Ulm Minster will soon lose its title

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 just a stone's throw away from Ulm and is located in Gundelfingen, Bavaria, on the Danube. Several media outlets had previously reported on it.

Community with hidden champion

36 kilometers as the crow flies separate Gundelfingen in Bavaria on the Danube from Ulm in Württemberg. “We take this with a certain wink and humor,” said the boss of Josef Gartner GmbH, Jürgen Wax. Nobody from Ulm has complained yet.

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. Wax said they are currently building the Google headquarters in London.

“We are known worldwide for our ability to implement special, exclusive and complicated things in architecture,” continues Wax. The order from the church foundation in Barcelona was obtained through a tender. “That was before the corona pandemic.” The project then came to a standstill, but it continued again at the end of last year.

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 and probably won't be built again anytime soon.”

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.

Curious constellation

“It is of course a bit strange that a company that is only a stone's throw away from Ulm is involved here,” admits Wax. “Originally we weren't aware of what this would bring about.” When visiting customers, we often go to Ulm and go to the old town for a meal, including a tour of the cathedral.

Around 40 people in the company were involved in the project. Everyone is proud of it. “We will offer employees throughout the company the opportunity to immortalize themselves with a signature on the stainless steel framework,” said Wax.

The cross will probably be up there for many decades or perhaps centuries. “This is of course something different than an office building.” The signature will no longer be seen later, only when the cross is dismantled at some point.

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