The Dom Church

What stands here is a church without a middle.

The first stone of the choir was laid in 1254, and building went on for three hundred years. Choir, transept, nave: each part took decades longer than the one before, because the money kept running out.

That nave was never finished. The flying buttresses meant to brace it were never built, and in 1674 it blew out.

What remains is what you walk into now: the choir and the transept, with a wall where the rest used to begin. The church is shorter than it should be, and you notice the moment you are inside.

Beside the church lies the Pandhof, the cloister garden that once connected the cathedral to the chapter house. After the Reformation it fell into decay, and the neighbours parked their old carts there, planted walnut trees and kept chickens.

This is one story out of many this city has to offer. Our walking routes take you past the rest!