Schleswig Cathedral: A Romanesque and Gothic Cathedral in Germany
Site at a Glance
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- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Danish, German
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Cathedral
On this page30 sections
History
Schleswig Cathedral is a medieval cathedral in Schleswig, Germany, whose present building developed from a Romanesque basilica into a Late Gothic hall church. Its first written mention dates to 1134, while the surviving Romanesque transept was completed around 1200, the Gothic choir around 1300, and the wider church during the sixteenth century. A Neo-Gothic western tower, completed in 1894, now forms a prominent part of its external silhouette.
Foundation and Romanesque construction
A mission church had been established at Haithabu in 850. Between 947 and 949, King Otto I created three bishoprics on the Jutland peninsula, including the bishopric of Schleswig in 947. A first cathedral was built in Schleswig, although its location and dimensions are unknown. The present cathedral was the first church constructed on its current site.
The cathedral entered the historical record in 1134, when citizens of Schleswig killed the Danish king Niels at his castle after he refused to seek refuge in St. Peter’s Church. The church of that period was a three-aisled, flat-roofed Romanesque basilica. Romanesque architecture is characterized by massive masonry, round arches, and heavy proportions. Its Romanesque walls had a rubble core of fieldstone, facing of tuff from the Middle Rhine region, and granite architectural elements. Brick became the principal building material from about 1180.
The surviving Romanesque transept, the cross-arm of the church, was completed around 1200. It remains uncertain whether the original granite-and-tuff building was ever fully completed or whether it possessed the two western towers represented on the Petri Portal. The cathedral became an important setting for Danish ecclesiastical and royal affairs during this period.
Royal ceremonies and medieval expansion
In the summer of 1218, a major assembly at the cathedral was attended by 15 bishops and three dukes. During the gathering, nine-year-old Waldemar, son of King Waldemar II of Denmark, was anointed and crowned junior king of Denmark. The ceremony may also have marked the dedication of the Romanesque basilica in the presence of its patron, Waldemar II. A Christian missionary inscription on the tympanum of the Petri Portal is associated with this setting.
In 1222, Cardinal Gregorius held a council at Schleswig attended by all the bishops of Denmark. The cathedral was the church of the bishop and cathedral chapter, the body of clergy responsible for its administration and worship. Its High Choir served as the principal place of worship for the bishop, the canons, and 16 choir vicars. The building also functioned as a parish church and contained a St. Lawrence altar whose precise location is unknown.
Two towers and parts of the basilica collapsed in 1275. Construction then resumed with a High Gothic choir, completed around 1300. From 1200 to 1408, the Romanesque basilica was expanded into a Late Gothic hall church, whose aisles were broadly integrated with the central space. Work on the church continued until the building was completed during the sixteenth century.
The cathedral chapter and its religious institutions
The cathedral chapter exercised parish patronage and appointed the rector. A chapter register from 1445 to 1450 lists 16 long-established vicariates, or endowed posts for priests serving particular altars or religious duties. An inventory from 1532 lists 25 altars or chapels and additional vicariates.
The choir vicars, altar priests, and their deputies formed a brotherhood called the Kaland, which maintained a Holy Trinity altar. A Rosary Brotherhood of clergy and laypeople existed from 1481 and also possessed an altar. The Marian Brotherhood had maintained an altar served by four priests from about 1450.
The chapter employed an organist, bell ringer, and lamp lighter. Its treasurer maintained three continuously burning lamps in the cathedral. The chapter also supervised a priest school in the choir and a broader chapter school, first recorded in 1307.
Reformation and Lutheran reorganization
The Reformation, the sixteenth-century religious movement that produced Protestant churches and transformed western European institutions, reached Schleswig as many citizens adopted Martin Luther’s teachings. The bishop and chapter initially resisted the change. After the former monk Friedrich forcibly occupied the cathedral pulpit with civic support, King Frederick I appointed the Lutheran pastor Marquard Schuldorp of Wittenberg in 1527.
Because the chapter refused to support Schuldorp, his initial income came only from the revenues of the St. Lawrence altar. In 1528, Frederick I assigned him the revenues of the vacant St. Andrew’s vicarage, whose administration had been entrusted to the city council. In 1531, Schuldorp’s successor, R. Westerholt, received the revenues of the Holy Spirit Church and the church on Holm. Both parish churches were abolished, and their congregations were transferred to the cathedral, which became Schleswig’s principal Lutheran parish church.
The chapter continued holding services in the choir according to the old faith until King Christian III compelled Bishop Gottschalk in 1533 to recognize the new arrangements, grant the king rights over appointments, and restrict the chapter’s worship in the cathedral. After Gottschalk died in 1541, Christian III and the chapter agreed on a comprehensive reorganization.
The church ordinance of 1542 replaced the Catholic bishop with a Lutheran bishop whose spiritual jurisdiction extended across the duchy of Schleswig. The chapter was retained with eight canons, three of whom received leadership and teaching duties at the new cathedral school. Tilemann von Hussen became the first Lutheran bishop. The separate estates and revenues of the bishop and chapter, including those belonging to the cathedral, were combined as ecclesiastical endowment property for the Lutheran successor institutions.
Later institutional and architectural history
In 1563, under Prince-Bishop Adolf and especially through the efforts of his superintendent Paul von Eitzen, a public learned school was established in the Schwahl, the covered passage on the north side of the nave. After the school ended around 1583, the Schwahl hosted the cathedral market until 1887. The present Christmas Schwahl Market continues this long tradition, with proceeds supporting endangered works of art in the cathedral.
The Catholic bishopric of Schleswig was dissolved in 1624. Schleswig Cathedral is now the principal church of Schleswig and the preaching church of the bishop of the Schleswig and Holstein district of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany. Its congregation is divided into the districts Dom-West, Dom-East, and St. Jürgen and is administered by a 13-member church council.
When Schleswig became the capital of the Prussian province in the late nineteenth century, a large Neo-Gothic western tower was begun in 1888 at the request of Emperor Wilhelm II. Neo-Gothic architecture uses nineteenth-century forms modeled on medieval Gothic buildings. The tower was completed in 1894, with construction financed by French reparations paid to the German Empire.
The tower’s poor condition required structural work between 1953 and 1956. Reinforced concrete was used and the exterior was refaced with brick, while much of the Neo-Gothic ornament was removed, leaving a simplified form. Different expansion properties in the materials used for the 1950s exterior shell later caused moisture problems, cracking, and spalling bricks. Protective measures began in 2011, planning followed from 2015, and restoration of the cathedral, especially the west gable and west tower, took place from November 2017 to early 2022. The cathedral is recognized as a protected cultural monument in Schleswig-Holstein and is regarded as one of the state’s important architectural monuments.
Remains
Schleswig Cathedral is approximately 100 metres long. Its principal fabric records successive building phases, beginning with a Romanesque basilica and continuing through a Gothic hall choir and Late Gothic hall church. The Romanesque walls contain fieldstone rubble cores with tuff facing and granite architectural members, while brick became the dominant material from about 1180. The Romanesque transept, completed around 1200, remains part of the building, and the Gothic hall choir was constructed between 1275 and 1300.
Romanesque entrance and chapter buildings
Petri Portal
The Petri Portal, dating from about 1180, is the Romanesque entrance to the cathedral. Its construction combines granite, red sandstone from Scania, limestone from Gotland, and tuff from the Rhineland. The tympanum shows Christ among evangelists and saints. The figure receiving a key is probably Simon Peter, while the figure receiving a scroll bearing the Christian missionary commission is probably Paul. A weathered lion sculpture stands beside the portal, and another is embedded in the outer wall of the canons’ sacristy.
Canons’ sacristy
The canons’ sacristy was built around 1480 as a room for vestments and liturgical equipment, and as a meeting room for the cathedral chapter. From 1567 it served as a lecture room for the cathedral school. After the Reformation, it was converted into a princely burial crypt for the Gottorf dukes.
Schwahl cloister
The three-winged brick cloister on the north side of the nave was built between 1310 and 1320 under Bishop Johannes II of Bokholt. Called the Schwahl, it forms a processional passage leading out of the church and back into it. Restored frescoes from the construction period show scenes from the life of Jesus in the wall panels and fantastic creatures in the vaults.
In 1894, the restorer Albert Olbers added a frieze of turkeys beneath the medieval scene of the Massacre of the Innocents. During the 1930s, the later art forger and restorer Lothar Malskat falsely claimed that the turkeys were medieval, presenting them as supposed evidence that Vikings had reached America before Christopher Columbus. Kurt Wehlte’s technical examination in 1948 showed that the frieze was forged, and Malskat retracted his claim in 1952. The turkey frieze remains visible. Malskat also confessed to other forgeries made during restoration work in 1938, including a monumental Salvator Mundi in a side aisle.
The extensive Schwahl frescoes are protected from dirt and condensation by limiting regular public access. They can be seen during guided visits and on selected occasions associated with the annual Schwahl Market.
Choir and funerary monuments
High Choir
Bishop Berthold enlarged and decorated the High Choir toward the end of the thirteenth century. Its frescoes depict the Annunciation, the Coronation of the Virgin, St. Catherine, St. Philip, St. Peter, the Deesis, and angels. The Deesis is an image of Christ in majesty accompanied by figures who intercede for humanity, normally including the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist.
High Choir stalls
The High Choir stalls were made in the early sixteenth century by an otherwise unknown artist who used the name Magister rusticus. An inscription dates them to 1512. Apart from the Bordesholm Altar, they form the largest choir-stall ensemble in Schleswig-Holstein.
Frederick I cenotaph
The Renaissance cenotaph of Frederick I, king of Denmark and Norway and duke of Schleswig and Holstein, was made by the Flemish sculptor Cornelis Floris and installed in the choir in 1552. A cenotaph is a funerary monument for someone buried elsewhere or whose actual burial place is unknown. The monument was moved to the north choir aisle in 1901. Its empty sarcophagus is accompanied by six virtues rather than the customary seven, and the king’s actual burial place in the cathedral is no longer known.
Gothic Three Kings shrine
The Gothic Three Kings altar or shrine was made around 1280 to 1300 by a North German workshop influenced by French art. It contains life-size figures of the Virgin and Child and the three Magi. The shrine formerly stood in the High Choir and is now in the southern choir.
Frederick III tomb monument
The tomb monument of Duke Frederick III was made in 1654 by the Flemish sculptor Artus Quellinus I. It is regarded as the first example of Quellinus Baroque in the region. In 1671, Jean Arnaud Villers added, among other features, a marble portal with plaster figures of Duke Christian Albrecht and his wife, Friederike Amalie of Denmark, and made the first two stone outer sarcophagi.
Altarpieces, sculpture, and painting
Bordesholm Altar
The Bordesholm or Brüggemann Altar is an oak altarpiece carved by Hans Brüggemann between 1514 and 1521. Rising 12.60 metres, it contains 392 figures illustrating the biblical Passion, from Christ’s arrest through the Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, and Pentecost. Larger figures emphasize the Bearing of the Cross and the Crucifixion in the central field. Adam and Eve appear beside the raised central section, while the upper part traditionally represents the Last Judgment, although its imagery may instead refer to Christ’s return at the end of time.
The altarpiece was originally made for the Augustinian canons’ church at Bordesholm. After the foundation was dissolved and its school was later abolished in favor of Kiel University, Duke Christian Albrecht ordered its transfer to Schleswig Cathedral in 1666. The woodcarver Klavs Eibe supervised its dismantling, transport, and reassembly. The cathedral’s earlier High Baroque altar by Zacharias Hübener was sold to the parish church at Neustadt in Holstein. The Brüggemann Altar was restored in Flensburg in the late nineteenth century, with the young artist Emil Nolde participating in the work, and was added to the Danish Cultural Canon in 2006.
Baptismal font
The bronze baptismal font in the High Choir was donated by Laurens Leve in 1480. It is attributed to Hinrich Klinghe, who made a closely related font for the church at Buphever. Figures supporting the font were added during the Baroque period.
Triumphal-cross group
A triumphal-cross group from around 1500 is attributed to the Schleswig artist known as Magister rusticus. It entered the cathedral from the municipal antiquities collection in 1922 and originally came from the Schleswig Franciscan monastery. A Christ at Rest from around 1500 probably came from the same workshop.
Other medieval furnishings
Other surviving furnishings include an altar cross from around 1500 and carved figures of Mary Magdalene and St. Barbara. The figure of Mary Magdalene probably dates from about 1480, while the St. Barbara figure was probably made between 1520 and 1530.
Blue Madonna
Jürgen Ovens painted the Blue Madonna in 1669 for the cathedral. Originally titled The Holy Family with the Young John, it is mounted on a pillar beside the north aisle. The Baroque painting reflects the influence of Anthonis van Dyck and has a valuable frame by Hans Gudewerdt the Younger. The frame is not precisely fitted, and a strip has been added to the lower edge of the canvas, raising doubts about whether the frame and painting originally belonged together.
St. Christopher
A four-metre-plus oak statue of St. Christopher, made around 1515 in the Husum workshop of Hans Brüggemann, stands against the east wall of the southern side aisle. Burials associated with the cathedral include Frederick I of Denmark, Waldemar IV and Eric II, dukes of Schleswig, Conrad of Reventlow, and Gustav Trolle.
Western tower and bells
Neo-Gothic tower
The main western tower was built of brick between 1888 and 1894 and rises 112 metres. Its 65-metre viewing platform overlooks Schleswig, the Schlei, and the former fishing settlement of Holm. Structural reinforcement between 1953 and 1956 used concrete, after which the tower was refaced with brick. The work also removed much of its Neo-Gothic ornamental detail, producing the simplified form visible today.
Bells
Five bells hang in the belfry, with a combined weight of 9.2 tonnes. The largest is the Peter Bell, weighing 3.43 tonnes. The Trinitatis Bell weighs 3,426 kilograms, sounds the note A, and was cast in 1963 by the Rincker Bell and Art Foundry in Sinn. The Peter Bell weighs 2,232 kilograms, sounds C, and was cast by Rincker in 1954.
The Mary Bell weighs approximately 1,900 kilograms, sounds E, and was cast in 1396 by a founder identified as T. The Luther Bell weighs 921 kilograms, sounds G, and was cast by Rincker in 1954. The Small Lords’ Bell weighs approximately 800 kilograms, sounds A, and was cast in 1397 by the founder identified as T. An unnamed inactive bell from about the fourteenth century hangs in the nave.
Organs
Principal organ
An organist is recorded at the cathedral from 1484, and the first organ construction is documented in 1555. Major rebuilding in 1610 produced an instrument with a 16-foot facade, a principal division called the Hauptwerk, a pedal division for the bass register, and a Rückpositiv, a separate division placed behind or near the organist. The Rückpositiv was renewed in 1684. Alterations between 1701 and 1705 created an instrument with 29 stops, and Johann Dietrich Busch enlarged the Hauptwerk and pedal in 1731 and 1732. The firm Angel added side pedal towers and five stops in 1788.
Marcussen and Reuter built a new organ in 1839 while incorporating older pipes. It was moved to the north aisle in 1886 during work on the west wall and returned in 1893; the Rückpositiv was removed during this process. A rebuilding in 1920 introduced pneumatic action, electrification, and poor-quality materials. Marcussen constructed another organ in 1963, restoring the Hauptwerk facade to its 1701 form and redesigning the Rückpositiv.
Karl Schuke’s Berlin workshop completed a comprehensive restoration and enlargement in 2010 while preserving the instrument’s historically important Neo-Baroque character. The work renewed the actions, eased cramped conditions in the pedal and Brustwerk by relocating stops, revoiced the pipes for a stronger fundamental tone, added a swell division on a fourth manual, and installed a new large pedal division. The organ now has 65 stops on four manuals and pedal, a restored 16-foot principal in the facade, a new pedal principal, and an electronic setter system with 30,000 memory locations.
Choir organ
Detlef Kleuker built a separate choir organ in 1966 and placed it on the north side. It has 13 stops distributed over two manuals and pedal. Kurt Quathamer revised it in 2003, reassigning several stops, adding two flute stops and a dulcian, and installing a tremulant.
