Photos

A German castle near Limburg. If you remember at the beginning I thought it was near Frankfurt. Thanks to Nina Schade who corrected me. Thank Nina. The photo was scanned and adjusted.
Driving along the Autobahn from Frankfurt to Cologne no view is more memorable than passing the huge cathedral, perched high on a hilltop, at Limburg an der Lahn. The Cathedral of St George is an early thirteenth century masterpiece combining elements from the early French gothic and late Rhine Romanesque styles. The main part of the church was completed in only thirty years and what is left today greatly resembles what the church looked like during the Middle Ages.

There were of course some additional construction work and alterations during the centuries. A particularly bad decision was made in 1871 after the state of Nassau became part of Prussia. A brightly painted church exterior simply didn’t match the Romantic notions of what a medieval church should look like and the stonework was stripped bare. The baroque interior, which was added in the mid-eighteenth century, was redone in a non-authentic Romanesque style. Only during the twentieth century would the church return to its medieval originals. In 1965 the exterior was again plastered, to protect the sandstone against erosion, and painted in its original colors. The original medieval frescoes were uncovered and almost three quarters of the interior decorations visible today is original.

The inside is 50 meters long and the central nave is 21 meters high with the cupola rising to 33 meters. A clever alternation of lighter and darker areas makes the interior seems bigger than it actually is. During our visit a nun gave an impromptu 10 minute talk on the church, which was interesting and pointed out the major aspects of the church’s development. The church is filled with art with the most important probably the well preserved wall frescoes, which are amongst the best examples of high medieval art in Germany.

The rose window in the rear naturally portraits St George slaying the dragon, although the latter is somewhat obscured by the pipes of the modern organ. The three stained glass windows in the front of the church are very modern late twentieth century additions but somehow manage to blend in perfectly with the medieval surroundings.

There are great views from the church across the Lahn Valley but during summer the vegetation is too lush to see the equally old Lahnbrücke (Lahn Bridge) below. Instead one can see the high Autobahn and the new railway bridges, the latter for the super sleek ICE trains that speeds from Frankfurt Airport to Cologne in 60 minutes four times an hour reaching 300 km/h at times.

However, walking back down the hill through the Old Town of Lahn one again returns to the Middle Ages with half-timbered houses lining all streets. Lahn has one of the best-preserved half-timbered town centers of Germany with buildings dating from thirteenth to eighteen centuries making for the perfect introduction and ending to a visit to the Cathedral of St George.
The church is Roman Catholic meaning free entry and open most daylight hours.