 Cologne Cathedral |
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| With a total surface area of almost 7000 m2, the west façade of Cologne Cathedral is the largest ever church façade created. Its form, with its two imposing 157 metre spires crowned with magnificent filigree spires, can be traced back to a medieval architectural drawing known as Facade Section F, a parchment document drawn in the year 1280, almost one hundred years before work actually commenced on the building of this facade In 1360. Work on the spires was not however completed until 1880. |
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Germany > Köln
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outh spire, marking completion of construction, Cologne Cathedral with its imposing West spires was the highest building in the world. It had taken centuries of building work for the cathedral to rise from its foundations to the filigree copings atop its two spires. The history of this building can be traced right back to the 13th century.
In 1248, Konrad von Hochstaden, the Archbishop of Cologne, laid the first stone from which the Gothic shape of a new Cologne Cathedral was to rise. The plans from which this monumental structure was to rise were the creative output of an exceptionally talented stonemason by the name of Gerhard, the first Master Cathedral Builder in Cologne. Around 1280, his successors produced a now famous parchment drawing over four metres in height and displaying a detailed sectional view of the facade under the two spires, still housed in the cathedral's Johanneskapelle. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Germany > Köln
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| Interior of nave and central aisle of longitudinal axis of the cathedral. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Germany > Köln
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Germany > Köln
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Germany > Köln
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| A superlative and unique 360° panoramic view of the cathedral and its city can be enjoyed from the 70 metre high viewing platform on the Vierungsturm, whose portals still include original zinc castings dating from the 19th century. Towards the West, you are looking at the two spires of the cathedral, to the right of which stands the pink-coloured former Jesuit church of St. Mariae Himmelfahrt and Cologne's main rail station behind which, in the distance, the Romanesque church of St. Kunibert stands proudly. Your gaze then directs you to the river Rhine and across the nave of the cathedral which extends to the Hohenzollernbrücke bridge, the Ludwig museum and the Old Town with the Romanesque church of Gross St. Martin, continuing round to the green-clad spire on the town hall, the Rathausturm. To the right, beside the south transverse wing of the cathedral, you find the Domhotel (Cathedral Hotel) with the Minoritenkirche in the background, finally returning to the view of the two cathedral spires. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Germany > Köln
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The building of a spire above the Vierung section (centrepoint of cross) constituted one of the most challenging new construction tasks presented by completion work on the cathedral in the 19th century.
As work progressed on the cathedral, a lively discussion ensued as to the precise design of the Vierungsturm. In 1821, Sulpiz Boisserée unveiled his vision of a complete cathedral, envisaging a massive stone spire structure. However, ultimately, a much slimmer and lighter spire was constructed from iron, based on a drawing concept from Ernst Friedrich Zwirner, not least because this design imposed a substantially lower mechanical loading on the eastern Vierung buttresses constructed back in the 13th century. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Germany > Köln
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Germany > Köln
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The roof structure of Cologne Cathedral impresses not only by its sheer size but also by the modernity of its construction. At first glance, the original roof structure of the 19th century, erected over the vaulted ceilings of apse and chancels between April and June 1860, is reminiscent of a modern, post-war creation, this due not least to the orange protective paint coating. Built just under three decades before the Eiffel Tower was erected in Paris, the roof structure of Cologne Cathedral represents one of the most significant mementos of early ironwork construction.
The weight of the entire roof structure, including nave, apse and the two chancel arms, amounts to about 180 tons to which you must add the weight of the lead cladding. You can then gain some impression of the total loads being exerted on foundations and walls constructed in the Middle Ages. However, the main aisle walls of the cathedral would also have been strong enough to cope easily with a roof structure made of solid oak beams. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Germany > Köln
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| Interior of nave viewed from the chancel. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Germany > Köln
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| South side with south-facing facade of transverse wing and Roncalliplatz with Domhotel (Cathedral Hotel) and Roman-Germanic Museum. |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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Germany > Köln
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| cologne cathedral, germany, köln, dom, arounder, fullscreen |
| Photo: Giuseppe Pennisi |
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