Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral (Hohe
Domkirche St Peter und Maria) is one of Germany's most famous landmarks;
its towers have been a friendly outline on the city's skyline since 1880.
It is the third church on the site. The first was commissioned in the
fourth century by Maternus, the first Christian bishop of Cologne and a
second cathedral was completed in 818, but burned down in 1248.
In 1164, the Holy Roman
Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa had presented the relics of the Magi to the
Archbishop of Cologne, Rainald von Dassel and it was decided that these
should become the focal point of the new building because of their
importance to pilgrims. The foundation of the new building was laid by
Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden on 15 August 1248 and work continued on
and off for another 632 years. Unusually, subsequent builders kept more
or less to the original design style.
The cathedral is 144 m (472
ft) long, 86 m (282 ft) wide and the twin towers at the west end of the
building reach a height of 157 m (515 ft), making it the largest church
in Germany.
The reliquary is which the
bones of the Magi are held is a large, gilded sarcophagus, made in the
thirteenth century in the form of an aisled basilica. Its gold and silver
decoration includes reliefs of episodes from the life of Christ as well
as figures of apostles and prophets.
Among the cathedral's other
treasures is the Gero Cross, the oldest monumental cross north of the
Alps, which is well over 1,000 years old. The choir stalls and choir
screen date to the fourteenth century. The figures on the latter were
painted by Stephan Lochner. Despite the severe damage the cathedral
sustained during World War II, there is a substantial amount of beautiful
medieval stained glass, and the carvings both inside and out are
magnificent.
The cathedral's scale is
stunning, but its importance also lies in its long existence as a
pilgrimage church and monument to the enduring faith of its builders.
