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Welcome to the Chancel in the Freiburg Minster!
During the church’s renovation beginning in 1354, this space was altered to conform with the High Gothic nave, but many years passed before the works were finally completed in 1536. The chancel chapels were a unique opportunity for a number of wealthy Freiburg families and nobles to keep the memoria of their deceased relatives alive, serving as oratories and sepulchres. They are an indication of a deep piety, as well as the donor’s desire to enhance their own prestige and strengthen the family's reputation with the items placed in the chapel. The royal middle chapels belonging to the Imperial house of Habsburg elevated the status of all families’ chapels. Even the University of Freiburg (founded in 1457) secured a place to commemorate its members with its own chapel.
All eleven chapels were furnished with valuable windows and ornate altarpieces. Besides the windows, it is mainly the colourful bosses in the chapels and their connected ante-rooms that can be traced back to the original owners: these often depict the donors alongside their patron saints and the coats of arms of their families. Many of the wrought-iron grilles and stone plinths showing imaginative reliefs also date back to the chapels’ original construction.
As regards to the remaining furnishings and design, each chapel has led a life of its own. Over the centuries, the chancel has undergone many transformations, reflecting the ideas of different eras.
