Münster a city of incredible history, a tower keeper and one or two cyclists

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Attractive gabled buildings along the cobbled street of Prinzipalmarkt, the eye-catching central cathedral, St. Lambert's Church and a beautiful Gothic Rathaus. Ohh, and that was just the start.
Munster, Germany is perfect for a weekend break.

The view from Café 1648, Münster
Places to visit in Münster
With so many tales of ancient history, a rebellion, and the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia, ending the Thirty Years' War in 1648. Gary and I jumped at the chance of joining a 2-hour guided walking tour.

Historical lamps through Münster
Our tour was organised through Münster Marketing with Annette from Stadt-Lupe. Annette, our guide, took us on an incredibly interesting informal tour of Münster. Explaining how the centuries of history, intrigue and turmoil shaped Münster into the friendly city, it is today.
Grab your Münster Card
Münster Rathaus
Münster City’s town hall like in so many others in Germany cities takes pride of place in the heart of the town. Standing elegant and proud, Munster’s Rathaus has many stories to tell.
The gothic building has been lovingly restored in the 1950s to its original character from the mid-14th-century.

The Friedenssaal “Hall of Peace” located within the Rathaus, is the most important room in the historic town hall. It’s within these four walls that the Spanish-Dutch Peace Treaty was ratified in May 1648. It’s also here in October of the same year that the Thirty Years’ War ended with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia.

The Friedenssaal has been preserved in its original state with portraits of the key figures involved in bringing to an end this awful war. The original wood panelling and seats were returned after being kept in storage during WWII.

Münster Stadtweinhaus


The external balcony on the wine store was used to make important city announcements.
Münster Dom


One of the Dom’s unique charms is the 16th-century Astronomical Clock. The magnificent clock chimes at 12 noon every Monday to Saturday and 12:30pm on a Sunday and public holidays.

It’s incredible to watch as the top section revolves depicting the adoration of the magi.
Market Day
Münster Prinzipalmarkt
The main street through Münster is the historic Prinzipalmarkt.
Lined with beautiful gabled buildings, this wide road would have always been a busy market street.
Full of locals purchasing their goods from merchants and market traders.

Giving Münster city’s Prince Bishop quite a resounding impression that the Münster townsfolk were building their own wealth.
Today you can still imagine how this prosperous city would have looked. The arched colonnades have upmarket, stylish stores lining the magnificent buildings, giving a feel of wealth and pride.

St. Lamberti and its gruesome tales
At the end of Prinzipalmarkt is St Lamberti Church. At first glance, you may be thinking it looks like many other churches, we particularly thought it had a resemblance to Cologne’s beautiful cathedral.


However, take a closer look at the tower, and you’ll see three iron cages, hanging on the side. The three cages have a gruesome story to share. As it is here that three bodies of the Anabaptist rebels were left on display after being tortured and murdered.

The three iron Anabaptist cages

An Anabaptist cage close-up
In the mid-16th-century, the Anabaptists tried unsuccessfully to convert Munster from Catholicism to Protestantism. Their bodies were then hung on display as an act of warning to the town.
The original cages remain and as part of the Munster city’s public art. In 1987 three faint lights were placed inside as part of the city’s art exhibition, to denote their three souls.
Münster’s Tower Keeper
As a little behind the scenes treat, we were given the opportunity to visit Münster’s Tower Keeper. Martje Salje has been the very proud holder of the Tower Keepers role since 2014. Martje is also the first lady to hold this role in over 630 years.


It was an incredible experience, even climbing the 300 spiralling stone steps. When we reached the top, it was magnificent and the night skyline across the city breath-taking.
When we chatted to Martje, she was completely honoured to have been given this historical role and privileged to be carrying on the tradition for Münster.


Münster Cathedral from St Lamberti Tower
Each evening, except Tuesday, the Tower Keeper blows the horn from the top of the tower. In the direction of north, south and west at 9pm until midnight, every 30 minutes. Unless there is anything untoward, Martje sounds the all-clear toot, that the city of Münster is free from fires or enemies beyond.

Horn of the Münster Tower Keeper
We peer over the top of the 246 feet (75 metres) vantage point.
As this is such an iconic tradition, we see people waiting in the streets below for Tower Keepers nightly call.
There’s more to Münster, Germany
As we stroll further around the city, there are more and more interesting buildings to see. The Baroque architect Johann Conrad Schlaun left his mark in a few places in the city. The Erbdrostenhof Baroque palace, which was built between 1753 and 1757, and to make more of an impact the palace is positioned diagonally on a rectangular site.

Erbdrostenhof, Münster Baroque palace
Another of Schlaun’s work is the circular Baroque church Clemenskirche, built between 1745 and 1753. It’s quite eye-catching on the outside, however, once you step inside the Rococo styling is incredible.


Another of attractive and important church in Münster is Überwasserkirche, a hall church. Located just nearby the cathedral and along the banks of the River Aa.
Opposite here is also a bookshop that is used in a popular German TV detective series “Wilsberg”.

Coffee Break
If you are in need of a well-deserved break, I would highly recommend heading up to the recently opened rooftop café “1648”. Which not only offers delicious coffee but has panoramic views across the city’s rooftops.

A little more Münster culture
To make even further use of your Münster Card visit the Kunstmuseum Pablo Picasso. This museum was the first Pablo Picasso museum to open in Germany and is free to enter with you Münster Card.

Head to the upper floor of the Picasso museum and take a peek out of the window, you’ll get a great view of Picasso’s head detailed in the paving stones below.
LWL - Museum for Art and Culture is another venue you can visit free with your Münster Card. It displays over a thousand years of art history, from the middle ages to today. The LWL Museum also has some wonderful exhibitions; unfortunately, we were too early for the Turner exhibit, which starts in November 2019.

You may also notice while strolling around the city, the sculpture and public art exhibition.
Over 60 exhibits are dotted around Münster for you to find and they have been increasing since 1977.

Cherry Column by Thomas Schütte
Discover for yourself
More to Münster, Germany
You’ll find Münster to be a lovely compact city, and to me, this is part of its charm. However, there are always more to delightful qualities to keep an eye out for.
Firstly, the six carillons (glockenspiels) located around the town, there is the one I mentioned in the Dom. Another on Nonhoff House along Rothenburg but see if you can spot the others.


Also, the Kiepenkerl statue and fountain, located by Bergstrasse. This charming statue depicts the local roaming merchant in the Münsterland. They roamed from the town to the countryside carrying their laden down panniers, "Kiepe".
One thing that certainly will not go unnoticed during your visit to Münster is the number of bikes and how well the city has become very bike-friendly.
There are on average 2 to 3 bicycles per person in Münster, and lots of the streets are now for only bikes and public transport. They even have dedicated underground bike parks, just like a car park to keep your bike safe during the day.


Bicycle getting festive in October
Our video from Münster
We have created a little YouTube video of time in Münster - we hope you enjoy it.
Why not subscribe to our YouTube channel and get the latest clips as we post them?
Where to stay in Münster


The staff were extremely accommodating and friendly.
The hotel is slightly out of the city centre, which was ideal for us, as there were ample free parking and only a 20 minutes bus journey into town.
The room was incredibly comfortable, clean & very peaceful.
There was plenty of room in the lounge area, and the desk was a good size, allowing us to set-up our charging station, and work comfortably on the laptop.
In Summary

The Breakfast room
There was a wide variety of food and fresh drinks for breakfast, and all served in the Schloss Wilkinghege cellar.

Easing into breakfast
Where to eat in Münster
When Gary and I travel anywhere, we always make an effort to try the local food and drink. Also, keep an eye out for some traditional inn’s and restaurants to sample them in.

Well, there could only be one place for us to head and that was "Altes Gasthaus Leve". Münster's oldest inn and has been in existence since 1607.

Münsterländer Wurstpfanne
Münster’s local tipple
If you fancy sampling one or maybe two of Germany's beers, you can also try these in Altes Gasthaus Leve. They have a range of beers from local Brauerei Pinkus Müller, which dates from 1816.

A range of beers in Altes Gasthaus Leve
Disclaimer
* This post may contain links to affiliated sites where we earn a small commission at no additional charge to you.
Inspired to visit Münster ?
It's full of ancient history, public art and exclusive shopping.
It would make a great location for a Christmas market trip, or base to explore the region.


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Comments
What a lovely German city to explore! I’m pinning this for future travel planning. I’m entranced by this German architecture!
Yes it was fantastic, lots of history, lovely architecture and really friendly people.
Great post, enjoyed reading it. Rococo so far up north? I was not aware. It’s a very popular style in Upper Bavaria. Looks like I’ll have to visit. My brother in law’s from there, so might combine this.
Thanks Stefan, we really loved the city, wonderful history. Apparently the Clemenskirche is locally known as the Bavarian church. Which town is your brother-in-law from?
Haha.. how cool that they actually do call it Bavarian church. My brother in law and his whole family are directly from Munster, but he and my sister now live near Ulm with two of their three kids (one studies in Munich).
Oh, they’ve headed south. Munster is most definitely worth a visit if you are around there, it’s really lovely and some interesting history.
I’ve never heard of this town, but how wonderful! #Farawayfiles
It was a fascinating place to explore and the city had some really interesting and unusual history.
Great post with beautiful photos and interesting facts. I have saved it for future reference. Munster is added on to my list. I was shocked to read the about gruesome cage history of the church. Enjoyed reading this post with detailed information. #farawayfiles
Thanks very much for your comments. Munster is definitely worth visiting, it’s a lovely small city and as you mentioned some strange tales.
I’m fascinated to read about the woman who blows the horn from the top of the church nearly every night. I bet it’s cold up there in the winter! And two to three bikes per person makes it quite a bike city too! A really interesting read for #farawayfiles.
Yes, when we chatted to the Tower Keeper, she said that she has to go out come rain or shine. Martje said that it can get quite icy up there in the winter too (I don’t think I could do it). However, she absolutely loves her job and very proud of it.
I would definitely go on a walking tour in this city. There is so much history and I love the architecture.
Yes, it was really worth it, we found out so many tales and facts about the city. It’s lovely size place to stroll around too.
I never considered visiting Münster, but you’ve certainly made it look appealing! Much prettier than I had imagined, and I love those lamps! They have lamps like that in Heppenheim! #FarawayFiles
Yes, it was a lovely city, nice and compact and lots of history. We were in Heppenheim earlier this year and noticed all their street lamps.
What a charming city! I especially love how bike-friendly it is, and that there are underground bike parks! That’s pretty awesome! Thanks for linking up with #farawayfiles
Yes it was a amazing how bike friendly it was, it was like being in the Netherlands. Highly recommend a visit.
I was lucky enough to spend 3 years living there, first in Roxel then Coerde, when in the Army. Beautiful city, friendly people, looking to go back next year. The Xmas market is always worth a visit as is the Aasee (the lake in Munster) in the summer, good pub there as well! Probably the best posting in 24 years!!
Oh wow, that is interesting. We loved how friendly the people were too, and as it is a reasonably small city it felt like they really cared. We are definitely considering visiting at Christmas time, perhaps next year, we love a German Christmas market so any excuse to head back.
Have a great time when you return.
Dear Janis and Gary, I am so glad to read you enjoyed your visit to „my“ city and want to leave a big THANK YOU for your kind visit on the tower of St. Lamberti church to join me and listen to the towerkeeper‘s traditional horn signals!
May your journey continue safely and please come back some time to visit our Christmas markets!
Martje, towerkeeper of Münster
Thanks very much Martje for your kind comments, we loved our time in Münster and watching you continuing on the citiy’s tradition was the highlight of the trip.
We really hope to return for the Christmas markets, fingers crossed it will be 2020.
i went there, and whole sightseeing placed i covered by walk. Even our guide explored everything, we were happy with service. Thank you for sharing such beautiful photos with your post.
Thanks for the lovely comments. Yes, it’s a great place to discover on foot and some beautiful architecture.