ULM, Germany (AP) — The Ulmer Münster in southern Germany is the tallest church in the world. For now anyway.
The reign of the Gothic Lutheran church – begun on May 31, 1890 – could end in 2025, when the “Tower of Jesus Christ” of La Sagrada Familia Basilica in Spain will be completed. At a final height of 172.5 meters (about 566 feet), the Catholic Basilica in Barcelona would have to rise only 11 meters (36 feet) from the Ulmer Münster.
But the construction of La Sagrada Familia took 142 years. Final completion could take place in 2026, 100 years after the death of the original Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí. Ironically, when the basilica reaches its final height, it will be thanks to a 17-meter-high cross made by a German company.
Yet the head pastor of Ulmer Münster is not angry.
“I don’t find it so fascinating that it is the tallest church tower in the world,” Dean Torsten Krannich told The Associated Press. “The church also lifts my heart to God. This is just a beautiful church that invites you to pray and be thankful.”
After all, Ulm will always have Albert Einstein. The physicist was born there in 1879 and lived in Ulm for the first fifteen months of his life. His extended family stayed, and he returned and climbed the church’s tower in 1923.
Standing next to a stained glass window in the Ulmer Münster featuring Einstein and other famous scientists, the head of communications at Ulm’s tourist office is quick to point out that the rest of the city has “a very high density of art and culture.”
“We can inspire the guests who come here, even if we no longer have the highest church in the world, but only the second highest church,” said Dirk Homburg.
The history of Ulmer Münster dates back to 1377, when the residents of Ulm decided to demolish their old parish church. Located outside the city gates, it could have been a dangerous journey for parishioners during the frequent wars of the Middle Ages. The residents chose to finance the construction of a new tower in the city center themselves and planned for it to have the tallest spire in the world.
Construction stopped in 1543 when, in the wake of the Protestant Reformation, the city’s leaders decided to halt work amid political and economic turbulence. Construction resumed in 1844 and the church was completed on May 31, 1890.
The Ulmer Münster reached a record height of 161.5 meters (530 ft) and was deliberately built to be taller than Cologne Cathedral in northwestern Germany, which topped out at 157.2 meters (516 ft) in 1880.
Although Ulm was destroyed by bombing in World War II in 1944, the church itself remained standing. But the age of the Ulmer Münster, the weather influences and around 1 million visitors per year, ensure that there is constant construction and restoration amid tourism and religious services.
For example, visitors can currently climb 560 stairs to the viewing platform at 102 meters (335 feet). The platform at 143 meters (469 feet) – 768 steps – is closed due to repairs to the stairwell.
Krannich said it will remain special regardless.
“Whether the tower is 5 meters higher or 5 meters lower, it makes no difference to the quality of this church,” he said.
Ursula Heckler, who visited the church twice, said she initially traveled to Ulm in 2019 because she, like many others who traveled there, knew it was the highest in the world. She has no plans to visit La Sagrada Familia when it takes over.
Christos Kalokerinos, born in Ulmer, is not impressed by the impending loss of status.
“There are so many other nice things about the Münster that it’s not really relevant,” he said. “I think most people think the same way. But of course it was also great to brag a bit about the fact that we have the tallest church tower – because a lot of people don’t necessarily know Ulm that way.”
Indeed, there is little evidence of the record in the city. The gift shop in the church only has a fake fireplace labeled ‘the tallest church in the world’, and the only reference in a tourist shop across the street seemed to be a postcard showing the height of the church in a stack against the Great Pyramid of Giza, Big Ben and the Statue of Liberty. They are all shorter than the Ulmer Münster.
Apparently the inhabitants of the region, known as Swabians, “prefer understatement.”
“They don’t want to tell everyone they’re the best,” Krannich said. “Not everyone needs to know. It is enough if we know.”
But next year?
“We are going to involve Albert Einstein a little more in our marketing,” says Homburg.
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AP journalist Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report.
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Associated Press religion reporting is supported by the AP’s partnership with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
