The small German town of Ulm with a population of 120 thousand people, located on the Danube, in southern Germany, is famous for its history. It is considered one of the most ancient cities in Europe, has existed since 854. This city is home to the world's tallest oldest Lutheran cathedral, the spire of which has risen 161 meters.
At the end of the XIV century in Ulm, which already had 10 thousand inhabitants, it was decided to build a huge Gothic cathedral, as it is called in Germany - Munster, which was not in any other capital city of Europe. The money for its creation was given by private individuals. On June 30, 1397, the burgomaster of the city of Ludwig Kraft laid the foundation of the cathedral.
The construction was built very quickly and by 1405 the main part of Munster was completed without a bell tower-spire. But then the trouble started. The architects did not calculate the gravity of the vaults, which approached a height of almost 100 meters, the naves swayed, and the whole structure almost collapsed. This would lead to the destruction of the beautiful market square, the magistrate, the nearest houses. It would be a universal scandal.
The construction was stopped and the building was strengthened in every possible way. It succeeded, but construction stopped again. And it wasn't about finances. There was money, there was no unity of the Church.
The Reformation spread in Germany. The Catholic religion was losing ground. A rebel, a critic of papal rule in Rome in 1517, was a young doctor of theology from the University of Wittenberg, Martin Luther. He demanded to reform the Catholic Christian doctrine, bring it in line with the Bible, called the abuses of the Catholic Church immoral, in particular the sale of indulgences. This is how Protestantism arose. Only after that, in 1530, the construction of the Munster began in Ulm. He was now considered Lutheran.
In 1543, construction stopped again before reaching a height of 100 meters. The split of the church into Catholic and Protestant led to the fact that funding stopped. The townspeople-Catholics did not want to make donations in favor of the Lutheran cathedral, and the funds of the Lutherans themselves were not enough for the erection of the bell tower. Nevertheless, services have already begun to be held in Münster.
Only 300 years later, the local authorities decided to bring the construction, begun in the XIV century, to completion. And by 1890 Munster was ready. The room can accommodate 22 thousand believers at a time, there are 2 thousand seats.
