.
During the next two Holy Roman Empire. The west chancel is dedicated to St. Peter symbolizing the Pope.
Bamberg Cathedral: the nave
Due to its long construction process, several styles were used in different parts of the cathedral, particularly the Romanesque and Gothic ones. Between these two styles is the Transitional style, and this is the style which is characteristic of the nave.
Bells
No.
|
Name
|
Year
|
Caster, Gussort
|
Diameter
(mm)
|
Mass
(kg)
|
Strike tone
(HT-1/16)
|
Tower
|
|
1
|
Apostel
|
1886
|
Friedrich Hamm, Frankenthal
|
1655
|
≈2430
|
h0 +5
|
South-East, lower
|
|
2
|
Kunigunde
|
ca. 1185
|
unknown
|
1589/1590/1596
|
≈3450
|
c1 +13
|
North-East, upper
|
|
3
|
Heinrich
|
13.8.1311
|
unknown
|
1799
|
≈5200
|
cis1 +9
|
North-East, lower
|
|
4
|
Maria
|
1735
|
Johann Ignatius Höhn, Bamberg
|
1335
|
≈1500
|
dis1 +5
|
South-East, upper
|
|
5
|
Georg
|
1972
|
Rudolf Perner, Passau
|
1090
|
780
|
fis1 +10+
|
South-East, upper
|
|
6
|
Peter
|
1972
|
Rudolf Perner, Passau
|
985
|
556
|
gis1 +7
|
South-East, upper
|
|
7
|
Otto
|
1972
|
Rudolf Perner, Passau
|
822
|
310
|
h1 +11−
|
South-East, upper
|
|
8
|
Michael
|
1972
|
Rudolf Perner, Passau
|
653
|
170
|
dis2 +9,5
|
South-East, upper
|
|
9
|
Armeseelen
|
ca. 1200
|
unknown
|
837/844
|
570
|
fis2 −1
|
South-East, upper
|
|
10
|
Messe
|
ca. 1300
|
unknown
|
591
|
≈200
|
gis2 –7
|
South-East, upper
|
Name
|
Year of Cast
|
Caster
|
Diameter
(mm)
|
Mass
(kg)
|
Strike tone
(HT-1/16)
|
|
Zapfendorfer oder Laudes
|
ca. 1200
|
unknown (vgl. Armeseelenglocke)
|
745
|
≈400
|
gis2 −5
|
These two towers show the difference between the two styles of architecture very clearly: the Romanesque on the left and the Gothic on the right.
Sculptures and carvings
Cunigunde and Heinrich II carved in the entrance porch
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