Germany Guide
Northern Bavaria: Franconia
Kaiserdom
Address: Domplatz
Opening time: Daily: April– Oct 8am–6pm; Nov– March 8am–5pm
Price: Free
Domplatz is dominated by the distinctive four-spired silhouette of Bamberg's Kaiserdom, or imperial cathedral. Bamberg's bishopric was established by the Emperor Heinrich II in 1007, but the present cathedral was completed in 1237 in a style that blends late Romanesque and early Gothic elements, and which was influenced by the design of the hilltop cathedral in Laon, France. Heinrich II and his consort Kunigunde are buried in a fabulously elaborate marble tomb between the east and west choirs, carved by Tilman Riemenschneider between 1499 and 1513. Not to be missed either is Veit Stoss's ChristmasAltar in the south transept – the Nuremberg carver's last great work, it dates from 1523. The cathedral's most famous monument is the Bamberger Reiter of 1235, a stone sculpture of a fine-featured, beardless nobleman on horseback, which has over the centuries been regarded as the embodiment of medieval chivalry. The artist is unknown, and it's not known for certain who the subject was either, though the crowning canopy in the form of a city suggests a saint and thus King Stephen I of Hungary, who completed the task of converting his country to Christianity and was later canonized. The cathedral cloisters house the Diözesanmuseum (Diocese Museum; Tues– Sun 10am–5pm; €3), whose prize exhibits are its unique collection of eleventh-century vestments, including Heinrich II's stunning blue-and-gold Sternmantel, made in Regensburg around 1020.