Cathedral Church of St. George and St. Nicholas

This cathedral is prominently located high on a rock overlooking the old town of Limburg and the River Lahn. It is the diocesan cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Limburg in the German state of Hesse.

It is unknown when the first church was built on the Limburger Felsen (Limburg Rock) however, the first official mention was in 10th February 910 in a royal document issued by King Louis the Child founding a Stift of Canons. It is thought the building of a collegiate began not long after. During the 11th Century, this first church was replaced by an Early Romanesque basilica. Around 1180, the church was remodelled into its present-day shape. The ground-plan and initial phase of construction bear a strong resemblance to late Romanesque style of architecture found in the Lower and Middle Rhine areas. The nave, which is relatively short, rises to a lofty height in the early Gothic style of the Champagne and Lorraine regions.

In 1802, during secularisation, the Stift lost its independence and the church became a parish church. Then in 1827, the independent Diocese of Limburg was founded and the church was raised to the rank of cathedral of the diocese.

The Cathedral was restored between 1872 and 1873 and it’s exterior polychrome paintwork was removed leaving the stone bare. Further restorations were carried out between 1965 and 1991 to the exterior plasterwork and interior frescoes and the original polychrome exterior was restored.