Notre Dame Cathedral, Strasbourg, Alsace, France
Strasbourg Cathedral de Notre-Dame is known as one of the most beautiful gothic cathedrals in Europe. The Cathedral stands on the exact site of a roman temple built on a little hill above the muddy ground. The first version of the church was starting to be built during 1015 by proposal of Bishop Werner von Habsburg, but fire destroyed most of the original Romanesque building. By the time that cathedral was being renovated (at the end of the 12th century, this time with red stones carried from the nearby mountains of Vosges), the gothic architectural style has reached Alsace and the future cathedral was starting to develop all characteristics of gothic aesthetics. The project of the first cathedral in Alsace was handed to craftsman and stonemasons who had already worked on the also famous gothic cathedral in Chartres.
Strasbourg CathedralAlthough the cathedral was at first financed by the local prince bishop, after his defeat, the municipal bourgeoisie took charge of the work themselves. Also, due to the lack of money, the citizens decided to contribute to the building fund with their private donations.
The person who was 1284 selected as an organizer of the whole procedure was Erwin von Steinbach (he himself wanted to donate some money for the building of the church, but as he was penniless, he donated his horse!). He imagined and designed the magnificent west front of the cathedral and its main entrance. By the time of his death, building had progressed the rose window was being completed and so were his towers. In 1399, Ulrich von Ensingen, the architect of the Cathedral in Ulm, supervised the building of the octagonal base of the spire which was completed after his death by Johannes Hültz from Köln and which soon became the symbol of Strasbourg.
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