Ulm Minster spent more than five centuries earning the title of the world's tallest church. Construction began in 1377, but the spire, at 161 metres, wasn't finished until 1890. The medieval masons' lodge that coordinated the work, the Bauhütte, is still active today, training stonemasons in the same traditions it has observed for nearly 650 years.
The Minster has a habit of attracting the extraordinary. In 1811, a local tailor named Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger wanted to launch his homemade glider from the spire. Permission was refused. He was pushed off the Danube bank instead, crashed into the water, and died impoverished and mocked. He is now recognised as one of the genuine pioneers of flight.
VoiceMap's self-guided tour uses the Minster as its starting point, tracing the city's medieval Jewish community, the Einstein family connection, and the masons whose craft has never really stopped.