Original, not rebuilt
Most of the square is reconstruction; this church is not.
The small red-roofed church on the south side of the Roemerberg is older than the square around it suggests. The first chapel on this spot dates from the middle of the twelfth century and is thought to have served the Hohenstaufen court as a royal chapel; it appears in the record in twelve sixty-four and was consecrated to Saint Nicholas of Bari in twelve ninety. Most of what stands today belongs to the middle of the fifteenth century. It later became the church of the city council, the place where councillors worshipped before sitting, and a Gothic gallery was added in fourteen seventy-six. The fact that matters most for a visitor is what happened in the Second World War: the bombing flattened almost the whole old town, but this church came through with only minor damage. What you are looking at is original fabric, not the careful reconstruction that most of the facades around the square are. The tower carries a carillon cast in nineteen fifty-seven and enlarged in nineteen fifty-nine and again in nineteen ninety-four to forty-seven bells. It plays three times a day, at five minutes past nine, five past twelve and five past five. Entry is free, the interior is plain and very small, and twenty minutes covers it. Opening runs to eight in the evening in summer and six in winter.
Most of the square is reconstruction; this church is not.
Added when it became the city council's church.
Roemerberg 11, 60311 Frankfurt am Main
No. The Imperial Cathedral of Saint Bartholomew with its tall red tower is three minutes east and is by far the bigger and more important building. This is a small church on the square itself and deserves twenty minutes, not more.
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