166 Hamburg, Germany, St Mary's RC cathedral

Hamburg, Germany, Hamburg RC cathedral

Lovely late 19th century red brick cathedral with a couple of spires.

Catholics make up about 10% of the population in Hamburg,

three times less numerous than your Lutherans,

and the sign in front of the cathedral says it was the first Catholic church built

in Hamburg since the Reformation a few hundred years earlier.

It was constructed just after Bismarck and his mates stopped telling everyone

that the Catholic church was a threat to national unity, and you can download

a free app to get the art history take.

Romanesque revival, innit?

I liked the IKEA confessionals, the modern stained glass,

the bronzy stations of the cross, the gilded dome and the concrete lectern.

There is a fine set of bas-relief showing scenes from Mary’s life

- angels visiting etc. And you can see the relics of St Ansgar, ninth century

bishop and “apostle of the North”.

There is also a remembrance monument to the Lübeck martyrs,

four clergyman - three catholics and a Lutheran - executed by the Nazis in 1943

for demoralizing the army and listening to enemy broadcasts

(and mentioning all this obliquely in their sermons).