Paderborn Cathedral

Paderborn Cathedral
The Cathedral of Saint Mary, Saint Kilian and Saint Liborius
Paderborner Dom
Paderborn Cathedral
Paderborn Cathedral Location in Germany
51°43′08″N 8°45′20″E / 51.71889°N 8.75556°E / 51.71889; 8.75556Coordinates: 51°43′08″N 8°45′20″E / 51.71889°N 8.75556°E / 51.71889; 8.75556
Location	Paderborn
Country	Germany
Denomination	Roman Catholic
History
Founded	13th century
Architecture
Status	Active
Functional status	Cathedral
Style	Romanesque-Gothic
Specifications
Length	104 m (341 ft 2 in)
Width	52 m (170 ft 7 in)
Height	28 m (91 ft 10 in)
Number of spires	1
Spire height	93 m (305 ft 1 in)
Administration
Archdiocese	Archdiocese of Paderborn
Clergy
Archbishop	Hans-Josef Becker

Paderborn Cathedral (German: Paderborner Dom) is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paderborn. It is located in the city centre of Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Mary, Saint Kilian and Saint Liborius. The official German name is Hoher Dom Ss. Maria, Liborius und Kilian.

Today's cathedral is located in a position that has been occupied by churches for hundreds of years. Charlemagne had a Kaiserpfalz built near the sources of the Pader river. As early as 777 this palace had an attached church, dedicated to Christ (Salvator Mundi) and Brigit of Kildare. This church, located north of today's cathedral, served as chapel to the court as well as a basis for missionary work among the Pagan Saxons. Rebellious Saxons repeatedly destroyed this first church. After the locals converted to Christianity, the first cathedral was built. Pope Leo III met Charlemagne at Paderborn in 799 and consecrated an altar to Saint Stephen, depositing some relics of that saint in it. The first cathedral of the newly established bishopric was a three-aisled basilica, dedicated to Mary and Saint Kilian. After the See was initially administered from Würzburg, in 806 Hathumar () became the first Bishop of Paderborn.

The second bishop, Badurad (), asked the Bishop of Le Mans for the remains of a saint, to help with consolidating the faith of the local Saxons. In 836, the remains of Liborius of Le Mans were handed over to a delegation from Paderborn and translated back to the cathedral. A fire destroyed the first cathedral in 1000 AD. Bishop Rethar () began with rebuilding, but his successor Meinwerk had the previous work destroyed and started over, building a three-aisled church with a transept and crypt in the east. This (second) cathedral was consecrated in 1015, but destroyed in a city fire in 1058. Meinwerk's nephew, Imad () had the cathedral rebuilt on a significantly larger scale (third cathedral). This building, with two transepts, already was very similar to today's cathedral. Today's crypt was built around 1100 AD. Similarly, a chapel to St. Bartholomew, connected to the cathedral, would be built after 1015 by Greek monks. Another fire in 1133 damaged the church, but its core survived. Bernhard I. von Oesede () had the building strengthened and extended (fourth cathedral), it was reconsecrated in 1144/45.