Kirche - UNESCO World Heritage

Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady)

Innenstadt (Old Town) · Free admission

Built between 1227 and 1260 on a French Gothic model, the Liebfrauenkirche is considered one of the earliest Gothic churches on German soil. Its central plan rests on a twelve-petal floor plan, and together with the cathedral it forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The unusual floor plan is no accident but a statement. The twelve radially arranged pillars, together with the rings of chapels, form the shape of a twelve-petalled rose, read as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. The figures of the apostles are painted on eight of the pillars inside, making the idea of the Church as a building supported by the apostles immediately visible. From the right spot in the central nave, the eight visible pillar paintings combine optically into a single closed composition.

Architecturally, the Liebfrauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) marks the moment when French High Gothic arrived in Germany. Pointed arches, cross-rib vaults and slender walls pierced by tall windows replaced, here for the first time on German soil, the massive Romanesque building style still visible in the immediately neighboring cathedral. The two churches stand wall to wall and are easy to compare on a single walk, which makes the stylistic shift from Romanesque to Gothic sacred architecture very tangible.

During World War II, the Liebfrauenkirche suffered heavy damage and was restored after 1945. Today it serves as a Catholic parish church and is generally open to visitors during the day, with possible restrictions around services. Since the Dom and the Liebfrauenkirche stand directly next to each other, it is worth visiting both buildings in one go, ideally combined with a look into the adjoining cathedral treasury.