Nuremberg - St. Sebaldus

The construction of St. Sebaldus, named after a legendary 8th-century hermit, now the patron saint of Nuremberg, began in 1225 about two decades before the building of St. Lorenz (prev. uploads) started only about 300 meters west. That probably caused a kind of rivalry. Both churches are clearly influenced by the Bamberg Cathedral. When St. Sebaldus was completed in 1273/75 this was a Romanesque basilica.

Only decades later important changes started: the side aisles got demolished and were replaced by wider Gothic ones (1309-1345). The Gothic chancel was built (1358-1379) - and a century later the two towers were added.

When carpet bombings end of World War II destroyed the old town of Nuremberg, St. Sebaldus got seriously damaged. At that time most of the valuable interior (incl. stained glass windows) had been taken out - and so got saved. The rebuilding of the church started still in the 1940s, the (re-)consecration took place in 1957.

The shrine of Saint Sebaldus is a work of Peter Vischer the Elder (1455 - 1529) and his sons Peter and Hermann.
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St. Sebaldus has been a Lutheran parish church since the Reformation.


www.sebalduskirche.de/