Merseburg Cathedral

(Local Name: Dom) Above Merseburg, on the high west bank of the Saale, are the Cathedral and the Schloss.

The palace church of Henry I (consecrated 931) was raised to cathedral status when the bishopric (office of a bishop) of Merseburg was established 968. The present building, originally Romanesque, was begun in 1015 and much altered in later centuries. A hall-church with four towers, it has a sumptuously furnished interior. In the west porch is a Late Gothic doorway with sculptured figures (including a bust of the Emperor Henry II with a model of the Cathedral). Notable features of the interior are the Baroque high altar (1668), the richly decorated Late Gothic pulpit and choir-stalls, a Romanesque font