Ulm Minster
Ulm Minster carries the world's tallest church steeple, rising 161.5 metres into the Swabian sky, and ranks as the second-tallest church building on earth. Despite its cathedral-like scale it has never been a cathedral, for it was built not by a bishop but by the citizens of the free imperial city of Ulm, who laid the foundation stone in 1377 and funded the work themselves.
Construction stretched across centuries, and the great west tower remained a stump until the nineteenth-century Gothic Revival inspired the people of Ulm to complete it at last in 1890, following the original medieval designs. Visitors willing to climb 768 steps are rewarded with sweeping views that, on clear days, reach the Alps.
Inside, the soaring nave is lit by tall windows and graced by some of the finest late-Gothic woodcarving in Germany, including the celebrated choir stalls by Jörg Syrlin the Elder, whose carved heads of sibyls and philosophers gaze out across the centuries. Having become Protestant during the Reformation, the minster remains a working Lutheran parish church and a proud civic landmark.
- Annual visitors
- ≈ 1,000,000
- Location
- 48.3986, 9.9925
- Local time
- 00:33 (Europe/Berlin)
🕘 Visiting hours
| Mon–Sun | 09:00–18:00 |
Summer hours (Apr-14 Oct); winter (15 Oct-Mar) 10:00-17:00. Closed during Sunday morning service. Tower separate.
✨ Saints & blessed venerated here
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Virgin Mary (Our Lady) Saint
Patron and dedicatee (Muenster Unserer Lieben Frau); life cycle in choir windows.
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Saint John the Baptist Saint
Subject of one of the medieval 'two Johns' choir windows.
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Saint John the Evangelist Saint
Paired with the Baptist in the choir stained glass.
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Saint Luke the Evangelist Saint
Named bust in the Syrlin choir stalls.
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Saint Cosmas Saint
Named bust in the Syrlin choir stalls alongside St. Luke.
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Saint Sebastian Saint
Depicted at the sacrament house and in the Neithart Chapel.
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Saint Christopher Saint
Depicted at the sacrament house (Sakramentshaus).
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Saint Barbara Saint
Venerated/depicted in the Neithart Chapel.
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Saint Martin of Tours Saint
Appears among figures in the choir/chapel stained glass.
Care & donations
Evangelische Gesamtkirchengemeinde Ulm / Münstergemeinde
Tower admission fees and donations fund preservation
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