1086 the cathedral burnt down, again. The following 200 years were a roller coaster ride between rebuilding and ruining. The Romanesque cathedral was finished and consecrated in 1239, and we can only barely guess how big the builder’s relief must have been.
The 13th century meant the beginning of the Gothic era in Germany (the first building operations for the gothic style Cologne Cathedral would start only 9 years after the finishing of Mainz Cathedral). By 1500 St Martin (that’s the cathedral’s name) was crowned with a gothic style crossing tower and flanked by gothic style chapels. Like this one, St Mary’s chapel.
While this altar in St Mary’s Chapel is mainly 19th century work, the figures aren’t. Flanked by saints Boniface and Martin, Mary has a surprisingly ‘modern’ face and figure: a young, attractive, and self-conscious mother. From 1515.
