Climbing the Tallest Church in the World

The Ulm Munster

The Munster is in the city center of Ulm, and is the tallest church in the world, reaching 530 feet.  The foundation stone was laid in 1377, it was consecrated in 1405, but not officially completed until 1890.  When construction began, it was intended to be a Catholic Church, but in 1530 the citizen of Ulm converted to Protestantism, and the church is still a Lutheran place of worship today. 

About halfway up

 

 

For a small fee, you can climb all 768 steps to the top of the steeple.  While Sarah was here visiting over the holidays, we decided it was time to finally make the climb.  We knew Meredith would never make it, so Dan graciously offered to take Meredith to the grocery store while we climbed.

In December 1944 the city of Ulm was heavily bombed, but the church was left intact by the Allied bombers, who used it as a navigational landmark.  Nearly 80% of the city center was demolished, including almost everything surrounding the church, in the effort to destroy military installations and two large truck factories.

 



The column behind Ryan is the final staircase to the top.





From the top of the steeple, you could see the Alps in the distance, and the view over the city and Donau River was very special. It is overwhelming to look down on the city we live in, and to imagine it as it was after that air raid 69 years ago.   

View of the Donau (Danube) River

Ryan did great, and only made a few comments about how tired his legs were getting.  Since we did this on a Saturday, there were quite a few other people making the climb as well, which made it a bit difficult in some narrow sections. 

 

Sarah and Ryan

Climbing to the top of the Munster was something that we had talked about doing since we moved here, and it was a fun (but tiring) experience.