Magdeburg Cathedral, dedicated to St. Maurice and St. Catherine, is the first Gothic cathedral erected on German soil as well as the highest cathedral in East Germany with a height of 104m. The beginning of the cathedral can be traced back to 937 when Emperor Otto the First founded a monastery and dedicated it to St. Maurice. In 955, the church building was transformed into a basilica in Romanesque style, and in 968 Magdeburg became an Archbishopry. Otto the First had many precious Italian pieces of art shipped to Magdeburg (such as the baptismal font and columns) which can still be admired in today's cathedral.