The main reason that we wanted to visit Cologne (Köln) was to see the cathedral. Every travel book we’ve seen that talks about Germany always makes a point to talk about (and usually show) the church that dominates the skyline of the city. We were lucky enough to find a hotel that is less than a block from the cathedral, and although our room faced the wrong direction to have a view, at least the walk to the cathedral was very short.
The problem with visiting churches like this is that our kid’s patience for this sort of thing is also very short. Visiting a church requires that one stay quiet, not climb on everything, and generally obey protocols that are difficult for young minds to grasp. Especially for CeCe. Sadie pretty much sleeps through everything, and Carissa is old enough now that much of what we go to see is interesting.
CeCe, on the other hand, is a two-year-old, and is always about 3 milliseconds away from her next temper tantrum with the slightest provocation, such as being told not to cross the velvet rope leading to the pulpit.
So we tried to do things a little different. During the girl’s naptime today, I took our camera and went on a picture-making tour of the cathedral. I started inside the church, then went into the treasury, and then I climbed all 509 steps to the top of the south tower.
The cathedral, seen from the southwest.
Interestingly enough, though, our first impression of the church was a little disappointing compared to the expectations we had prior to arrival. The main problem is that the exterior is somewhat in disrepair. From what we have read, though, it appears that a church of this size, complexity, and composition (sandstone) requires a never ending reconstruction effort. There is a 100 person full-time staff in the church’s workshop, and scaffolding is as much a part of the exterior as any other feature.
For the most part, the church is in much better shape than Notre Dame in Paris, but in worse shape than the Notre Dame in Strasbourg, which is probably our favorite Gothic cathedral. The claim is that some of the reason for the current state of the Cologne cathedral is, even now, due to damage that the cathedral sustained during an Allied bombing campaign in 1945. The scenes of the damage are a popular postcard theme in the souvenir shops.
Photo of the Cologne city center after Allied bombing raids in 1945.
If you look carefully, you can see that the cathedral’s roof has collapsed.
That’s not to say that parts of the church are not amazing. The treasury has much more in it, and is much better displayed than in most cathedrals we have toured. The church’s efforts to preserve its holy artifacts of the three kings is also impressive. And the history of the church building is unbelievable. I thought that the construction of St. Peter’s Basilica was long and drawn out, but this one was much more complex.
There has been a church building on the site of the current cathedral continuously since the early 4th century. There has been a constant ebb and flow, as old buildings have been torn down, and a new building built the current building enhanced. The early buildings were mostly wood, so fire was a constant hazard. It also might have been a convenient way for the then-current bishop to initiate a re-design more to his own liking. Hmm.
The cathedral received the presumed bones of the three magi in 1164, and suddenly the church became one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the world. Within 50 years, the current cathedral was started. The portions of the design were executed in stages over a long period in time. Then suddenly in 1389, work on the cathedral stopped (probably due to economic reasons, as the church’s importance had diminished over time), leaving a crane on top of the south tower that stood for nearly 500 years in that manner. The north tower had not even been started.
Reliquary of the Magi. You can see on the end of the box that there are three house-like shapes forming the reliquary. Each of these structures contains the remains of one of the kings.
In the mid-1800s, a group called the “Friends of the Dom” was formed, and this group finally found the traction needed to restart the construction. The final stone was laid in 1886—632 years after the start of construction.
As this picture shows, it is possible to get married in the Cathedral. They don’t close down the church, as they seem to do in Strasbourg. Only the chapel where the ceremony is held was closed. It must be strange to parade through a horde of tourists snapping photos on your way to the marriage altar.
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