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On the way home from Legoland we took a small side trip to see the tallest church in the world: The Ulm Munster. You could see the spire from the autobahn several miles away. This church dominates the skyline high dwarfing all the buildings around it. The spire rises 530 feet and you must climb 768 steps to reach the top.
The parish church of Ulm was located outside the walled city in the 14th century. In 1377 the inhabitors of Ulm decided to work together to build a new church inside the city and to finance it themselves. During Reformation in 1530/31 the people converted to protestantism and the Ulm Minster became a Lutheran Chruch. Although it is as large or larger than many cathedrals, it is not one because it was never the seat of a bishop.
Construction stopped in 1543 with the steeple sitting around 330ft. due to political, religious, and economical reasons. They did not continue building until 1817, over 250 years later. The building was completed on May 31, 1890, over 500 years after construction began.
Although Ulm was devastated during and air raid in 1944 and 80% of the medieval center was destroyed, the church itself was barely damaged.
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