According to the standard reference guide to European architecture Baustilkunde by Wilfried Koch (2005), a „Kathedrale“ (English: cathedral; French: cathédrale; Spanish: catedral; Italian: cattedrale) is a church that contains the seat of a bishop. A „Kathedrale“ is called „Dom“ in North Germany or „Münster“ in South Germany. However, in Germany, „Dom“ and „Münster“ may also refer to a city’s main church without a bishop:
Kathedrale, Bischofskirche einer Stadt, in Norddeutschland → Dom, in Süddeutschland → Münster genannt.
Dom (lat. domus Dei = Haus Gottes), Bischofskirche, in Deutschland auch Hauptkirche einer Stadt ohne Bischof. In Süddeutschland auch → Münster genannt. → Kathedrale
Münster (lat. monasterium = Kloster), süddeutsche Bez. für → Dom. M. hieß ursprünglich die gesamte Klosteranlage, dann nur die Klosterkirche. Heute Name einer → Kathedrale oder städtischen Hauptkirche.
Note: The part „Dom“ of some German names for foreign buildings is not necessarily related to “cathedral”, but maybe to “dome”, e.g.:
- Invalidendom (French: Dôme des Invalides), Napoleon I’s tomb in Paris
- Felsendom (English: Dome of the Rock), a shrine located on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem
- Atombombendom (Japanisch: 原爆ドーム gembaku dōmu; English: Atomic Bomb Dome), a memorial in Hiroshima
Since the correct German word for “dome” (an element of architecture that resembles the upper half of a sphere) is „Kuppel“ (from Latin “cupula”; similar to English “cupola”), such names might be considered false friends.