Meissen Cathedral

Geschichte

The Meissen Cathedral or Church of St John and St Donatus is a Gothic church in Meissen in Saxony. It is situated on the castle hill of Meissen, adjacent to the Albrechtsburg castle. It was the episcopal see of the Bishopric of Meissen established by Emperor Otto I in 968. It replaced an older Romanesque church. The present-day hall church was built between 1260 and 1410, the interior features Gothic sculptures of founder Emperor Otto and his wife Adelaide of Italy as well as paintings from the studio of Lucas Cranach the Elder. The first Saxon elector from the House of Wettin, Margrave Frederick I, had the Prince's Chapel erected in 1425 as the burial place of his dynasty. The twin steeples were not attached until 1909.In 1581 the Meissen diocese was dissolved in the course of the Protestant Reformation, and the church was used by the Protestant Church since. It is the cathedral church of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Saxony.Burials in the Prince's ChapelFrederick I, Elector of SaxonyCatherine of Brunswick-LüneburgFrederick II, Elector of SaxonyErnest, Elector of SaxonyAlbert III, Duke of SaxonySidonie of PoděbradyGeorge, Duke of SaxonyBarbara JagiellonJohn, Hereditary Prince of Saxony

"Der Dom zu Meißen ist eine gotische Kathedrale. Der Bau wurde um 1250 begonnen, 1401 wurde der Dom geweiht. Bedeutende Baumeister und Künstler hinterließen großartige Werke: u.a der Naumburger Meister, Albrecht Dürer, Lucas Cranach d. Ä. und Lucas Cranach d. J. Das Mittelfenster des Chores ist original erhalten und zeugt durch leuchtende Farben und meisterhafte Gestaltung von der Kunstfertigkeit des 13. Jahrhunderts.Die enge Verbindung des Domes mit der Geschichte des Wettiner Fürstenhauses lässt sich in der Begräbniskapelle an den aufwendig gestalteten nachvollziehen. Der Kreuzaltar trägt ein Kruzifix aus der Hand von J. J. Kändler, dem wohl berühmtesten Porzellangestalter der Meißner Manufaktur."