St. Petri Dom (Bremen Cathedral)

St. Petri Dom's foundations date to 789, when Bishop Willehad established the first church on the site as the seat of Bremen's newly created bishopric. The present structure preserves a Romanesque core built largely between the 11th and 13th centuries, with later Gothic vaulting and chapels added as the building expanded. Its twin west towers, though rooted in the medieval structure, were substantially rebuilt in 1888-1901 under architect Max Salzmann in a neo-Gothic style, giving the cathedral the pointed silhouette that now dominates the Marktplatz skyline. Inside, the building preserves a bronze baptismal font cast in 1229, among the oldest in northern Germany, along with stretches of Romanesque stonework visible in the crypt beneath the choir. Beneath the cathedral, the Bleikeller (Lead Cellar) holds a small number of naturally mummified bodies, preserved by the cellar's dry air since at least the 18th century and displayed as part of the cathedral museum. The Cathedral Museum, housed within the building's medieval chambers, presents the site's history thematically, moving between the bishopric's founding, the cathedral's architectural phases, and the Bleikeller's preservation science. The building suffered damage in Allied bombing raids during the Second World War, and subsequent restorations through the later 20th century repaired the towers, roof, and interior fittings while retaining the Romanesque and Gothic fabric wherever it survived. As Bremen shifted from Catholic to Protestant governance during the Reformation, the cathedral's role evolved from a Catholic bishopric seat to a Lutheran parish church, a transition still legible in its furnishings today.