Neumünster

The Neumünster is a church in Würzburg, Germany, whose origins reach the eleventh century. Its first sanctuary commemorated Kilian, Kolonat, and Totnan, the Franconian Apostles, at their reported martyrdom site. Romanesque fabric meets a Baroque west façade built by Josef Greising between 1711 and 1716. Johann Baptist and Dominikus Zimmermann reshaped the interior from 1725.

Adalbero of Würzburg founded a collegiate community here in 1057, and the church originally honoured John the Evangelist. Later, the building became a munitions depot until 1821. Bombing in 1945 destroyed much of the interior, while copied busts now replace Tilman Riemenschneider’s works. From 1950 to 1967, it served as Würzburg’s episcopal seat while the cathedral stood closed. A restoration from 2009 to 2011 renewed Baroque features and introduced works by Michael Triegel and Hann Trier.

The Lusam Garden extends beside the north end, within the former cemetery and cloister of the collegiate foundation. Sixteen late-twelfth-century arcades preserve Romanesque reliefs of Christ in Majesty and Saint Kilian. Walther von der Vogelweide is believed buried there, beneath a monument with hollows for bird food and water. Inside, the Kiliansgruft holds the graves of the Franconian Apostles.