Germany Guide
Thuringia
The Dom
Address: Domplatz
The High Gothic choir of the Dom looms over the platz like the bows of a cruise-liner, perched atop a massive medieval substructure that expands the hilltop of a previous Romanesque cathedral. A monumental staircase – a superb stage for evening spectaculars during summer's Domstufenfestspiele – sweeps up to a triangular porch tacked on the north side, while a large tracery arrow at its portal follows to the letter Gothic's guiding dictum to direct eyes up to heaven. Behind statues of the five wise virgins of St Matthew cradle goblets of oil beside foolish colleagues. The lofty cathedral within exudes the mysticism of the early church. Some of Germany's finest medieval stained glass fills the slender lancet windows that stretch full-length in the choir, while in the south transept are a number of artworks from the original Dom, noticeably the twelfth-century "Wolfram" candelabrum – with a bearded figure sprouting from dragons as a symbol of the light of Christianity. Nearby are the tombstone of Count von Gleichen, a thirteenth-century bigamist pictured with his two wives, and a Romanesque stucco altar of an enthroned Madonna ablaze with stars. Medieval altarpieces wrapped around the columns catch the eye – as does east Germany's largest mural of St John the Baptist, Gothic sea-monsters swimming around his legs – but the finest artwork is a sumptuous Cranach altarpiece in a north-aisle chapel that depicts the Madonna and saints Catherine and Barbara with the intimacy of a family snapshot. Tours twice daily (April– Oct Thurs– Sun; €2.50) ascend the tower to view the world's largest free-swinging medieval bell, the 2.5m-high Gloriosa whose deep toll sounds far beyond the town centre on religious high days, though there are no views.