Meissen Cathedral
The Meissen Cathedral or Church of St John and St Donatus (German: Meißner Dom) is a Gothic church in Meissen in Saxony. It is situated on the castle hill of Meissen, adjacent to the Albrechtsburg castle. It was the episcopal see of the Bishopric of Meissen established by Emperor Otto I in 968. It replaced an older Romanesque church.[1] The present-day hall church was built between 1260 and 1410, the interior features Gothic sculptures of founder Emperor Otto and his wife Adelaide of Italy as well as paintings from the studio of Lucas Cranach the Elder. The first Saxon elector from the House of Wettin, Margrave Frederick I, had the Prince's Chapel erected in 1425 as the burial place of his dynasty. The twin steeples were not attached until 1909.
In 1581 the Meissen diocese was dissolved in the course of the Protestant Reformation, and the church was used by the Protestant Church since. It is the cathedral church of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony.[2]
Burials in the Prince's Chapel
- Frederick I, Elector of Saxony
- Catherine of Brunswick-Lüneburg
- Frederick II, Elector of Saxony
- Ernest, Elector of Saxony
- Albert III, Duke of Saxony
- Sidonie of Poděbrady
- George, Duke of Saxony
- Barbara Jagiellon
- John, Hereditary Prince of Saxony
References
- ↑ dom-zu-meissen.de, History
- ↑ dom-zu-meissen.de, Church service
External links
- Cathedral homepage (German)
Coordinates: 51°09′58″N 13°28′17″E / 51.16611°N 13.47139°E