The Halberstadt Cathedral or Church of St Stephen and St Sixtus (german: Dom zu Halberstadt) is a Gothic church in

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bomb ...

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it th ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It was the episcopal see of the

Bishopric of Halberstadt The Diocese of Halberstadt was a Roman Catholic diocese (german: Bistum Halberstadt) from 804 until 1648.

, established by Emperor

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

in 804. The present-day church, which replaced an older Romanesque church,Stiftung Dome und Schlösser in Sachsen-Anhalt
, Dom St. Stephanus und St. Sixtus zu Halberstadt was built between 1236 and 1491 in a Gothic style, clearly inspired by the French Gothic cathedrals. In 1591 the Bishop of Halberstadt joined the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

, and the church has been used by the Protestant Church since. The cathedral was severely damaged in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, but has been restored in the decades after the war. The cathedral retains much of its medieval decoration and stained glass windows. The large cathedral treasury contains over 600 objects of art, dating from the 5th to the 18th century, including a unique textiles collection. Many very valuable items are of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

origin, having been brought to Halberstadt in 1205 by Bishop Konrad von Krosigk who had participated in the Fourth Crusade's sack of

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. An organ was installed in the cathedral in 1361, and is believed to be the first example of an organ with a modern chromatic

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

. In 2000, the time elapsed since the organ's installation- 639 years- was chosen to be the length of a performance of American composer John Cage's ''

As Slow as Possible ''Organ2/ASLSP'' (''As Slow as Possible'') is a musical piece by John Cage and the subject of one of the longest-lasting musical performances yet undertaken. Cage wrote it in 1987 for organ, as an adaptation of his 1985 composition ''ASLSP'' f ...

''. The performance began in 2001 at the St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt, and is due to end in the year 2640. The cathedral is currently used by the

Evangelical Church in Central Germany The Evangelical Church in Central Germany (German: ''Evangelische Kirche in Mitteldeutschland''; ''EKM'') is a United church body covering most of the German states of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia and some adjacent areas in Brandenburg and Saxony. ...

.kirchenkreis-halberstadt.de
/ref>

References

External links

Evangelical Church Halberstadt

{{Authority control Halberstadt Buildings and structures in Harz (district) Lutheran cathedrals in Germany Protestant churches in Saxony-Anhalt Lutheran churches converted from Roman Catholicism Church treasuries