Münster Cathedral

Münster Cathedral tickets: which one to buy

Saint Paul's Cathedral stands on the Domplatz, the large square at the centre of Munster's old town, and entry is free. Guided tours of the cathedral are offered by the diocese and are worth taking, since they explain the history of the Anabaptist rebellion, the bishops and the astronomical clock. The cathedral treasury, the Domkammer, has its own entrance and a small admission, and displays reliquaries, gold work and vestments. The main attraction for many visitors is the astronomical clock, which plays at noon;

arriving a few minutes early secures a good position. Walking tours of Munster combine the cathedral with the Prinzipalmarkt, the gabled merchants' street, and the Lambertikirche with its iron cages. Munster is famous as a city of bicycles, and bike rentals are available at the station. Market days bring stalls to the square around the cathedral. Tours in English can be arranged through the cathedral information office for groups.

Visiting Münster Cathedral: what to see

The cathedral was built mainly between 1225 and 1264 on the site of earlier churches, in a transitional style between Romanesque and Gothic, with two massive west towers and two transepts. The southern porch, known as the Paradise, is decorated with thirteenth-century statues of the apostles and saints. Inside, the long nave leads to the choir, where the astronomical clock of 1540 shows the positions of the planets, the phases of the moon and a calendar valid until the year 2071; at noon, figures of the three kings pass in front of the Virgin and a small carillon plays.

The cathedral also contains the tomb of Cardinal Clemens August von Galen, the bishop of Munster who publicly opposed the Nazi euthanasia programme and was beatified in 2005. The cathedral was badly damaged in the Second World War and restored in the following decades, and a large figure of Saint Christopher stands in the nave. In the cloister and the chapels around the choir stand the tombs of prince-bishops, carved in stone and bronze. The treasury displays the golden head reliquary of Saint Paul and a collection of medieval textiles.

Münster Cathedral opening hours and the best time to go

The cathedral is open daily, and visiting pauses during services. The astronomical clock plays every day at noon, and on Sundays and holidays at half past twelve. Weekday mornings are quiet, but the market on the Domplatz on Wednesday and Saturday mornings brings crowds and colour. Munster is a university city, lively during term time. Christmas markets fill the old town in December.

Summer is pleasant for cycling along the Promenade, the ring path on the site of the old walls. The Prinzipalmarkt arcades offer shelter in the frequent rain. Allow about forty-five minutes for the cathedral and the clock, and another half hour for the treasury. The Lambertikirche on the Prinzipalmarkt, five minutes away, still carries the three iron cages in which the bodies of Anabaptist leaders were displayed in 1536.