The Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt once said that the church's 116-meter tower will forever remain the most beautiful spire on earth.

It is the only Gothic church tower in Germany that was completed in the Middle Ages (1330), and has lasted until the present, surviving the bombing raids of November 1944, which destroyed all of the houses on the west and north side of the market.

The windows had been taken out of the spire at the time by church staff led by Monsignor Max Fauler, and so these also suffered no damage.

[citation needed] The cathedral holds 19 bells, altogether 25 tonnes, making it one of the largest peals in Germany.

In the Middle Ages, the situation changed so that the building was self-owned, and administered by a guardian appointed by the people of the city.