Ulm, another historic German town about 1.5 hours west of Munich, is home to the church with the world's tallest steeple. Plus, do you know which famous genius came from Ulm? Albert Einstein.
This is why we came to
Ulm, to see the world's tallest church. I had not planned on climbing the 768 steps to the top, but Eden wanted to, so I paid and off we went. With in about 100 steps she started to cry saying she was afraid of heights...We recently had guests who had a child afraid of heights, so Eden adopted that fear for the day...Well, being the sympathetic mother that I am, I said, "sorry, keep moving!"
The Details
Ulmer Münster
Address:
Münsterplatz 89073 Ulm
Cost: 4e adults, 2.50e children, 10e family
Hours: See website for detailed hours. Open every day at 9am, closings vary
Parking: There are plenty of convenient parking lots in the city center. We parked near the Altes Rathaus and had an easy time getting in and out of the city.
Tip: I've only included the tower tour, but there is a church tour and a daily organ concert for 3.50e.
Oddly enough, this church is not a cathedral--it has never been the seat of a Bishop.
The last stretch into the top of the steeple is a narrow, single file spiral staircase which is encased in this hollow decorate stone shell.
These dragon gargoyles were added during modern renovation.
Although the church was built in the 14th century, in 1531, during the Reformation, the citizens of Ulm converted to Protestantism so the church is now Lutheran.
Ulm was an intact medieval town until
WW2 bombing which destroyed 80% of the city center. The church, fortunately was not hit, but the surrounding square (now all modern) was completely destroyed.
Supposedly, this tower is leaning just like Pisa, but I couldn't tell--then again, maybe we were looking at the wrong number on the map. We rented a head set and took the walking tour, but it wasn't very good. I have found it's hard to walk, listen, and search for locations at the same time. We end up stopping a lot to study the map and in the process my kids get bored.
This is the Rathaus or city hall. I am sure it has been restored because it looks too good.
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