Germany Guide
Hesse
Kaiserdom
Address: Römerberg
Opening time: Daily except Fri am 9am– noon & 2.30–6pm
Dominating everything else in the eastern Altstadt is the west tower of the Kaiserdom, not in fact a cathedral at all but the city's principal Catholic church, dedicated to St Bartholomew and the venue for ten imperial coronations between 1562 and 1792. Much of the church dates from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; the tower, built to the designs of Madern Gerthener between 1415 and 1513 but left incomplete for 350 years when its top was added, was for centuries the dominant feature of Frankfurt's skyline. Inside, the tower hall contains a 1509 crucifixion group by the Mainz sculptor Hans Backofen, while the Marienkapelle houses the lovely Maria-Schlaf altar from 1434. The Wahlkapelle where emperors were elected is surprisingly modest. It was used for this purpose from 1356, at a time when the coronations were still taking place in Aachen. The first emperor to be crowned in Frankfurt was the Habsburg Maximilian II. The cathedral cloisters house the Dommuseum (Tues– Fri 10am–5pm, Sat & Sun 11am–5pm; €3), which in addition to displaying seventh-century Merovingian grave goods and the cathedral's ecclesiastical treasure also hosts interesting exhibitions of contemporary art.