THE COLOGNE CATHEDRAL CONSTRUCTION IS COMPLETED

Today, The Grandma has received wonderful news from one of her closest friends, Tina Picotes, who has been visiting Germany during the last month. 

Tina loves Architecture, and they have been talking about the Cologne Cathedral, a wonderful UNESCO site and the most famous landmark in Cologne whose construction was completed on a day like today in 1880.

Cologne Cathedral, in German Kölner Dom, officially Hohe Domkirche Sankt Petrus, is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne.

It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996.

It is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day. At 157 m, the cathedral is currently the tallest twin-spired church in the world, the second-tallest church in Europe after Ulm Minster, and the third-tallest church in the world.

It is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe and has the second-tallest spires. The towers for its two huge spires give the cathedral the largest façade of any church in the world. The choir has the largest height to width ratio, 3.6:1, of any medieval church.

More information: Kölner Dom

Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 but was halted in the years around 1560, unfinished. Work did not restart until the 1840s, and the edifice was completed to its original Medieval plan in 1880.

Cologne's medieval builders had planned a grand structure to house the reliquary of the Three Kings and fit its role as a place of worship for the Holy Roman Emperor.

Despite having been left incomplete during the medieval period, Cologne Cathedral eventually became unified as a masterpiece of exceptional intrinsic value and a powerful testimony to the strength and persistence of Christian belief in medieval and modern Europe. Only the telecommunications tower is higher than the Cathedral.

When construction began on the present Cologne Cathedral in 1248 with foundation stone, the site had already been occupied by several previous structures. The earliest may have been for grain storage and possibly was succeeded by a Roman temple built by Mercurius Augustus.

From the 4th century on, however, the site was occupied by Christian buildings, including a square edifice known as the oldest cathedral that was commissioned by Maternus, the first bishop of Cologne.

A free-standing baptistery dating back to the 7th century was located at the east end of the present cathedral, but was demolished in the 9th century to build the second cathedral.

During excavations of the present cathedral, graves were discovered in the location of the oldest portion of the building; including that of a boy that was richly adorned with grave goods and another of a woman, popularly thought to be Wisigard. Both graves are thought to be from the 6th century. Only ruins of the baptistery and the octagonal baptismal font remain today. The second church, called the Old Cathedral, was completed in 818. It was destroyed by fire on 30 April 1248, during demolition work to prepare for a new cathedral.

In 1164, the Archbishop of Cologne, Rainald of Dassel, acquired the relics of the Three Kings which the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, had taken from the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio, Milan, Italy. The relics have great religious significance and drew pilgrims from all over Christendom. It was important to church officials that they be properly housed, and thus began a building program in the new style of Gothic architecture, based in particular on the French cathedral of Amiens.

The foundation stone was laid on 15 August 1248, by Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden. The eastern arm was completed under the direction of Master Gerhard, was consecrated in 1322 and sealed off by a temporary wall, so it could be used as the work continued. Eighty-four misericords in the choir date from this building phase.

More information: Solo Sophie

In the mid 14th century, work on the west front commenced under Master Michael. This work ceased in 1473, leaving the south tower complete to the belfry level and crowned with a huge crane that remained in place as a landmark of the Cologne skyline 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 also stopped.

With the 19th century romantic enthusiasm for the Middle Ages, and spurred by the discovery of the original plan for the façade, it was decided, with the commitment of the Protestant Prussian Court, to complete the cathedral.

It was achieved by civic effort; the Central-Dombauverein, founded in 1842, raised two-thirds of the enormous costs, while the Prussian state supplied the remaining third. The state saw this as a way to improve its relations with the large number of Catholic subjects it had gained in 1815, but especially after 1871, it was regarded as a project to symbolize German nationhood.

Work resumed in 1842 to the original design of the surviving medieval plans and drawings, but utilizing more modern construction techniques, including iron roof girders. The nave was completed, and the towers were added. The bells were installed in the 1870s. The largest bell is St. Petersglocke.

The completion of Germany's largest cathedral was celebrated as a national event on 14 August 1880, 632 years after construction had begun. The celebration was attended by Emperor Wilhelm I.

With a height of 157.38 metres, it was the tallest building in the world for four years until the completion of the Washington Monument.

The cathedral suffered fourteen hits by aerial bombs during World War II. Badly damaged, it nevertheless remained standing in an otherwise completely flattened city. The twin spires were an easily recognizable navigational landmark for Allied aircraft bombing.

On 6 March 1945, an area west of the cathedral (Marzellenstrasse/Trankgasse) was the site of intense combat between American tanks of the 3rd Armored Division and a Panther Ausf. A of Panzer brigade 106 Feldherrnhalle. The Panther successfully knocked out a Sherman, killing three men, before it was destroyed by a T26E3 Pershing hours later. Footage of that battle survives. The destroyed Panther was later put on display at the base of the cathedral for the remainder of the war in Europe.

More information: Cologne Tourism

Repairs of the war damage were completed in 1956. An emergency repair to the base of the northwest tower, carried out in 1944 using poor-quality brick taken from a nearby ruined building, remained visible as a reminder of the war until 2005, when it was decided to restore the section to its original appearance.

Repair and maintenance work is constantly being carried out in one or another section of the building, which is rarely completely free of scaffolding, as wind, rain, and pollution slowly eat away at the stones.

The Dombauhütte, established to build the cathedral and keep it in repair, is said to employ the best stonemasons in the Rhineland. Half 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.

In 2004, it was placed on the World Heritage in Danger list, as the only Western site in danger, due to plans to construct several high-rise buildings nearby, which would have visually impacted the site.

More information: UNESCO

A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile,

the moment a single man contemplates it,
bearing within him the image of a cathedral.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery