The Sagrada Família in Barcelona will soon be taller than Ulm Cathedral thanks to a walkable glass cross. The curious thing: the company that builds it is just a stone's throw away from Ulm.
Ulm/Gundelfingen. After more than 130 years, Ulm Minster will soon lose its title as the highest church tower in the world. Next summer, the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain, will be a good ten meters higher than the 162 meter high tower in Ulm thanks to an accessible glass cross.
The strange thing about it: The company that builds the glass structure is only a stone's throw away from Ulm in Württemberg and is located in Gundelfingen in Bavaria on the Danube – the places are only 36 kilometers apart as the crow flies. Several media outlets had previously reported on it.
“We take this with a certain wink and humor,” said the boss of Josef Gartner GmbH, Jürgen Wax. Nobody from Ulm has complained yet.
Community with hidden champion
The facade specialist in the 8,000-resident community is a so-called hidden champion who was jointly responsible for extraordinary buildings such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and the UFO-like Apple headquarters in San Francisco.
The company employs around 850 people worldwide with its headquarters in Gundelfingen on the Danube. The family business, founded in 1868, has been part of the Italian Permasteelisa Group since 2001. The order from the church foundation in Barcelona was obtained through a tender.
Monday in early summer
The idea for the glass cross comes from the Sagrada Família Foundation. First, a sample of part of the cross was built, which can currently be viewed publicly in Barcelona. “At the moment we are producing a total of six parts at our factory in Gundelfingen from which the cross is assembled.”
One by one they will be delivered to Barcelona so that assembly on the tower can begin next early summer. The Jesus Christ Tower of the Sagrada is scheduled to be officially completed before the 100th anniversary of the death of world-famous architect Antoni Gaudí in 2026. The costs for growing glass are said to be in the lower double-digit million range.
Walkable cross for eternity
Technically, the cross is something completely different than what has been built before. “We have already built steel-glass bridges and roofs – but a walkable cross that is hollow and has a spiral staircase – that has of course never been built in this form before and probably won't be built again anytime soon,” explained Wax.
And then there is the assembly at a height of around 150 meters, which will take an estimated two months: from June to August. Wax was unable to say exactly when the Sagrada Família will actually tower over Ulm Cathedral.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:241211-930-314207/1
