Frauenkirche, the towers that define the skyline

Step back until you can see both towers in full. Those green domes, which locals call the “Welsche Hauben”, are the city’s silhouette: they appear on postcards, on beer labels and on the skyline from almost anywhere in Munich.

1A cathedral in a hurry

On 9 February 1468, Duke Sigismund and the Bishop of Freising laid the foundation stone. The master builder, Jörg von Halsbach, chose brick, cheaper than stone, and a sober design. Construction was remarkably fast for its time: in 1494 one of the largest hall churches in Europe, 109 metres long, was consecrated. When the money ran out in 1479, Pope Sixtus IV granted an indulgence to anyone who made the pilgrimage to Munich and contributed, and the funds began flowing again. The domes were added in the early 16th century. Since 1821 it has been the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

2The hundred-metre rule

Measure them with your eyes: the towers are about 99 metres high, and almost exactly the same height, even if a legend claims they differ by a metre. In the centre, inside the ring road, no building may rise above 100 metres, and in 2004 the people of Munich voted in a referendum to curb high-rises outside it as well. That is why the towers still dominate the view.

In the bombing raids of the Second World War the roof caved in, but the towers held firm.

Inside, among other Wittelsbachs, lies Emperor Ludwig IV, with a monumental cenotaph from 1622. And at the entrance a footprint in the floor is waiting for you; we tell its story on the mysteries route.

3What to look for

• The green domes, unlike anything else Gothic around them.
• The bare brick of the walls, with no flying buttresses outside.
• The old tombstones set into the outer walls.