Herforder Münster

The Herford Münster stands in the heart of Herford, a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the oldest and largest church in the city, serving today as the main Lutheran parish church. Alongside St Johannis and St Jakobi, it belongs to the Herford-Mitte-Land congregation within the Herford church district. The building began as the church of a powerful imperial convent of canonesses that lasted from the 12th century until 1802. The late-Romanesque hall church was probably built between 1220 and 1250 and is regarded as the first large hall church in Germany. Its three-aisled nave ends in a choir flanked by towers and an apse. Around 1340 a merchants’ chapel and an ossuary were added south-west of the transept. At the start of the 15th century the choir was lengthened and given a straight end, while the southern tower was rebuilt as a two-storey ‘confession chamber’. The twin-tower west front was begun between 1270 and 1280; only the south tower was finished, completed only in 1490. Inside, the crossing vault shows a full eight-part ribbed dome, while the side aisles have painted ribs. The most striking fitting is the late-Gothic high altar whose only surviving parts are the mensa and predella. Below the choir steps lies the baptismal chapel with its 1500 stone font carved with lively biblical scenes. Above the south door a small early-Gothic biforium is decorated with seven gilded suns, recalling a local legend about the founding of the church. Five organs, including a swallow’s-nest instrument and three positives, provide music for services and the annual Herford Organ Summer.