Essener Münster (Essen Minster), Essen, Germany - Roman Catholic Churches on Waymarking.com

"Essen Minster (German: Essener Münster), since 1958 also Essen Cathedral (Essener Dom) is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Essen, the "Diocese of the Ruhr", founded in 1958. The church, dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian and the Blessed Virgin Mary, stands on the Burgplatz in the centre of the city of Essen.
The minster was formerly the collegiate church of Essen Abbey, founded in about 845 by Altfrid, Bishop of Hildesheim, around which the city of Essen grew up. The present building, which was reconstructed after its destruction in World War II, is a Gothic hall church, built after 1275 in light-coloured sandstone. The octagonal westwork and the crypt are survivors of the Ottonian pre-Romanesque building that once stood here. The separate Church of St Johann Baptist stands at the west end of the minster, connected to the westwork by a short atrium – it was formerly the parish church of the abbey's subjects. To the north of the minster is a cloister that once served the abbey.
Essen Minster is noted for its treasury (Domschatz), which among other treasures contains the Golden Madonna, the oldest fully sculptural figure of Mary north of the Alps.
Previous buildings
The site of the cathedral was already settled before the foundation of the Abbey. The Bishop of Hildesheim, Altfrid (r.847-874) is supposed to have founded the order of nuns on his estate, called Asnide (i.e. Essen). A direct attestation of Asnide has not yet been found. But from postholes, Merovingian pottery sherds and burials found near the Minster, it can be concluded that a settlement was in place before the foundation of the Abbey.
The first church
The modern Essen Minster is the third church building on this site. Foundation walls of its predecessors were excavated in 1952 by Walter Zimmermann. The first church on this site was erected by the founders of the Essen Abbey, Bishop Altfrid and Gerswid, according to tradition the first abbess of the order, between 845 and 870. The building was a three aisled basilica with a west-east orientation. Its central and side aisles already approached the width of the later churches on the site. West of the nave was a small, almost square narthex. The arms of the transeptsmet at a rectangular crossing, which was the same height as the nave. Rooms in the east ends of the side aisle were accessible only from the arms of the transepts. It is uncertain whether these rooms were the same height as the side aisles, as Zimmerman thought on the basis of his excavations or the height of the sidechoir, as in Lange's more recent reconstruction. East of the crossing was the choir with a semicircular end, with the rooms that are accessible from the transepts on either side of it.
This first church was destroyed in a fire in 946, which is recorded in the Cologne Annals Astnide cremabatur (Essen burnt down)."
Source: Wikipedia
For further information:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essen_Minster

Type of Church: Cathedral Status of Building: Actively in use for worship Dominant Architectural Style: Gothic Associated Shrines, Art, etc.: http://www.domschatz-essen.de/ Archdiocese: Köln Diocese: Diocese of the Ruhr Address/Location: Burgplatz 2 Essen, Germany 45127 Relvant Web Site: [Web Link] Date of organization: Not listed Date of building construction: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
To log a visit to this waymark, you must post at least one original photo of the site, give the date and a brief description of your visit.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   08/11/2022 dreamhummie visited it 12/27/2017 pepper13 visited it 10/27/2017 Astartus visited it 04/03/2017 Lightnin Bug visited it 02/17/2013 Tante.Hossi visited it

View all visits/logs