Early years Liudolf erected a small church around 950 and remnants of the old collegiate church (
stiftskirche) were discovered under the nave of the current Cathedral. The fortunes of the Cathedral has largely been determined by the religion of the
House of Württemberg, who ruled the area which comprises the present-day state
Baden-Württemberg, of which
Stuttgart is the capital. Catholicism was banned when the family converted to Protestantism. In its early years, the church was administered by the friars of
Altenburg Abbey. During the
Reformation,
Stuttgart became mainly Protestant and Catholic mass was banned from the city from 1535 until the
Peace of Augsburg was signed in 1555. Stuttgart became Catholic again after the
Holy Roman Empire and its allies triumphed over the Protestant forces in the
Battle of Nördlingen. The church came under the administration of the Jesuits, who notably desecrated the grave of theologian and Reformer
Johannes Brenz. Catholic mass was once again banned with the signing of the
Treaty of Westphalia. The
Stiftskirche became a Protestant church and many restrictions were placed on the Catholic population. These restrictions began to be relaxed as the now
Kingdom of Württemberg became secularised (see
German mediatization), although Protestantism remained the dominant and
de facto state religion. The government allowed for a designated priest to minister to the Catholic population; one such priest was
Johann Baptist von Keller.
The "new" church In 1808, the foundation stone for the new Catholic church was laid with little fanfare. It was completed in 1811 and consecrated by Bishop
Franz Karl Joseph Fürst von Hohenlohe-Waldenburg-Schillingsfürst, the General Vicar of Wurttemberg, later
Bishop of Augsburg. Eberhard was chosen to be the patron saint. Initially,
Eberhard of Salzburg was chosen but later Eberhard of Nellenburg (
de), founder of
Kloster Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen, was the preferred choice. During
Nazi rule, theologian
Helmut Thielicke was based at Stuttgart and gave lectures and sermons at the cathedral. The rectory and most of the church, along with many important buildings in the city, were destroyed during the
bombing of Stuttgart in World War II in 1944.
Post-war era From 1948 to 1955, parishioners worshiped at a repaired section of the
Kunstgebäude Stuttgart () (
de) on the
Schlossplatz while the church was being rebuilt. It was reopened in 1955, having been rebuilt in a simplified, modernist style. In 1978 it was elevated from
parish church () to
co-cathedral status. The Diocese of Rottenburg was subsequently renamed Rottenburg-Stuttgart to reflect the change in status. ==Organ==