Our destination was the Ulm Minster. It is a Lutheran church which began as a Roman Catholic church. It's often called the Ulm Cathedral due to its sheer size, but it is not a cathedral in reality. The Ulm Minster is the tallest church in the world. You can climb the 768 steps to the top of the steeple which we did not do because it was a very overcast and foggy day so the view from the top would have been very limited and because I wouldn't have made it up 10 steps with my ankle issues. Maybe next time!
Driving into the city, you can see the dark Gothic steeple sticking out above the surrounding modern buildings. The church is surrounded by very urban looking restaurants and shops which creates an interesting juxtaposition. I quickly discovered that I needed a super wide angle lens to photograph this monstrous building (take note, Santa!), but hopefully you can appreciate the size and beauty of this church from these pictures.
Here are a few from the area surrounding the church.
This dog sat perfectly still for a very long time and seemed to be appreciating this monstrous church that stood in front of him. In actuality he was just intently waiting on his other human to come out of the church.
This tiny church sat off to the side and rear of the Ulm Minster. I felt kind of sorry for it!
After our time at the Ulm Minster, we had one more stop to make before heading home. Just outside of Ulm is a former Benedictine abbey and monastery called Wiblingen Abbey. Today it is home to several departments of the medical faculty of the University of Ulm. The abbey was founded in 1093. The two main parts of this complex we wanted to see were the church and the library, both of which were breathtakingly beautiful.
We had to wait a few minutes before going into the library because there was a guided German tour taking place. My "little children" found something to occupy their time while we waited - coloring and tracing words written in calligraphy...lol!
Finally we got to go into this one room library. It was built as a place for the monks to study, and they could not remove the books from the library. I don't know how I'd ever get any studying done in this place because I think I'd just be constantly looking around at the beauty surrounding me.
This weekend trip was full of beautiful sights, and I'm so glad we got to cross these things off our to see and do list!
