It was the seat of the Catholic Prince-Bishopric of Worms until its extinction in 1802, during German mediatisation, whose prince-bishops resided next door in the Bischofshof palace.

After the extinction of the bishopric, it was reduced in status to that of a parish church; however, it was bestowed the title of minor basilica in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.

[1] Great events associated with the cathedral include the nomination of Leo IX as Pope in 1048, the Concordat of Worms which ended the Investiture controversy in 1122, the marriage of Emperor Frederick II to Isabella of England in 1235 and the Diet of Worms in 1521, during which Martin Luther was condemned as a heretic.

Celtic inhabitants were succeeded by the Germanic tribe of the Vangiones, after whom the area around Worms received the name Wonnegau.

Excavations carried out at the beginning of the twentieth century suggest a larger predecessor build which (given its size) was probably Carolingian.

Only the foundations of the west towers and the treasury north of the choir, which was probably built at the end of the 11th century, survived subsequent rebuilding.

The eastern apse, crossing with cupola and transept with its towers (except of their upper storeys) were completed by him in the period up to c.1144.

Towards the end of the century, under Bishop Johann von Dalberg, the original Romanesque cloisters (west of the Chapel of St Nicholas) were renovated, resulting in five monumental late Gothic reliefs on the life of Jesus which are now located in the north side-aisle of the cathedral: Tree of Jesse (1488),[3] Annunciation (1487), birth of Christ (1515), entombment (c.1490) and the resurrection (c.1490).

Another cloister keystone belonging to the Archbishop of Cologne and cathedral scholaster Hermann IV of Hesse is now located above the entrance of Neuburg Abbey Church in Heidelberg.

[4] The foundation stone of the cloisters from the year 1484, which had been thought lost, was found during cleaning in the Dom's lapidarium at the end of February 2014.

In the Nine Years War, Heidelberg, Mannheim, Speyer and Worms were devastated at the command of King Louis XIV.

Some baroque elements date to this time, like the windows of the silver chamber and the high altar of Balthasar Neumann.

In the course of the renovation work, in 1920 the head architect, Philipp Brand, was standing on the scaffolding when a dachshund attacked, and attempted to bite him on the leg.

He stepped to the side and as a result escaped from a falling stone which had broken loose above him, killing the dog.

An unusual political statement is found in the depiction of the Biblis Nuclear Power Plant as the Tower of Babel in a series of examples of human sinfulness.

These are the ancestors and relatives of Emperor Conrad II: These sarcophagi have been located in a specially built crypt since the beginning of the 20th century.

Its consecration inscription and the tympanon of the former entrance to the cathedral, with one of the oldest known depictions of St Nicholas, are preserved.

[8][9] It was apparently used to store a relic of the Saint, which had been brought by Empress Theophanu from Byzantium, at the time of her marriage to Otto II in 972.

At this time, when St Nicholas was still buried in Myra, his cult spread through the west and he was revered as patron of various groups and helper in many matters.

He described it as a "finger bone" of the saint, which at that time was stored in the cathedral sacristry, but had previously been displayed in his own chapel.

[10] Papebroch also mentions a still-extant sumptuous consecration offering from Queen Constance of Sicily († 1198) to Saint Nicholas.

The chapel was originally part of the cloisters which were located immediately to the west and was hidden by them for half its length.

On this same occasion, they also attempted to correct the proportions of the chapel which had become ungainly after the removal of the cloisters, by extending it to the west by a half vault.

Franz Ludwig of Pfalz-Neuburg, Prince-elector of Mainz and Prince-Bishop of Worms, left enough money in his will to have a new high altar built.

His successor, Prince-Bishop Franz Georg of Schönborn, asked his brother Friedrich, the Bishop of Würzburg to provide the builder Johann Balthasar Neumann for the project.

Klais Orgelbau built a swallow's nest organ with three manuals and 34 registers in 1985, which was slightly reorganised and re-toned in 2007.

When the cathedral became a parish church, four bells were hung in the southeast tower, with the notes B, E-flat, G-flat and A-flat.

They were consecrated on Easter Sunday 1949 by the Bishop of Mainz, Albert Stohr, and were hung in the south-east tower.

[19] (mm) (with English translation) Saint Amandus – Patron of the City of Worms and Saint Rupert – The Great Missionary – Holy Bishop of Worms – Pray for the Church and her Ministers Peter and Paul – Protect the City of Worms St. Henry and St. Kunigunde – Ruler of the (Holy) Roman Empire and Friends of Bishop Burchard – Pray for them that govern us – for peace among the people Mary – For thy help, we pray.

The rival queens Brünhilde and Kriemhild disputed over which of their husbands (Siegfried or Gunther) has the higher rank, and therefore, which of them should enter the cathedral first.