Cologne - Cathedral

Cologne - Cathedral

A view along the nave of the cathedral of Cologne.

In 1164, the Archbishop of Cologne had acquired the remains of three bodies which were claimed to be relics of the Three Kings and which had been taken from Milan in Italy by the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa.

The relics had great religious significance and could be counted upon to draw pilgrims, and therefor money, from all over Europe. As it was deemed important that these corpses were properly housed, the loss of the old five-aisled cathedral prompted the building of a new cathedral, constructed in thefrench Gothic style. It was based in particular on the French Cathedral of Amiens.

The foundation stone was laid on August 15, 1248. The eastern arm was completed in 1322 and sealed off by a temporary wall so it could be in use as the work proceeded. Eighty four misericords in the choir date from this building phase. In the mid 14th century work on the west front commenced. This work halted in 1473 leaving the south tower complete up to the belfry level and crowned with a huge crane which was destined to remain in place, and the landmark of Cologne for 400 years.

Some work proceeded intermittently on the structure of the nave between the west front and the eastern arm but during the 16th century, this ceased.

Only in the late 19th century, the romantic revival of medieval architecture (or rather; modern misinterpretations thereof) and the discovery of the original medieval design plans led to the renewed construction of the half-build cathedral.

The cathedral was finally completed according to the original designs (but with modern techniques and materials) in 1880.

The resulting building is rather cold and lacking in atmosphere but the size is certainly impressive.

Cologne - Cathedral belongs to the following groups:

Heritage in Stone, Historic Churches, Historic Landmarks of Europe and à EUROPA! Available for sale as

Greeting Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters