"Dom" und "Kathedrale" wird für eine Bischofskirche benutzt. Nicht alle Bischofssitze (Orte, an denen ein Bischof seine Verwaltung hat) haben einen Dom. Und nicht alle Kirchen, die "Dom" oder "Kathedrale" heißen sind an einem Bischofssitz. "Dom" and "Kathedrale" are used for bishop's churches. Not all bishop's seats have a "Dom". And not all churches called "Dom" or "Kathedrale" are located at a bishop's seat. "Münster" sind große Kirchen eines Klosters (lat: monasterium). Das Wort wird nur in Südwest-Deutschland benutzt. "Münster are big churches of a monastery. This word is only used in the southwest of Germany. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathedrale Ich denke, dass die Kirchen ihren Namen irgendwann bekommen haben und er immer so benutzt werden muss: I think the church's name formed at a certain time and since that time it is used that way: Kölner Dom, Ulmer Münster,...

Interesting question... I had to check on Wikipedia myself for the subtle differences... Kirche: The general word for church buildings (but also for religions as such) http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirche_(Bauwerk) Münster: - formerly: Church which was part of a monastary - now: A big church http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnster_(Kirche) Kathedrale: - A (usually quite) big church containing the seat of a bishop http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathedrale Dom: - It seems to me that this is again just the word for a big church - Partially a Dom is also containing a seat of a bishop, but not always http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathedrale#Dom To summarize I would say that it only depends on historical circumstances and local habits whether a big church was called "Dom" or "Münster". A "Kathedrale" in contrast always has a specific meaning. Neither of the words indicates anything about the period in which the church was built or about its style.