Construction phase Historians assume that the site where the Liebfrauenkirche stands today corresponds to the location mentioned in the deed of gift from the Thuringian Duke
Hedan II to the Anglo-Saxon Bishop
Willibrord of Utrecht in 704, and that Arnstadt's first church also stood here. In 726, the bishop bequeathed his share ("Portio") of the "Villa" Arnstadt to the
Abbey of Echternach in his will. In the 12th century at the latest, the imperial
Hersfeld Abbey took over the landlordship on site and moved the Walpurgis nunnery to the Liebfrauenkirche around 1307. Remains of foundation walls of various predecessor buildings have been archaeologically proven. The present church building is inconsistent and contains medieval components from different construction phases. It is assumed that the building was constructed in the last quarter of the 12th century. This includes the eastern central
nave bay, above which the rectangular east tower rises today. The unusual position of the tower above a nave bay is striking, which is why it has been suspected that it could be a former
choir tower, as occurs in the region. and the portals in the west and in the side aisles were built. Due to its characteristic building forms, this building phase is counted among the group of buildings that were created in stylistic dependence on the Cistercian
monastery of Maulbronn and are often referred to in research as "Maulbronn School buildings". A designation which, as Ernst Badstübner writes, "is not entirely appropriate for the buildings in Thuringia", "because on the one hand the dependence on the Black Forest monastery is not a direct one, and on the other hand because far more elements than can be explained by an influence from Cistercian architecture determine their character." The two polygonal decorative towers on the west rail, which statically did not harmonise optimally with the older substructure and are unsuitable to accommodate mighty bells, belong to this construction phase, too. Their stylistic similarity to the church buildings in
Mühlhausen, especially those of
St Mary's and
Divi Blasii, was noticed early on. The stylistic development from the Late Romanesque south tower to the Gothic north tower in the middle of the 13th century can be seen in Arnstadt as a model for Thuringia. In the last quarter of the 13th century, the Romanesque choir was replaced by the
High Gothic east building consisting of a
transept and a staggered hall. As early as the 19th century, the ground plan analogy with
Regensburg Cathedral, whose foundation stone was laid in 1275, was noticed without research having a satisfactory explanation so far. Weber assumes that in Arnstadt, too, a basilical solution was initially aimed at. After there had already been an appeal for donations for the preservation of the Liebfrauenkirche in 1842, which led to the renewal of the roofs in 1843, and an association for the recovery of the Liebfrauenkirche had been founded in 1855, extensive restoration work began in 1880. Under the direction of master builder Hubert Stier, the south wall of the transept was renewed, the choir windows were rebuilt with ornamental gables, the east central nave bay was vaulted and the bell tower was executed in
neo-Gothic forms. On the west towers, the two stone spires and the free floors underneath were removed and rebuilt using acceptable old material. In the course of this construction work, the nuns' gallery was demolished in 1883. In addition, the aisles of the church were given a
historicist interior painting.
Reconstruction in the 20th century and until today In 1910, construction work began again with the aim of preserving and restoring as much of the original structure as possible. Under the direction of the civil officer Georg Wickop and the architect Martin Schwarz, a large part of the west structure, which was still unstable, was removed following the example of the
Worms Cathedral restoration, and even the foundation of the north tower was renewed. The stone material was documented and, as far as possible, an exact reconstruction of the "old forms" was carried out using the old building material. The neo-Gothic west gable, however, was demolished, including the statue of the Virgin Mary. The roof was given the shape of a
hip roof again. In addition, the historicist interior painting was removed. In 1942, the bronze bells dating from 1585 were removed and melted down for war purposes. They were replaced by three chilled iron bells in 1959 as part of extensive reconstruction work begun in 1954. In April 1945, the church was damaged by American artillery fire. In the course of the reconstruction, the neo-Gothic tower from 1881 was reduced to its present form in 1958 to relieve the foundations, and in 1960 the coloured windows in the choir area were removed. After this reconstruction work was completed, the church was reconsecrated on 7 November 1973, Willibrord's Day. In 1978, the church was equipped with a new
Schuke organ with 27
stops, two
manuals and about 1900
pipes, which was installed in the transept for sound reasons, thus creating an unobstructed view of the west front. It sounded in public for the first time on 13 June 1979. Partial renovation of the roof was carried out from 1991 to 1994 and the north-west tower was repaired in 1996. Despite all the repair and reconstruction work that had been done, there was still an urgent need for renovation. The choir
buttresses were in danger of collapsing and there was considerable structural damage to the other buttresses as well. Therefore, on 4 November 2000, the Board of Trustees for the Preservation of the Liebfrauenkirche was founded under the patronage of the Thuringian Minister of Culture, Dagmar Schipanski. As a result of the work of the Board of Trustees, the renovation of the choir buttresses as well as the securing of the other pillars could be completed by May 2001. At the end of 2001, the renovation of the roof began with a new covering and the repair of the ceiling plaster. On the occasion of the 1300th anniversary of the town of Arnstadt, a four-part peal of bronze bells was installed again in 2004. == Interior ==