The present cathedral was built from 1413 to 1514. He is already the 5th church at this point.
Shortly before he was done, the money went out and the almost finished tower was closed instead of a top with a round dome.
In truth, however, the builder of the cathedral master and the builder of the bridge bet for much money who was the first to finish his building. When the master builder of the bridge won the bet, the master builder of the cathedral dug himself from the nearly finished tower of his cathedral to his death. None of his successors should be able to finish the planned tip and so it was only in the round dome (Frankfort Sagenschatz, by Helmut Bode).
From 1562 a total of 10 imperial coronations took place here in 230 years.
In 1866, the free Frankfurt was occupied by the Prussians. When the Prussian king visited Frankfurt a year later for the first time, the cathedral burned out the night before. The upper half of the tower and thus the dome and the bells were completely destroyed.
Wilhelm I promised assistance for the reconstruction on the day of his arrival.
The reconstruction took 11 years. Now the tower was built with a new tip, as it was planned 450 years ago before the money ran out. He also received new bells, including the 12-t heavy Gloriosa, the second largest bell in Germany (the Petersglocke in Cologne Cathedral has 24 t).
During six heavy air raids during the Second World War, fire and explosive bombs penetrated the rooftops of the cathedral, all windows shattered and the interior once again burnt down completely. This time, however, the bells and valuable interior had been brought to safety in time.
The reconstruction lasted until 1953.
In the dome is an apartment in which until 1942 a tower guard lived, whose task was to report fire or other threatening dangers.
The tower is now 95 m high, with the old dome he was only 72 m high. When climbing the tower, you can climb over 328 steps to 66 m height.
The Imperial Cathedral of St. Bartholomew is the former election and coronation church of the Roman-German emperors and as such an important monument of imperial history. In the 19th century in particular, it was considered a symbol of national unity.
Today's cathedral is the fourth church on the same site. Previous buildings excavated since the late 19th century can be traced back to the 7th century.
In 1239 the construction of today's Gothic cathedral began. Only after the cathedral fire in 1867 was the tower - which is still unique from an architectural point of view - completed by 1878 according to the preserved plans of the Middle Ages.
The cathedral remained Catholic even after the Reformation was introduced in Frankfurt and was the only parish church of this denomination in the city until 1917. It is the largest church building in the Limburg Diocese, founded in 1827.
With its sandy red disguise, the ticket booth adapts to the style of the neighbor. He steals the show for him: At 95 meters, the dome tower towers over the little house and asks visitors to conquer it. Once the ticket is drawn, the ascent to the top can begin.
At the foot of the spiral staircase, an oppressive, but adventurous feeling sets in. This is ensured by the approximately 2 square meters of floor space on which the stairs wind upwards. On the sand-red wall, a railing on the left and a moored rope on the right, which winds upwards, provide for maintenance. The massive stone steps provide generous space for each step and lead past some wooden doors on the journey into the vertical. Through narrow, rectangular stone windows enough light penetrates and the view out gives an impression of how far you are already above the Romans. If you have about two-thirds of the climb behind you, the diameter of the spiral staircase shrinks by about half. On felt one square meter it goes on. Towards the end, it can be quite tense when the first tourists come to meet you, who have already taken their photos and are now heading down.
Instead, the larger windows reward the visitor with views of the red gargoyles on the outer facades that watch over the cathedral and the city. The finials, the Gothic ornaments, are already within reach. Soon, the first voices echo down from visitors who have already reached their destination.
Once at the top you can look forward to the 66 vertical meters and the 328 steps that you have just mastered. Or you just look triumphantly over the red pinnacles and reward yourself with a panoramic view over Frankfurt. At this point, you only tower over the tower top, which is almost 30 meters further up, and the Frankfurt skyline.