Meissen Cathedral

Meissen Cathedral, western facade with Prince's Chapel

The Meissen Cathedral or Church of St John and St Donatus (German: Meißner Dom) is a Gothic church in Meissen in Saxony. It is situated on the castle hill of Meissen, adjacent to the Albrechtsburg castle. It was the episcopal see of the Bishopric of Meissen established by Emperor Otto I in 968. It replaced an older Romanesque church.[1] The present-day hall church was built between 1260 and 1410, the interior features Gothic sculptures of founder Emperor Otto and his wife Adelaide of Italy as well as paintings from the studio of Lucas Cranach the Elder. The first Saxon elector from the House of Wettin, Margrave Frederick I, had the Prince's Chapel erected in 1425 as the burial place of his dynasty. The twin steeples were not attached until 1909.

In 1581 the Meissen diocese was dissolved in the course of the Protestant Reformation, and the church was used by the Protestant Church since. It is the cathedral church of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony.[2]

Burials in the Prince's Chapel

References

  1. ↑ dom-zu-meissen.de, History
  2. ↑ dom-zu-meissen.de, Church service

External links

Coordinates: 51°09′58″N 13°28′17″E / 51.16611°N 13.47139°E / 51.16611; 13.47139

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