Mayor Ludwig Krafft laid the foundation stone of Ulm Minster on June 30, 1377. Heinrich Parler designed the church, Ulrich Ensingen became master builder in 1392, and Matthäus Böblinger took over in 1477 and changed the plans, especially for the main tower. The Gothic church was finished only on May 31, 1890.
The tower rises 530 feet (161.5 m), and it was the tallest church in the world from 1890 until Sagrada Família surpassed it on October 30, 2025. A climb of 768 steps leads to the spire,. The nave is 136 feet (41.6 m) high, and the church is 405 feet (123.56 m) long and 160 feet (48.8 m) wide.
An air raid on December 17, 1944, destroyed nearly the whole town around the minster, but the church was barely damaged. It became Lutheran after a referendum of 1530 and 1531. It has never been a bishop's seat, so it is not a cathedral.
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