Worms Cathedral
St. Peter’s, in Western Germany, has stood as a masterpiece of Romanesque architecture since 1181
A gem of Romanesque architecture, Worms Cathedral — the Dom St. Peter — lords over one of the most important cities in Christian history.
In December 1048, Bishop Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg received his papal nomination in Worms, and traveled to Rome to become Pope Leo IX. He became a major player in the Great Schism of 1054, which divided the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
In 1122, the Concordat of Worms was signed by Pope Callixtus II and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V, establishing that bishops would receive their spiritual authority from the church while remaining loyal to local monarchs.
The Diet of Worms of 1521 — where Emperor Charles V called on Martin Luther to recant his teachings — took place in the Bishops’ Court Palace, which stood next to the cathedral until its destruction in 1689. When Luther refused to recant, Charles declared him a heretic and forbade his writings.
The cathedral, which measures 110 meters by 27 meters (about 360 feet by 90 feet) was mostly finished in 1181, though additional parts have been added or renovated since. It was damaged in the Thirty Years’ War and the French Revolution, and has undergone several restorations. The cathedral was set on fire, though not destroyed, by the Allied bombing raids that leveled much of Worms on February 21 and March 18, 1945.
Visitors can step into “Luther’s Big Shoes,” a bronze monument in the Cathedral courtyard, which was placed by the local Rotary Club in 2017. A more substantial Luther Memorial — featuring the man, fellow reformers, and personified cities that accepted the Reformation — stands one block to the northeast.
Inside, the Baroque high altar was designed by the renowned 18th-century architect Balthasar Neumann. Medieval stone carvings of famous Biblical scenes line the walls along the nave. In the cathedral crypt, visitors will find the resting places of five generations of Salian dukes.
