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Villingen Cathedral

Villingen Cathedral

Villingen-Schwenningen, DE

Villingen Cathedral was begun in 1130 in the Romanesque style and completed in 1284 in the Gothic style, but it was later enlarged due to the fire of the town of Villingen in 1271, which had destroyed part of the cathedral. Two 50-metre high towers were added in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Waldsassen Abbey

Waldsassen Abbey

Waldsassen, DE

Waldsassen Abbey is a Cistercian abbey founded in 1133 by Margrave Diepold III von Vohburg. It was burnt down during the War of the Landshut Succession (1503-1505) and rebuilt in 1517. When the Reformation led to the conversion of the inhabitants of the region to Protestantism, the abbey was secularised. However, the Cistercian monks of Fürstenfeld Abbey returned to the country in 1661. The abbey and its abbey church were consecrated in 1704 after being rebuilt in the Baroque style from the 1680s onwards. The famous library was completed in 1727. The abbey was abolished in 1803 and now houses a large part of the girls' secondary school (Realschule) run by the Cistercian sisters.

Walpurgiskirche

Walpurgiskirche

Alsfeld, DE

The original Walpurgis Church was a relatively small Romanesque transept basilica, situated on the site of the present nave. The core of the present building was an early Gothic transept basilica from the mid-13th century, which was originally built around the first building. This Gothic church building included a choir, which was replaced from 1393 by the present late Gothic choir. The original tower collapsed on 25 January 1394 and was subsequently rebuilt; the present octagonal domed spire was not completed until 1543. The early Gothic nave was enlarged from the mid-15th century onwards, with the pillars of the interior raised, to form a hall church completed in 1472, the remains of the old nave walls having been preserved.

Walsrode Monastery

Walsrode Monastery

Walsrode, DE

Walsrode Monastery is the oldest of the Lüneburg monasteries, founded before 986. The life-size figure of the founder, Count Wale, dating from around 1300, is in the chapel, in which magnificent stained glass windows from the end of the 15th century have been preserved above the altar.

Weifenbach Church

Weifenbach Church

Biedenkopf, DE

The Weifenbach church, built in 1711, is one of the half-timbered churches in Hesse. The church has an octagonal turret and is furnished as a transverse church.

Weisser Hirsch Evangelical Lutheran Church

Dresden, DE

The Evangelical Lutheran wooden church was inaugurated in 1889 in the rich district of Weisser Hirsch. From 2012 to 2014, the interior of the church was completely rearranged: the painter Gerda Lepke created the new altarpiece "The community of believers" and the sculptor Hans-Volker Mixsa designed the furniture corresponding to the area of the altar.

Weltenburg Abbey

Weltenburg Abbey

Kelheim, DE

Weltenburg Abbey is a Benedictine monastery founded in the 7th century and it is considered the oldest monastery in Bavaria.

Wendelsteinkircherl

Wendelsteinkircherl

Brannenburg, DE

The Wendelsteinkircherl, or Wendelstein Chapel, was built between 1889 and 1890. It is the highest church in Germany, standing at an altitude of 1,838 metres. Before this church there was a wooden chapel dating from 1718.

Westend Synagogue

Westend Synagogue

Frankfurt am Main, DE

The Westend Synagogue was built from 1908 to 1910 in the Art Nouveau style. It was the only one of the four former large synagogues to survive the November 1938 pogroms and World War II bombings. In 1950, the synagogue was reopened after a temporary renovation and then faithfully restored from 1989 to 1994.

Wetzlar Cathedral

Wetzlar Cathedral

Wetzlar, DE

Wetzlar Cathedral, which is not the seat of a bishop, was built from the 13th to the 15th century on a Romanesque church, but its construction remained unfinished. As the number of canons and vicars of the church declined throughout the 16th century, an agreement was reached in 1561 for the joint use of the church by the Catholic canons and the increasingly Lutheran inhabitants of Wetzlar. In the following years, however, there were repeated disputes: the canons prohibited Lutherans from entering the church. In return, the Protestant community occupied the nave in 1567. From 1571, the canons no longer celebrated mass in the choir of St. Mary's Church. Nevertheless, the church choir remained a Catholic institution upon the intervention of the Archbishop of Trier. At the end of the 16th century an agreement was finally reached.

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