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| The Cologne Cathedral is the symbol of the city on the Rhine and can
look back over 750 years of history. In the late Roman era, the square
on which the Cathedral stands was the place where the first Christians
in Cologne assembled. Several churches in succession, ever increasing in
size, were built on this spot close to the city walls. When the Cathedral
Chapter concluded a contract about financing the construction of a new
church in 1248 the "Old Cathedral" was burnt down. In the same year, Archbishop
Konrad von Hochstaden ceremonially laid the foundation stone of the "new"
Cathedral. In 1560 the Cathedral Chapter put a halt to all building work
- probably for financial reasons. From then, the building work was at a
standstill for centuries until the Cathedral Movement enjoyed a renaissance
in 1820 after the Napoleonic Wars. At the instigation of the Prussian King
Friedrich Wilhelm IV, the citizens of Cologne established the "Zentrale-Dombau-Verein"
(Central Cathedral Construction Association) in 1841. In 1842 the Prussian
King laid the "continued construction foundation stone". In 1880 the building
was completed as a five-nave basilica with an ambulatory choir and ring
of chapels, the monumental west façade with the two immense towers
was the biggest church façade ever built at the time, and the 157
m high north tower was the highest building on earth. The Cathedral was
seriously damaged in the Second World War, many years of rebuilding ensued.
In 1996 UNESCO included Cologne Cathedral in the list of world heritage
sites as a "Masterpiece of Gothic Architecture".
The Sights series draws attention to major cultural and technical achievements,
but is also supposed to be an incentive to seeing the subjects in real
life.
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Original information from Deutsche Post
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