Beautiful and well worth the 2€ donation price. They close…read morethe doors to public tourists at 4pm, so they can open for worshipers. One of the first Gothic churches in the region it was begun in 1250 and finished in 1270. WWII fire bomb destroyed much of it, and it was rebuilt in 1953 and the final 2 tall spires where finished in 1990. View the huge pipe organ, pay homage to the fallen of WWI at the 14 Crosses and look at the beautiful alter piece from Antwerp. The best are the tall vaulted gothic arched ceiling, the broken bell and the huge astronomical clock.

Our international group took a tour above the vaulted ceiling, up into the towers, the belfry, and…read morethe turret. Our tour was given in English. The guide was very knowledgeable. He had a tablet with a script to remind him of what all to say, but was also able to answer questions. The tour focused on the construction, destruction, and reconstruction. We started in the back of the main sanctuary, stopping briefly at the broken bell chapel, a monument to the horrors of war. We then walked outside to access the door to the spiral staircase of the south tower. You climb most of the stairs in one go, which was problematic for some in our group, as it was 300 something stairs. There is a rope in the center for holding on, but some of the stairs were a bit uneven (as expected in an historic building). There are plenty of building materials throughout, because why would you haul materials up an down when you can just leave them where you'll need them? Parts of the tour are on wobbly scaffolding or thin ladders - perfectly safe - but situations that would never be allowed in the US. We were amused that the safety explanation was that the church wasn't liable, while the guide kept reminding us not to drop our phones. Again, not what we're used to hearing in the US. The climb was totally worth it for beautiful views of the surrounding city, particularly the glow of the Christmas markets below. We got plenty of time to take in the views and take plenty of pictures. We toured the different bell areas (I don't remember now all the distinctions), including the main set of 32 bells and the glockenspiel. On the way down, in the North Tower, they have a room that is somewhat of a museum to the building process, with a replica of the scaffolding that would've been used, as well as all the different bricks, and an image of what the church would've looked like in the building process. The climb down was much easier, though a bit dizzying. We exited through the church, seeing the single multifaceted star illuminated in the main aisle in the dark. All in all, a great tour of a beautiful and historic building that I highly recommend.