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The Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom, official name: Hohe Domkirche St. Peter und Maria) is one of the best-known architectural monuments in Germany and has been Cologne's most famous landmark since its completion in the late 19th century. The cathedral is under the administration of the Roman Catholic Church and is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne. Cologne Cathedral is the church with the largest facade (the west or main facade with the twin towers) and remains the second-tallest Gothic structure in the world; only the steeple of the Ulm Münster is higher.
HistoryConstruction
It was built on the site of a 4th century Roman temple, a square edifice known as the 'oldest cathedral' and commissioned by Maternus, the first Christian bishop of Cologne. A second church built on the site, the so-called "Old Cathedral", was completed in 818. This burned down on April 30, 1248. The present cathedral was built to house the relics of the Magi, taken from Milan (Italy) by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa and given to the Archbishop of Cologne, Rainald of Dassel in 1164. The foundation stone was laid on August 15, 1248, by Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden. The choir was consecrated in 1322. After this initial rapid progress, construction work gradually came to a standstill, and by the year 1560, only a torso had been built. It was only with 19th century romantic enthusiasm for the Middle Ages and the commitment of the Prussian Court that construction work resumed in 1842 with the addition of the towers and other substantial parts of the cathedral, mostly according to surviving medieval plans and drawings. Cologne Cathedral was built by civic effort; the Central-Dombauverein, founded in 1842, raised two thirds of the enormous costs (over US$ 1 billion in today's money), the Prussian state one third. Image:Kölner Dom kurz vor der Fertigstellung 1880.jpeg The cathedral in the final construction phases during the late 19th century. The completion of Germany's largest cathedral was celebrated as a national event in 1880, 632 years after construction had begun. The celebration was attended by Emperor Wilhelm I.
The cathedral has 12 church bells. The first was the Dreikönigenglocke (bell of the three kings), cast in 1418, 3.4 tons of weight, installed in 1437. It had to be cast new in 1880. Two of them, the "Pretiosa" (10 tons), at that time the largest bell in the occident, and the "Speciosa" (4.3 tons) were installed in 1448, and are there since then. The largest of them, the St. Petersglocke (bell of St Peter), was cast in 1922, weighs 24 tons and is the largest free-swinging bell in the world. The World Peace Bell in Newport, Kentucky is larger, but it does not swing free around the top, it only turns around its Center of Gravity, which makes a different sound. Image:CathedralCologneBell-rev1.jpg St. Petersglocke (note person to the right of the bell clapper for scale) The most celebrated work of art in the cathedral is the Sarcophagus of the Magi, a large gilded sarcophagus dating from the 13th century, and the largest reliquary in the Western world. It is thought to hold the remains of the Three Wise Men, whose bones and 2000 years old clothes were discovered at the opening of the shrine in 1864. The Gero Cross (Gero-Kreuz) (around 970), near the sacristy, is the oldest large cross north of the Alps. In the Sacrament Chapel, the "Milan Madonna" (Mailänder Madonna), dating from around 1290, is a wooden sculpture depicting Mary and the child Jesus. In St. Mary's Chapel (Marienkapelle) is the altar of the patron saints of Cologne with an altar piece by Stephan Lochner. Other outstanding works of art are to be found in the cathedral treasure chamber. Image:Warning sign in cologne.jpg An American soldier and a destroyed Panther tank in front of the cathedral on 4th April 1945. World War II and post-war historyThe cathedral suffered 14 hits by World War II aerial bombs but did not collapse; reconstruction was completed in 1956. In the northwest tower's base, an emergency repair carried out with bad-quality brickstones taken from a nearby war ruin remained visible until the late 1990s as a reminder of the War, but then it was decided to reconstruct this section according to the original appearance. It is possible to climb a spiral staircase to a viewing platform about 98 metres above the ground. This climb covers 509 steps (see gallery below). Image:Koln bell.jpg The St. Petersglocke with its frame Some repair and maintenance work is almost constantly being carried out in some section of the building, which is almost never completely free of scaffolding, since wind, rain, and pollution slowly eat away at the stones. The Dombauhütte, which was established to build the cathedral and still does the repairs, is said to employ the best stonemasons of the Rhineland. There is a common joke in Cologne that the leader of the Dombauhütte, the Dombaumeister (master builder of the cathedral), has to be Catholic and free from giddiness. The current Dombaumeisterin is Barbara Schock-Werner. Half of the costs of repair and maintenance are still borne by the Dombauverein. In 1996, the cathedral was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List of culturally important sites. However, in 2004 it was placed on the "World Heritage in Danger" list due to nearby high-rise building and its visual impact upon the site, as the only 'Western' site. The cathedral was removed from the List of In Danger Sites in 2006, following the authorities' decision to limit the heights of buildings constructed near and around the building. On August 18, 2005 Pope Benedict XVI visited the cathedral as part of his apostolic visit to Germany as part of World Youth Day 2005 festivities. An estimated 1 million pilgrims visited the cathedral during the festivities. DimensionsImage:Plan.cathedrale.Cologne.png Bottom floor.
Gallery
See also
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