Cologne Cathedral (, ) 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 6 million people a year. At , the cathedral is the tallest twin-spired church in the world, the third tallest church in Europe after Sagrada Família and Ulm Minster, and the tallest cathedral in the world.
Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248, but was halted in the years around 1560.Leonard Ennen, Der Dom in Köln von seinem Beginne bis zu seiner Vollendung: Festschrift gewidmet den Freunden und Gönnern aus Anlass der Vollendung vom Verstande des Central-Dombauvereins [The cathedral in Cologne from its begin to its completion: Festschrift dedicated to the friends and patrons on the occasion of the completion of the understanding of the Central Cathedral Building Association], 1880, p. 79 Attempts to complete construction began around 1814, but the project was not properly funded until the 1840s. The edifice was completed to its original medieval plan in 1880. The towers for its two huge spires give the cathedral the largest façade of any church in the world.
Cologne's medieval builders had planned a grand structure to house the reliquary of the Three Kings and fit for 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". In Cologne, only the telecommunications tower is higher than the cathedral.
Predecessor buildings
Merovingian episcopal church
Maternus of Cologne was the first bishop of Cologne in around 313.Werner Eck: Frühes Christentum in Köln. In: Ulrich Krings, Rainer Will (ed.): Das Baptisterium am Dom, Kölns erster Taufort. Köln 2009, pp. 11–21, here p. 12. However, Cologne's Christian community, still small at this time, did not gather in a church, but in a residential building, which is thought to have been located on the cathedral hill below today's choir.Georg Hauser: Schichten und Geschichte unter dem Dom, die Kölner Domgrabung, Köln 2003, p. 19. After the collapse of Roman rule on the Rhine, the Merovingian petty kings residing in Cologne built an episcopal church on this site in the 6th century, which was eventually around long and equipped with an ambon. This building, which was probably built by King Theudebert I, served as a burial place for the royal family; among others, the king's wife Wisigard was buried here around 537. However, the excavation finds under the cathedral choir do not allow a complete reconstruction of the buildings from the Merovingian period.Georg Hauser: Schichten und Geschichte unter dem Dom, die Kölner Domgrabung. Köln 2003, p. 25.
Baptistry
Work on Cologne Cathedral was finished in 1880. At that time, the cathedral had a height of , making it the tallest building in the worldafter a total of 632 years of construction. Except for a few centimetres, both towers are the same height. Already in late antiquity, there was a baptistery to the east of the cathedral choir, where the early Christians, following the rite of the time, stepped into knee-deep water and were completely doused. It is assumed that the baptismal font, which dates back to the 5th century, was originally located in the garden of the Roman house that served as a Christian meeting place.Georg Hauser: Schichten und Geschichte unter dem Dom, die Kölner Domgrabung. Köln 2003, p. 42f. Later, the baptistry built above the pool was presumably combined with the cathedral church to form a single building complex, although there is no archaeological evidence of this today.Werner Eck: Frühes Christentum in Köln. In: Ulrich Krings, Rainer Will (Ed.): Das Baptisterium am Dom, Kölns erster Taufort. Köln 2009, p. 11–21, here p. 19. Sebastian Ristow: Das Kölner Baptisterium am Dom und die frühchristlichen Tauforte nördlich der Alpen, in: Ulrich Krings, Rainer Will (Ed.): Das Baptisterium am Dom, Kölns erster Taufort, Köln 2009, p. 23–43, here p. 29f. When Hildebold Cathedral was built and equipped with a baptismal font due to the changed rite, only the baptismal piscina remained from the baptistery.Sebastian Ristow: Das Kölner Baptisterium am Dom und die frühchristlichen Tauforte nördlich der Alpen. In: Ulrich Krings, Rainer Will (Ed.): Das Baptisterium am Dom, Kölns erster Taufort. Köln 2009, p. 23–43, here p. 31. Today, this piscina, which is accessible in the base of the cathedral, is considered the oldest evidence of Christian worship in Cologne.Bernd Streitberger: Was wird aus dem Baptisterium am Dom? In: Ulrich Krings, Rainer Will (Ed.): Das Baptisterium am Dom. Kölns erster Taufort. Köln 2009, p. 91–98.
Hildebold Cathedral
In Carolingian times, the Old Cathedral was built on Cologne Cathedral Hill and consecrated in 870.Matthias Untermann: Zur Kölner Domweihe von 870; in: Rheinische Vierteljahresblätter 47 (1983); pp. 335–342 The cathedral is now known as Hildebold Cathedral after Bishop Hildebold, who was a close advisor to Charlemagne and died in 818. However, it is unclear how much the bishop contributed to the building. He probably started the new construction, which Charlemagne also generously supported.Karl Ubl: Köln im Frühmittelalter. Die Entstehung einer heiligen Stadt, Köln 2022, p. 188. The bishop's residence was originally located next to the cathedral.
With a length of around , Hildebold Cathedral was one of the largest Carolingian churches ever built and became the architectural role model for numerous churches in the early Holy Roman Empire. It was built in the Carolingian tradition as a basilica with two choirs, with the east choir dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus and the more important choir in the west to the memory of Saint Peter. Through its patronage, but also in its architecture, Hildebold Cathedral made reference to Old St. Peter's Basilica in RomeLex Bosman: Vorbild und Zitat in der mittelalterlichen Architektur am Beispiel des Alten Domes in Köln. In: Uta-Maria Bräuer, Emanuel Klinkenberg, Jeroen Westerman: Kunst & Region, Architektur und Kunst im Mittelalter. Utrecht 2005, pp. 45–69. and was regarded as the St. Peter's Basilica of the North. This was intended to underline Cologne's claim to be a holy city and faithful daughter of the Roman Church.Rüdiger Marco Booz: Kölner Dom, die vollkommene Kathedrale. Petersberg 2022, p. 17. The so-called reliquary-staff of Saint Peter and the chains of Saint Peter were among the church's most important relics.Georg Hauser: Zur Archäologie des Petrusstabes. In: Kölner Domblatt. 76, 2011, p. 197–217. The Hillinus Codex from the 11th century shows Hildebold Cathedral in an unusually realistic depiction for the time.Holger Simon: Architekturdarstellungen in der ottonischen Buchmalerei, Der Alte Kölner Dom im Hillinus-Codex. In: Stefanie Lieb (Ed.): Form und Stil, Festschrift für Günther Binding zum 65. Geburtstag. Darmstadt 2001, p. 32–45. Today, the foundation walls of the Carolingian basilica have been revealed by the cathedral excavations.Uwe Lobbedey: Rezension zu ‚Ulrich Back, Thomas Höltken und Dorothea Hochkirchen, Der Alte Dom zu Köln. Befunde und Funde zur vorgotischen Kathedrale‘; in: Bonner Jahrbücher 213 (2013/2014), p. 503– 509
On 23 July 1164, the Archbishop of Cologne and Imperial Archchancellor Rainald of Dassel brought the bones of the Three Wise Men from Milan to Cologne, which was perceived as a "propaganda success".Rüdiger Marco Booz: Kölner Dom, die vollkommene Kathedrale, Petersberg 2022, p. 26. The relics had been left to the archbishop by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa from his spoils of war. They had been considered worthy of veneration at least since their transfer. Whether Rainald von Dassel himself or the Milanese patricians should be regarded as the "inventors" of the relics is disputed in academic literature. In any case, between 1190 and 1225, the Shrine of the Three Kings was made for the highly respected saints in Cologne, which is considered one of the most sophisticated goldsmith's works of the Middle Ages; the shrine was placed in the center of the Old Cathedral.Ulrich Back: Die Reliquien der Heiligen Drei Könige im Alten Dom, in: Leonie Becks, Matthias Deml, Klaus Hardering: Caspar Melchior Balthasar. 850 Jahre Verehrung der Heiligen Drei Könige im Kölner Dom, Köln 2014, p. 23–27. Cologne thus became an internationally renowned place of pilgrimage in Europe.Bernard Gui: Manuale de l‘Inquisiteur, hrsg. von G. Mollat und G. Drioux, Bd. 1, Paris 1926, p. 56. To oversee the pilgrim crowds, an office of custos regum ("guardian of the kings") was established after 1162.Alheydis Plassmann, Martin Bock: Art. Köln – Domstift. In: Nordrheinisches Klosterbuch. Lexikon der Stifte und Klöster bis 1815. Teil 3: Köln. Franz Schmitt, Siegburg 2022, p. 157–198, here p. 160. However, the only narrow side portal of the cathedral was not very suitable for the crowds of pilgrims, as it had to be used as an entrance and an exit at the same time.Clemens Kosch: Kölns Romanische Kirchen: Architektur und Liturgie im Hochmittelalter. Regensburg 2005, p. 14f.
Construction
Within the construction of the Gothic cathedral in 1248, the Old Cathedral was to be demolished step by step. However, careless demolition work and fire destroyed not only the east choir, but almost the entire cathedral; the Shrine of the Three Kings was saved from the fire. The western parts of Hildebold Cathedral were provisionally rebuilt and were only taken down after 1322, when the Gothic choir was completed and construction of the Gothic nave began.Rüdiger Marco Booz: Kölner Dom, die vollkommene Kathedrale, Petersberg 2022, p. 58, 87.
Building history of the Gothic cathedral
Medieval beginning
The foundation stone was laid on Saturday, 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. 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.Wim Swaan 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.Wim Swaan gives the latest date as 1560, but a date of 1520 is considered more probable by other scholars.
19th-century completion
With the 19th-century Romantic enthusiasm for the Middle Ages, and spurred by the discovery of the original plan for the façade, the Protestant Prussian Court working with the church, committed to completing 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.