Katedral Fulda
Katedral Fulda (bahasa Jerman: Fuldaer Dom, atu juga dikenal dengan Sankt Salvator) dulunya adalah gereja biara dari Biara Fulda dan tempat persemayaman dari Santo Bonifasius. Sejak tahun 1752 Katedral Fulda telah menjadi katedral bagi Keuskupan Fulda. Biara Fulda ditutup pada tahun 1802, tetapi keuskupan dan katedral tetap beroperasional. Katedral dibangun sebagai bentuk dedikasi terhadap Kristus sang Juru Selamat (bahasa Latin: Salvator). Katedral Fulda merupakan simbol dari kota Fulda.
Sejarah
Katedral Fulda dibangun diatas tempat yang dulunya pernah berdiri Basilika Ratgar (pernah menjadi basilika terbesar di utara Alpen). Katedral Fulda merupakan tempat bersemayamnya Santo Bonifasius dan gereja dari Biara Fulda. Sketsa rancangan gereja digambar pada tahun 1700 oleh salah satu arsitek terbesar Barok Jerman, Johann Dientzenhofer. Johann Dientzenhofer ditugaskan oleh Kardinal Adalbert von Schleifras untuk membuat bangunan baru atas rekomendasi dari Paus setelah kepulangan Johann Dientzenhofer dari Roma pada tahun 1699. Kesamaan interior dalam gereja merupakan inspirasi Johann Dientzenhofer dari Basilika Santo Petrus di Roma.
The deliberate similarity of the church's internal arrangement to that of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is testimony to Dientzenhofer's visit.
The Ratgar Basilica was demolished to make way for the new Baroque structure, on which construction began on 23 April 1704 using in part the foundations of the earlier basilica. In 1707 the shell was completed. The roof was finished in 1708 and the interior in 1712. The new abbey church was dedicated on 15 August 1712. The dedication tablet placed on the facade by von Schleifras gives the dedication as Christus Salvator.
The new Baroque building, like its predecessor, served as the abbey church and the burial shrine of Saint Boniface. In 1752 it was elevated to a cathedral on the creation of the Diocese of Fulda. In 1802 Fulda Abbey was dissolved and the cathedral's function as the abbey church ceased, but it continued in operation as the seat of the Bishops of Fulda.
On 4 June 1905 during celebrations of the 1150th anniversary of the death of Saint Boniface a stray firework lodged in the righthand tower and started a fire (it is presumed to have set light to old jackdaws' nests). The tower was burnt out, and the bells Osanna and Bonifatius were destroyed. Other parts of the cathedral were not damaged.
After damage caused by air raids during World War II the cathedral was closed for restoration until 1954.
Pope John Paul II visited Fulda on 17 and 18 November 1980. More than 100,000 people were present on the cathedral square on 18 November to attend the open-air mass celebrated by the Pope.