Magdeburg Cathedral
Look up first: two towers, the south one 99.25 m and the north one 100.98 m, make this one of the tallest cathedrals in eastern Germany and the landmark of the city. Officially it is the Cathedral of Saints Maurice and Catherine, and it counts as the oldest Gothic cathedral in the country. Building began in 1209 and went on for some three hundred years; the steeples were only finished in 1520.
The story starts earlier. In 937 Otto I, later called the Great, founded an abbey dedicated to Saint Maurice on this spot. After his victory at Lechfeld in 955 he expanded it, and to underline his claim as heir to the Western Roman emperors he had ancient columns brought here. Many of those antique pieces were reused when the new church rose after 1209, so keep an eye out for stone far older than the Gothic walls around it.
Inside lies the grave of Otto himself, and of his first wife Edith, Eadgyth in English, a granddaughter of Alfred the Great. She died in 946, and analysis of her bones has confirmed that she grew up in Wessex. Although the cathedral was looted more than once, it is still full of art from antiquity to the present day.
Going in is free, donations welcome, so there is no reason to skip it. If you like detail, the guided cathedral tour is worth it, and there are tower tours as well. From here it is only 400 m and five minutes to the Monastery of Our Lady.
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