Rheingauer Dom

Geschichte

Rheingauer Dom is the colloquial name for the Catholic parish church in Geisenheim, Germany. Officially Pfarrkirche Heilig Kreuz (Holy Cross), the large church in the Rheingau region is called Dom although it was never a bishop's seat. The present building was begun in the 16th century, but major features such as an expansion of the nave from three to five vaults, the towers, the organ and several altars were added in the 19th century. The parish is part of the Diocese of Limburg.HistoryThe present building began as a late-Gothic hall church, built mostly from 1510 to 1518. It succeeded a Romanesque church first mentioned in 1146. In 1829, the west towers had to be demolished because they were unsafe. The architect Philipp Hoffmann, who was born in Geisenheim, proposed to expand the church and build a new facade and towers. Hoffmann, who later built landmarks in Wiesbaden such as St. Bonifatius and the Russian Church, expanded the nave by adding two more vaults similar to the three Gothic ones, and created a new west facade with neo-Gothic towers. The large church is called Dom although it was never a bishop's seat.The towers were restored from 2010 to 2014. The celebration of the completion was on Pentecost 2014, with a "Mass of All Saints" by Alan Wilson, performed by church choir and children's choir conducted by Florian Brachtendorf.