St. Marien Cathedral

Wurzen Cathedral of St. Mary is an Evangelical church in the large district town of Wurzen in Saxony. Built as the collegiate church of the Wurzen Collegiate Foundation, it has been referred to as a cathedral since the end of the 15th century, when the Bishops of Meissen established their residence in Wurzen Castle.

Since 1542, the church has served for Evangelical worship. It is also used for church music concerts due to its excellent acoustics. A special feature is the uniform furnishing of the church with architectural sculptures by the sculptor Georg Wrba.

The Cathedral is an important architectural monument of the Wurzener Land era; in 2014, it can look back on its 900th anniversary.

The Cathedral is located in the southwestern part of Wurzen's old town on a hill that rises about ten meters above the Mulde floodplains extending to the west. North of the Cathedral, in the castle courtyard, stands Wurzen Castle, which has a structural connection to the Cathedral via the Old Custody. To the south is the Cathedral Square.

The Cathedral is a Gothic structure in its main parts, extending in an east-west direction, 60 meters long and 21 meters wide at the nave. The nave, spanning three bays, has two side aisles of different heights. To the east, a four-bay choir adjoins, ending in the chancel, an apse with a 5/8 closure. To the west, a choir also follows the nave. While the other areas of the church feature a simple cross-rib vault, the chancel has a star vault and the west choir has an elaborate and colorfully painted cell vault.

On the east side of each side aisle stands a tower. Thus, the towers are almost in the middle of the church building. They have baroque domes and lanterns and are designed differently. The slightly higher south tower, through which access to the church is also gained, is more articulated in its upper part. An annex adjoins the south tower in the area of the east choir, covering the otherwise visible Gothic buttresses and windows.

The first church, as a predecessor to the current Cathedral, was consecrated on August 16, 1114, by Bishop Herwig of Meissen († 1119) in honor of the Virgin Mary. It was the collegiate church for the collegiate foundation of Wurzen, which he founded in the same year. It was a flat-roofed Romanesque pillar basilica, roughly corresponding in size to today's nave.

The first major expansion was the addition of the four bays of the east choir between 1260 and 1290. In the middle of the 14th century, the nave was vaulted and the southern side aisle was extended into a hall, before a fire in 1470 destroyed large parts of the church. After reconstruction, the next extensions took place after 1500 under Bishop Johann VI von Saalhausen (1444–1518). In 1503, he had the west choir built, which he intended as his burial place, and in 1508, two bays were added to the east choir, which is now the chancel. From 1491 to 1497, he had the neighboring Wurzen Castle built as his episcopal residence, so the church now became a cathedral. The collegiate foundation became the cathedral chapter.

Although Evangelical services were already held in the Cathedral in 1542, the Catholic bishops still resided in the castle. The last bishop, Johann IX von Haugwitz (1524–1595), dissolved the Diocese of Meissen by handing it over to the now Evangelical cathedral chapter. The Saxon Elector August (1526–1586) became the new provost in Wurzen.

To increase seating capacity, galleries were installed in the northern side aisle in 1555 and in the southern side aisle in 1593. Except for minor alterations and repairs, the Cathedral remained unchanged until 1817. In this and the following year, a comprehensive redesign in the Neo-Gothic style took place. The leading builders were the Wurzen Cathedral Provost and architectural researcher Christian Ludwig Stieglitz (1756–1836) and the Dean of the Chapter Immanuel Christian Leberecht von Ampach (1772–1831). The existing installations, including the galleries, were removed. The Cathedral was made brighter by a light coat of paint on the walls and new windows. A new altar with Gothic carvings and a large altarpiece "Baptism of Christ in the Jordan" by Friedrich Matthäi (1777–1845), as well as Gothic choir stalls, were installed. The organ was renewed, and the floor and benches were replaced.

The last redesign of the interior took place in 1931–1932. It is primarily characterized by the radical removal of Neo-Gothic elements and the addition of numerous expressionist sculptures by the sculptor Georg Wrba, as well as the installation of the Jehmlich organ.

Since the Reformation, the Cathedral has been administered by a cathedral chapter, whose members are honorary ecclesiastical and secular representatives. It consists of the Cathedral Provost, the Dean, and five other members, the canons, who are appointed by the regional bishop as the provost.

Well-known members of the cathedral chapter in the past included Immanuel Christian Leberecht von Ampach, Paul Herfurth, Hermann Ilgen, Johann Georg Keil, Börries von Münchhausen, and Christian Ludwig Stieglitz.