162 ARCHITECTURE. 
true lattice window 51 feet in diameter. The intersection of the nave and 
transept is surmounted by a dome. ‘The choir, which belongs to the oldest 
part of the church, has been restored in inferior style. This oldest portion, 
which embraces also the cross-arms with the exception of the northern 
portal, which is of later date, is built in the Byzantine style. Under the 
choir is a subterranean church, and 21 feet below the latter is the founda- 
tion sole of the minster, being a layer of clay 3 feet thick on closely driven 
piles. Near one of the chapels is a small court containing a stone cube 
with the epitaphs of Erwin von Steinbach (d. 1318), the architect of the 
spire and of his wife and son. The tower was commenced in 1277. Its 
height to the platform where the warder lodges, is 205 feet from the floor 
of the church. Thence rises the northern tower. The southern was never 
built. This part of the structure is a quadrangle with truncated corners, 113 
feet, 6 inches high, and containing the belfry and spiral stairs. From its top 
rises the spire proper, a pyramid 121 feet, 6 inches high. The total height 
of this spire is, therefore, 442 feet. It is the highest finished spire in 
Europe. The spires for the cathedral of Cologne were designed to be 532 
feet high, that of the minster of Ulm 452 feet, 6 inches, but they were not com- 
pleted. The upper pyramid of the Strasburg spire is octagonal and reduced 
stepwise to a point. It is of the most exquisite workmanship, and built 
according to the highest principles of stone-dressing. The gallery below 
the cross forms a sort of crown to the spire. The spire was executed under 
the superintendence of the architect John Hitz, and its every detail com- 
mands the admiration of architects in point of construction. 
The southern portal is in the Byzantine style. It is decorated with 
sculptures representing figures from the Old and New Testaments and 
others distinguished by tasteful composition and beautiful execution. They 
are newer than the portal itself, and are principally works of Sabina von 
Steinbach, daughter of the architect. This portal formed the conclusion of* 
the oldest portion of the church, which was all finished in the year 1002. 
The outer walls of the new naves were finished by bishop Wernher in 1028. 
It is in the pointed-arch style of much lower dimensions than were after- 
wards in vogue. The vaulting of the nave and side aisles was not com- 
pleted before 1050. Erwin von Steinbach constructed the ascending arches 
to the walls of the main nave and built the tower to the height of the ridge 
of the nave. After his death his son John carried it up to the platform. 
He was followed by John Hiltz of Cologne, who commenced the northern 
spire and built a piece of the southern, which was subsequently taken down. 
Conrad Frankenberger was the next architect. He worked at the northern 
spire for the first four or five years of the 15th century. Finally John Hiiltz, 
grandson of the above mentioned Hiltz, finished the pyramid in the year 
1439. The stone pulpit is of exquisite workmanship and was wrought by 
Hammerer in the year 1485. 
3. Tur Catneprat or Corogne. No building has been so much discussed 
in public prints and special books as the cathedral of Cologne. It has the 
greatest claim to the special attention of architects, on the one hand by the 
merit of its grand and harmonious ground plan, and on the other because 
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