Münster

Panoramic view of Münster. Photo Rüdiger Wölk.

Münster is a university city of about 275,000 people in Westphalia, northwest Germany. The cultural capital of Westphalia, Münster has played a central role in the history of the region. The medieval city center was devastated by bombing during World War II, but Münster's citizens were among the first to choose to rebuild with complete faithfulness to the original buildings. The decision was criticized as backwards at the time, but it is much appreciated by today's visitors who stroll the cobbled streets of the Old Town.

Münster was founded by a missionary named Liudger, who was sent out by Charlemagne in 793 as part of the emperor's comprehensive plan to convert the Saxons. Both the name of the city and the words used for monastic missionary churches in Germany and England - münster and minster - derive from the monastery built by St. Liudger. Münster has remained staunchly Catholic ever since, with the exception of two dramatic years (1534-35) in which radical reformers led by John of Leiden took the city by force and set up a theocracy before being defeated and executed. On a happier note, Münster hosted the negotiations that led to the signing of the Peace of Westphalia (1648), ending the Thirty Years War.

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	Cathedral Münster's attractive cathedral was built in the Transitional style of the early 13th century. It boasts a porch filled with medieval sculptures, a nave with only two bays, and a magnificent astronomical clock from 1540.
	Cathedral Treasury The excellent Domkammer is housed in a modern but tasteful building off the cloisters. The collection is divided thematically over three floors and includes golden reliquaries, sculptures, embroidered copes and more.
	Lambertikirche This spacious Gothic hall-church has an elegant spire that is one of the main landmarks of the city. Midway up the tower hang the cages in which the bodies of the radical reformers were displayed in 1536 after their execution.
	Überwasserkirche The 14th-century "Church Across the Water" is on the other side of the the tiny Aa River from the cathedral. A Gothic hall-church like the Lambertikirche, it is also notable for its great west tower.
	Westfälisches Landesmuseum The Westphalian Regional Museum dislays an impressive collection of art and artifacts from the early Middle Ages to the 21st century, including a great deal of local religious art.