Fulda Cathedral

Fulda Cathedral (

The present cathedral stands on the site of the Ratgar Basilica (once the largest

The plans of the new church were drawn up in 1700 by one of the greatest German Baroque architects, Johann Dientzenhofer,^[2] who was commissioned by the Prince-Abbot Adalbert von Schleifras for the new building on the recommendation of the Pope after Dientzenhofer's study trip to Rome in 1699. The deliberate similarity of the church's internal arrangement to that of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is testimony to Dientzenhofer's visit.

The Ratgar Basilica was demolished to make way for the new Baroque structure, on which construction began on 23 April 1704^[3] using in part the foundations of the earlier basilica. In 1707 the shell was completed. The roof was finished in 1708 and the interior in 1712. The new abbey church was dedicated on 15 August 1712. The dedication tablet placed on the facade by von Schleifras gives the dedication as Christus Salvator.^[4]

The new Baroque building, like its predecessor, served as the abbey church and the burial shrine of Saint Boniface.^[2] In 1752 it was elevated to a cathedral on the creation of the Diocese of Fulda. In 1802 Fulda Abbey was dissolved and the cathedral's function as the abbey church ceased, but it continued in operation as the seat of the Bishops of Fulda.

On 4 June 1905 during celebrations of the 1150th anniversary of the death of Saint Boniface a stray firework lodged in the righthand tower and started a fire (it is presumed to have set light to old jackdaws' nests). The tower was burnt out, and the bells Osanna and Bonifatius were destroyed. Other parts of the cathedral were not damaged.

After damage caused by air raids during World War II the cathedral was closed for restoration until 1954.

Pope John Paul II visited Fulda on 17 and 18 November 1980. More than 100,000 people were present on the cathedral square on 18 November to attend the open-air mass celebrated by the Pope.^[5]

Architecture

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Orientation

Like the Ratgar Basilica before it, and St. Peter's in Rome, but unlike the great majority of European churches, Fulda Cathedral is oriented to the west. The main facade onto the cathedral square is the east front, and the choir is located at the west end of the nave. (The Ratgar Basilica had a second choir to the east, which Dientzenhofer did not replicate in his new building).

Dimensions

The cathedral is 99 meters long and 39 meters high into the top of the dome. The main frontage is flanked by two towers 65 meters high.

Form and ground plan

The building is a basilica, with a central aisle and two side aisles, and two transepts separated by the crossing, over which is the dome. The ground plan is thus a cross with double arms. The nave is extended to the east by the addition of an entrance hall, the two facade towers and two domed chapels (St. Andrew's Chapel and St. John's Chapel). Beyond the crossing and the northern transept the chancel continues, with the high altar and beyond it the choir, with the crypt of Saint Boniface beneath. The side aisles run parallel to the main aisle up to the sacristy and the Lady Chapel, which is directly adjacent to the former monastic buildings.

Exterior

Bell towers

The facade is flanked by two towers 65 metres high, the four storeys of which are clearly delineated by ledges. Sandstone statues, greater than life size, by Andreas Balthasar Weber, represent to the right Saint Sturm as abbot, with a mitre, abbot's staff and book, and to the left Saint Boniface as bishop with a crook and a Bible pierced by a dagger. On the third storey are copper and gilt numerals and hands belonging to a mechanical clock and a sundial.

Main portal

Four massive three-quarter columns accompanied by half-pilasters stand to either side of the main portal and support the

Next to the two domed chapels stand a pair of sandstone obelisks about 11 metres high, the function of which, besides being decorative, is to make the facade appear broader. On the Abschlussplatte is a pedestal with four rampant lions, and above them the arms of von Schleifras with various inscriptions.

Interior

The white interior combines elements of St. Peter's Basilica and

The Golden Wheel

A great curiosity in both the old Ratgar Basilica and the later Baroque church and cathedral was the so-called "Golden Wheel" (

Dientzenhofer was inspired in the design of the dome by that of the

Bells

The cathedral has ten bells hung in the two towers: bells 1–3 in the north tower, and bells 4–10 in the south tower.

The Salvator is the only bell now surviving of the set cast in 1897 by Carl & Rudolf Edelbrock. In 1908 Carl Edelbrock added an Osanna.

The Osanna which now hangs in the top storey of the north tower is a different bell, cast by Friedrich Wilhelm Schilling. It is supposed to be one of the best bells he ever cast: the story is that it did not need to be tuned after casting. The present Sturmius and Lioba bells were recast from bells of 1897 which were not in tune with the 1908 Osanna. In 1994 the Karlsruher Glocken- und Kunstgießerei cast five bells to replace another five smaller bells from the set of 1897.

High altar

The sculptor

Organ

Between 1708 and 1713 an organ was built in the new church by the

The Boniface Chapel in the crypt is a survival from the Ratgar Basilica and houses the remains of Saint Boniface, the "Apostle of the Germans", in a sarcophagus, which also has a relief carving and an antependium by Johann Neudecker. During his visit to Fulda in 1980, Pope John Paul II prayed at the tomb of Saint Boniface and in his sermon emphasized Boniface's importance as the beginning of the gospel in Germany.^[9]

Surroundings of the cathedral

To the north of the cathedral is the former St. Michael's Priory, since 1831 the bishop's residence, and the Carolingian St. Michael's Church. Directly attached to the cathedral to the west are the Baroque former conventual buildings of the abbey, constructed between 1771 and 1778, now the Theological Department of the University of Fulda. Nearby is the modern chapel of the Catholic seminary, which was built 1966-1968 by the architect Sep Ruf. South of the monastery is the deanery and the dean's garden, where a lapidarium is now located. In part of the deanery buildings is the cathedral museum.

Cathedral museum

The adjoining cathedral museum contains numerous liturgical vestments and vessels, including the "Silver Altar", dating from the 18th century, which includes a reliquary for the head of Saint Boniface and the dagger with which he was murdered, besides others of his relics.

Cathedral square

On the cathedral square directly in front of the main entrance large open-air concerts regularly take place, sometimes featuring international stars (e.g., José Carreras, Chris de Burgh).

Burials

In the cathedral are buried:

• Saint Boniface, d. 754
• Saint Sturm, d. 779
• King Conrad I, d. 918
• Anna, Landgravine of Hesse, d. 1918
• many of the Prince-Abbots and Bishops of Fulda, including Heinrich von Bibra (d. 1788) and Johannes Dyba (d. 2000)

Images

• 
  East front and cathedral square
• 
  View from the Michaelsberg
• 
  View from the south
• 
  View from the north-west across the Eduard-Schick-Platz

References

Further reading

• Hanke, Daniel, 2008: Der Dom zu Fulda: der Bau und seine Ausstattung. Hamburg: Kovač.
  ISBN 3-8300-3436-9
• Various contributors (Gottfried Rehm, Hans-Jürgen Kaiser, Hilka Steinbach, Gisela Fürle, Christoph Glatter-Götz, Reinhard Menger, Martin Bartsch and Burghard Preusler), 1999: Die große Orgel im Dom zu Fulda. Parzeller, for the Cathedral Chapter of Fulda.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fulda Cathedral.

• Virtual tour of Fulda Cathedral Archived 2010-06-28 at the Wayback Machine