Basel Minster (German: Basler Münster ) is a religious building in the Swiss city of Basel , originally a Catholic cathedral and today a Reformed Protestant church.
40-567: Münsterplatz may refer to: Münsterplatz (Bern) Münsterplatz (Basel) , a city square in Basel Minster See also [ edit ] Münsterhof , a town square in Zürich [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about distinct geographical locations with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
80-399: A transept was built. The western facade was finished sometime in the latter part of the 13th century. A third storey was added to northern Georgsturm, and the southern Martinsturm was started. Even though supported by massive pillars , an earthquake in 1356 destroyed five towers, the choir and various vaults . Johannes Gmünd , who was also the architect of Freiburg Minster, rebuilt
120-605: A cathedral before the 9th century. Built on the old foundations of the Haito Minster some time after the turn of the first millennium a new building in the early Romanesque style of the Ottonian period was built by order of Bishop Adalberto II ( c. 999 –1025). Sometimes called “Adalberto Cathedral”, the three-nave cathedral is actually named after its patron Emperor Henry II , in German “Heinrich”. The cathedral
160-407: A church model in his arms, which identifies him as the benefactor. Only after the renovation of the exterior (1880 – 1980), the empress was given a cross as another symbol of identification. Originally, she was carrying gloves. On the right one can see the pictures of a seducer (“Prince of this World") and a misguided virgin. While the virgin smiles and starts to undress, toads and snakes crawl in
200-466: A first attack on the church, during which an altarpiece was tipped over and smashed, they departed for reinforcements. The chaplains took the opportunity to lock the gates of the minster. The returning mob of 200 loud and rowdy men assaulted and finally smashed through the barrier. Once inside the church they destroyed altars, crucifixes , and images of the Virgin Mary and saints. In the course of
240-660: A sundial are located above the archetype. It is remarkable that the sundial of the Basler Münster shows the “wrong time” due to the Basler Zeit . Below the Georgsturm a monumental picture (1372) can be found which shows knight Georg fighting against a remarkably small dragon. After a heavy earthquake in 1356 the Münster, which originally had five steeples , was reconstructed with only two steeples remaining. At
280-479: Is claimed to be Justinianus (343–346 AD). The bishop's see was relocated from Augusta Raurica (today Kaiseraugst) to Minster hill during the Early Middle Ages. According to the archeologist Hans Rudolf Sennhauser this transfer presumably took place at the beginning of the 7th century under bishop Ragnacharius , a former monk of monastery Luxeuil . There is no historical evidence for the existence of
320-455: Is dedicated to Henry II and his wife Kunigunde . The prince-bishop governed the city as representative of the Emperor who gained possession of Basel in 1006. Excavations from 1973 to 1974 prove that the crypt of this building, consecrated in 1019, had not been expanded. At the end of the 11th century a tower made of light-colored limestone and molasse was erected on the western side of
360-532: Is likely to have depicted the Last Judgement. Both were destroyed during the Reformation Era. In contrast, the curvatures depicting prophets and kings, roses, dancing angels and Abraham have been preserved. The benefactors Henry II and his wife, Empress Kunigunde, are portrayed left of the main porch. In the portrait, the emperor, depicted as a surprisingly young and beardless man, is carrying
400-643: The Abbaye Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul , was one of the oldest and best-known monasteries in Franche-Comté , located in what is now the département of Haute-Saône in Franche-Comté , France . The abbey was founded circa 590 by the Irish missionary Saint Columbanus . Columbanus and his companions first settled in cells at Annegray , in the commune of Voivre, Haute-Saône. Looking for a more permanent site for his community, Columbanus decided upon
440-616: The 15th century the major and the minor cloisters were added. The minster served as a bishop’s see until 1529 during the Reformation . Today's congregation forms part of the Evangelical-Reformed Church of the Canton Basel-Stadt . In the 19th century two major restorations took place. From 1852 until 1857 the rood screen was moved and the crypt on the western side was closed. In the 20th century
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#1732773047886480-528: The Burgundian court. Columbanus was exiled from Luxeuil by Theuderic II of Austrasia and the dowager Queen Brunehaut . He was succeeded as abbot by Saint Eustace of Luxeuil , the head of the monastic school, which under Eustace and his successor Saint Waldebert , established a high reputation. The extensive library and the great scriptorium are first attested under Abbot Waldebert (629–670). The school and example of Luxeuil contributed significantly to
520-498: The Minster is located today was a Celtic fortified city in the late Celtic Era in first century BC. The Gallic wall of this city was uncovered during archeological excavations in 1970. Both, the gate site and the historical run of the street, can be partly retraced. This road parted at today's position of the Minster where it is presumed there was a small temple that later was replaced by a Roman fort . The first bishop of Basel
560-485: The abbey's site is built over by the modern town, but the fine Gothic church, built in the 14th century, was not destroyed; neither were the cloisters and conventual buildings, which until the "Association Laws" of 1901 were used as a seminary for the diocese of Besançon , and still remain in existence. The church itself, now known as the Basilica of St. Pierre ( Basilique Saint-Pierre ), has for many years served as
600-526: The afternoon the iconoclasm extended to other churches in Basel as well. The impressive treasure of the minster was saved and remained complete until the Canton of Basel was split into "half-cantons" in 1833. In the 1850s new stained glass windows by Franz Xaver Eggert have been installed. The main front which points at the west is bestrided by two towers. The northern tower is called Georgsturm (64.2 m) and
640-641: The back of the seducer. They should embody the evil. The image dates back to roughly 1280. The statues and brickwork of the cathedral consist of red sandstone which was found in Wiesental and Degerfelden . Until the Reformation, Basel Minster was the church of the bishop and the main church of the Diocese of Basel , whose metropolitan bishop was the Archbishop of Besançon . The bishop’s residence and
680-510: The building ever since the separation of church and state. The City of Basel , however, still contributes three quarters of the building's maintenance costs. Currently the congregations of the Gellert Church and St. James Church , two other churches in Basel, also make up part of the congregation of the Minster. Regular services and special musical events take place in the church throughout the year. The church also hosts many concerts of
720-421: The building. This historic structure remains forming the bottom part of the north tower ( Georgsturm ) today. Heinrich Minster did not possess a tower on the south side. The building as it stands today dates back for the most part to the late Romanesque building constructed in the last third of the 12th century and completed around 1225. On the foundations of the previous buildings a church with three naves and
760-747: The church choir, choral society and various other church organisations. In the choir passage is the sarcophagus of Queen Anne of Habsburg and her son Charles. She had married in 1254 as Gertrude of Hohenberg the future King Rudolf of Habsburg and died in 1281 in Vienna. From there, her body was transferred to Basel. The bones found in her grave (a woman, a child, a man) were transferred in 1770 to Saint Blaise Abbey, Black Forest ; later on to Saint Paul's Abbey, Lavanttal . 47°33′24″N 7°35′32″E / 47.55667°N 7.59222°E / 47.55667; 7.59222 Monastery of Luxeuil Luxeuil Abbey ( French pronunciation: [lyksœj] ),
800-539: The city of Basel and the foothills of the Black Forest and the Jura Mountains . Both of the steeples consist of three lower, undivided storeys and several Freigeschosse . The two lower storeys are simple and block-like. The steeples’ upper storeys soar up the tracery gallery. As those were not constructed simultaneously, they differ slightly in their outer appearance. In contrast to the southern steeple,
840-469: The city of Basel and the minster were destroyed in 1528 and 1529. Numerous citizens stormed many of the churches in Basel, some of them by armed force in order to demolish religious paintings and statues. Huldrych Zwingli , an influential church reformer, condemned the worship of God in the form of pictures as idolatry . A group of 40 armed men is said to have ascended to the minster from the crowded market place at approximately 1 pm on 9 February 1529. After
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#1732773047886880-579: The conversion of the Burgundians . Luxeuil sent out monks to found houses at Bobbio , between Milan and Genoa , where Columbanus himself became abbot, and monasteries at Saint-Valéry and Remiremont . To Luxeuil came such monks as Conon, abbot of Lérins Abbey to prepare for the reform of his monastery, and Saints Wandregisel and Philibert , founders respectively of the abbeys of Fontenelle and Jumièges in Normandy , who spent years in studying
920-460: The damaged cathedral and in 1363 the main altar was consecrated. In 1421 Ulrich von Ensingen , who constructed the towers of the minsters in Ulm and Strasbourg , began the extension of the northern tower ( Georgsturm ). This phase ended in 1429. The southern tower ( Martinsturm ) was completed by Hans Nussdorf on 23 July 1500. This date marks the official architectural completion of the minster. In
960-497: The decline of discipline. The Emperor Charles V curtailed the power of Luxeuil's abbots. In 1634, however, the commendatory abbots ceased, and Luxeuil was joined to the reformed Congregation of St. Vanne . From the report of the "Commission des Réguliers", drawn up in 1768, the community appears to have been numerous and flourishing, and discipline well kept. At the French Revolution the monks were dispersed. Most of
1000-581: The dissolution of the council in Basel because Felix V could not prevail. After the closure of the pontifical university, citizens made an effort to establish a new university. The council’s secretary, Pope Pius II , made it possible to enact the papal bull and to open the Basel University as an independent university on 4 April 1460. During the iconoclasm of the Protestant Reformation , many valuable pieces of art belonging to
1040-634: The eighteenth abbot, Saint Ansegisus , the Emperor Louis the Pious renewed its charters, restored the church and monastic buildings, and reformed discipline. The monastery and the small town that clustered around its walls were devastated by the Vikings in about 886. In 917, it was sacked by the Hungarians . From the 15th century the institution of non-resident commendatory abbots encouraged
1080-623: The intellectual and spiritual stimulation of the Irish monks, the abbey at Luxeuil, dedicated to Saint Peter , soon became the most important and flourishing monastery in Gaul. The community was so large that choir followed choir in the chanting of the office , and at Luxeuil the laus perennis imported from Agaunum went on day and night. Most of the earliest rule that was observed at Luxeuil derived from Celtic monastic traditions, whether or not written down by Columbanus, supplemented increasingly by
1120-400: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Münsterplatz&oldid=581522197 " Category : Place name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Basel Minster The original cathedral
1160-433: The main aim of renovations has been to emphasize the late Romanesque architecture and to reverse some modifications made in the 1850s. Additionally, the floor was returned to its original level in 1975 and the crypt reopened. A workshop dedicated to taking care of the increasingly deteriorating sandstone exterior was set up in 1985. In 1424, Pope Martin V informed Basel’s government that their city has been chosen to be
1200-511: The more formalized Benedictine Rule that was followed throughout the West, which provided for the abbot's orderly election, his relations with his monks, and the appointment of monastic officials and their delegated powers. In 603, a synod accused Columbanus of keeping Easter by the Celtic date, but his severity and the inflexible rule he had established may have been the true cause of friction with
1240-487: The octagonally cross-sectioned steeple and the steeple topping attach only over a rectangle storey at the northern steeple. Comparable to the Freiburger Münster, lank Fialentürme project at the corners of the octagons. An empty column, which originally carried a statue of the Virgin Mary, is situated between the doors of the main porch . As it is typical of many other Gothic church porches, the tympanum above
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1280-528: The older Georgsturm, the lower brighter part that has remained untouched, can still be seen. In 1500 a gorgeous finial was put on top of the Martinsturm. By using the steep spiral stairs in the southern steeple it is possible to see the old church clock from 1883. The belfry is situated in between the two steeples which are connected through a gallery. Georgturm and Martinsturm can both be accessed by 242 stairs. From there one can get an overwhelming view of
1320-476: The original living quarters for the canons of the cathedral chapter were part of the Minster. From the 12th century onwards, the canons lived in their own private homes in the vicinity of the cathedral. On 9 February 1529, all religious images were removed from the cathedral and the Minster became the main congregation in the city of the Swiss Reformed Church , which has been the sole owner of
1360-424: The ruins of a well-fortified Gallo-Roman settlement, Luxovium , about eight miles away. The Roman town had been ravaged by Attila in 451, and was now buried in the dense overgrown woodland that had filled the abandoned site over more than a century, but the place still had the advantage of the thermal baths ("constructed with unusual skill", according to Columbanus' early biographer, Jonas of Bobbio ) down in
1400-404: The rule observed in monasteries which derived their origin from Luxeuil. About 732, a raiding party of Moors under the general Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi , governor of Al-Andalus , penetrating from Arles deep into Burgundy, briefly took possession of Luxeuil and massacred most of the community, including Abbot Mellinus. The few survivors rebuilt the abbey. In 816, under the reforming government of
1440-413: The site of the next council. The main goal of the meetings held by Basel’s council between 1431 and 1449 was to implement a church reform. Following the orders of Pope Eugene IV , president of the council at that time, Julian Cesarini , left Basel in 1438. One year later, on 24 July 1440, Felix V was elected as a counter pope at Basel’s Münsterplatz . The German Emperor, Frederick III , arranged for
1480-508: The southern Martinstower (after St.Martin ) in 1500. One of the main landmarks and tourist attractions of Basel, it adds definition to the cityscape with its red sandstone architecture and coloured roof tiles, its two slim towers and the cross-shaped intersection of the main roof. The Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance lists the Münster as a heritage site of national significance. The hill on which
1520-483: The southern tower is called Martinsturm (62.7 m). The towers are named after Georg and Martin , saints of the knights. Copies of both saints are portrayed by corresponding equestrian sculptures next to the main entrance upon high pilasters below the particular towers. The statue of Holy Martin originated from the year 1340; today, the archetype can be found in the Klingentalmuseum . A mechanic clock and
1560-422: The valley, which still give the town its name of Luxeuil-les-Bains . Jonas described it further: "There stone images crowded the nearby woods, which were honoured in the miserable cult and profane former rites in the time of the pagans". With a grant from an officer of the palace at Childebert 's court, an abbey church was built with a sense of triumph within the heathen site and its "spectral haunts". Under
1600-656: Was built between 1019 and 1500 in Romanesque and Gothic styles. The late Romanesque building, destroyed by the 1356 Basel earthquake , was rebuilt by Johannes Gmünd , who was at the same time employed for building the Freiburg Münster . Ulrich von Ensingen , architect of the towers at the Ulm Minster and the Strasbourg Cathedral , extended the building from 1421. Hans Nußdorf completed
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