Germany Münster Kirchturm Liebfrauen Überwasser

We no longer know what the collegiate and parish church consecrated in such splendour in 1040 looked like; however, from the surviving notes on the consecration of the altars, we may conclude that the original building was a three-nave basilica - naturally without vaulting - with a western choir. The first church fell victim to a fire as early as 1071. An extended new building seems to have been started immediately, for between 1085 and 1088 the sources list eight consecration dates for chapels and altars alone. Whether this building had a double tower group, of which the Ludgerus Chapel to the north of the present tower was previously thought to be a part, has not been confirmed by the excavations. During the conquest of the town in 1121 by Saxon Duke Lothar Supplingenburg (since 1133 Emperor Lothar III), the church is said to have suffered greatly, but no further details are known. According to an inscription above the west portal, the present Gothic hall church was built from 1340 onwards, by the parish. The construction of the massive tower lasted from 1363 until the beginning of the 15th century. The destruction of the Anabaptists has already been mentioned. The dome of the tower, which was rebuilt after 1535, was blown down again by a hurricane in 1704. During the Second World War, the church, like the entire town, was badly hit, but its substance was preserved to such an extent that it could be rebuilt in its old form.