The Liebfrauenmünster in Strasbourg (French Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg) is a Roman Catholic church and is one of the most important cathedrals in European architectural history as well as the largest sandstone buildings in the world. Like the city of Strasbourg in general, the Liebfrauen-Münster also links German and French cultural influences.
The cathedral was built from 1176 to 1439 from pink Vogesensandstein on the site of a burnt down predecessor building from the years 1015 to 1028, which in turn had replaced a 1007 burnt down church from Carolingian times. The new building was built from north-east to south-west and was initially in Romanesque, then Gothic style. From at least 1647 to 1874, the cathedral with its 142 meter high north tower was the tallest structure of humanity and the highest building completed in the Middle Ages. Erwin von Steinbach and Ulrich Ensinger are among the well-known architects who worked on the cathedral. The building was damaged in the years 1870 and 1944 by bombardment, the decoration of the figures and the interior were in the course of the Reformation iconoclastic, the re-Catholicization 1681 and the French Revolution partly affected significantly. For the construction and maintenance of the Minster is since 1281 officially the Women's House (Œuvre Notre-Dame) responsible (see also Women's Museum).
The Strasbourg Cathedral is visible with its characteristic asymmetrical shape (the south tower was never built) to the present day the landmark of Alsace and also from the three kilometers distant German Rhine, from the Vosges and the Black Forest. His most famous pieces of equipment include the Astronomical Clock and the "Angel Pier". The pulpit, the baptismal font, the Schwalbennest organ as well as the stained-glass windows and tapestries depicting the life of Mary are considered to be outstanding examples of occidental art.
At Strasbourg Cathedral, the center of the spiritual and religious life of the city, numerous important preachers and pastors of both Catholicism and various currents of the Reformation worked