The people of Cologne are also always magically drawn to it, the Cologne Cathedral.
It rises majestically right next to the train station and invites tourists in particular to marvel and linger.
The bishop’s church that had existed on this site since the 9th century was now too small and no longer appropriate in terms of architecture and size for the gilded Epiphany Shrine.
On August 15, 1248, Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden laid the foundation stone for the construction of the cathedral here.
However, the Reformation stopped further construction of the cathedral for 300 years because income from the indulgence trade was lost.
And it got even worse: During the Napoleonic occupation, the cathedral was used as a prisoner of war camp and a source of wood and metal.
It was a good thing that the Epiphany Shrine had been brought to safety beforehand.
From 1823 onwards, the now partially ruined cathedral began to recover: thanks to the influence of great personalities such as Goethe and Schinkel as well as generous funds from the Central Cathedral Building Association, the cathedral was ceremoniously completed on October 15, 1880 in the presence of Wilhelm I.
Miraculously, the cathedral survived the Second World War with only minor injuries, was restored in the 1950s and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.
Due to weathering, the cathedral will always be a construction site, but will nevertheless remain the heart of Cologne and Germany’s biggest tourist attraction.
You are also welcome to take a look at the interior of the cathedral at your leisure from home
And here is a very well-done summary of the history of Cologne Cathedral.
And here is a video that tells the construction history of this monumental work very well
“The Old Cathedral - The construction history of the previous building”
You are certainly already curious about the interior of Cologne Cathedral. There we also want to take a look at the Shrine of the Three Kings and the Gero Cross that we just mentioned. So we go inside and head straight towards the Shrine of the Three Kings.
