Germany Guide
Northern Bavaria: Franconia
Sebalduskirche
Address: Burgstrasse
Opening time: Daily: Jan– March 9.30am–4pm; April, May & mid-Sept to end Dec 9.30am–6pm; June to mid-Sept 9.30am–8pm
Opposite the Rathaus rises the twin-spired Sebalduskirche, the city's oldest parish church, which dates from the early thirteenth century and has been Protestant since 1525. It's unusually large and magnificent for a mere parish church, its style transitional between Romanesque and Gothic, and the interior has a rich array of artistic treasures. The most eye-catching is the tomb of St Sebald, in which the casket of the city's patron saint is sheltered by an incredibly delicate Gothic canopy, the work of Peter Vischer the Elder and his sons, who laboured from 1508 to 1519 to complete it. In the east choir there is a Crucifixion group by Veit Stoss, the city's most celebrated sculptor. The figures of Mary and St John were created in 1507–08 for the Frauenkirche. Photo plaques in the east choir show the extent of war damage to the church, along with a Cross of Nails from Coventry cathedral.