I think I may have been to Cologne to see the cathedral as a teenager. Yet it may also have been some other cathedral in another town. As I will be coming through for work later this year, I thought I’d check it out already on a quick overnight visit. I came from the Netherlands and it was really easy to reach. Ok, my trains were not going according to schedule, but it was a short ride and once I arrived, I only had to walk for 5 minutes to reach my hostel. Despite it being October and the temperatures going down, there were still plenty of tourists, especially around the Dom. The church stands right next to the central station, a colossal point of orientation.
Cologne was one of the worst destroyed cities of Germany in the 2nd world war. The city got a lot of damage in the bombardment of May 31st, 1942. One thousand war planes flew towards Germany, on course for Hamburg. However, Hamburg was experiencing particularly bad weather. So, not to make it a trip in vain, the planes were rerouted to Cologne. It was devastating for the city. Over 260 more air raids followed during the war and it left the city in ruins. Well, all apart from the cathedral. It had been a point of orientation for the fighter planes. Without GPS, a big church was a good reference for finding your way. So the cathedral needed some updates here and there, but it survived.
They are constantly working on this massive building anyway. Earlier this year they started charging an entry fee. I don’t blame them. It costs them €44.000 each day to operate and maintain! That is crazy! It’s very obvious that parts get renovated piece by piece. The cathedral is like a patchwork quilt with lighter and darker pieces. This creates quite a nice effect and gives it a nice look from afar. In all the renovations some bold choices were made. In 2007 a new, controversial window was added. It’s a design by artist Gerhard Richter. It consists of 11.263 colored squares in 72 different colors that match the historical window colors. The squares were arranged randomly with the help of a computer. More traditional members of the church judge it for not having any religious scenes, whereas other observers see the play of the light and colors as the mystery of god. In any case, the window could be built because the church doesn’t actually own the cathedral. Legally, the cathedral is its own entity and it is the cathedral chapter that makes decisions about the church. I loved how the colors reflected high onto the walls on the inside.
So what is the cathedral all about? Most importantly: it houses the relics of the three kings. They were brought there in 1164 as a gift from the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Really, they were stolen from Milan, a city that was disobedient, and then gifted to the archbishop here. Consequently, Cologne became a pilgrimage site and they started working on this cathedral in 1248. Despite all the income from pilgrims, they ran out of money in the 16th century. For over 300 years a crane sat uselessly on top of the unfinished tower. The Prussians had to come in to finish the job and in 1880 it was finally done. The outside looks majestic. It is really something and it demands your attention. The inside was less attractive to me. Sure, it’s beautiful, but it’s less unique, more like many other churches I’ve seen. In the middle is a small, relative to the cathedral, golden box with the bones of the three kings. You can’t get too close, because it’s fenced off. Had I not known the three magi were in there, I might not really have noticed it.
Close to the cathedral is museum Ludwig. It’s a modern art museum with an impressive collection. There was also a special exhibition called Along the Color Line – Traces of a Transatlantic Modernism. Modern art has mostly been framed in a white and European way. The exhibition explores the art and point of view of black artists. Entering the museum, you are first led through different rooms with paintings, photos and installations that show the perspective of a group of people that is usually underrepresented in modern art. Afterwards I walked through the rooms with Picassos and the biggest pop art collection in Europe. I really enjoy modern art, more than for instance contemporary art of the old masters, so this museum was really perfect. I had a fabulous few hours wandering around here.
For an October weekend, the weather was surprisingly good. Especially on my second day the sun popped through the clouds. I managed to fit in two walking tours; one as a general intro to the city, and one that focused on ghosts and legends. I don’t find Cologne a super beautiful city in the classical sense of the word, but these tours made the city come to life more. It gave a really great impression of the spirit of the Cologne people and the local culture. Like we have Spätis in Berlin, they have their Kiosks. People will go on a kiosk crawl and enjoy a beer on the street. There’s also the river, with many places to stroll along the water or enjoy the sunshine, with parakeets screeching in the background. And then there are the many quirks and stories that you may never know about if you just wander through the city by yourself.
One thing typical to Cologne is the beautiful town hall tower. The 61m high structure is decorated with dozens of statues from people throughout the city’s history. One of them is Konrad von Hochstaden, archbishop of Cologne when the cathedral was founded in the 13th century. In order to build such an extravagant building as the cathedral, he needed money. So what do you do as a ruler? You raise the taxes. He didn’t make himself very popular with this though, since he raised the taxes on beer! This further increased the conflict between the church and the merchants. So when this tower was built, Konrad was remembered with a twist. Underneath each statue is some symbol. Right underneath Konrad they made a cheeky sculpture: auto-fellatio. If you look up, you’ll see the medieval middle finger to the ruler of the church, mocking him for eternity.
It was really nice to get a sense of the city and the way its inhabitants talk about it. I found Cologne a nice place in terms of the restaurants and long shopping street as well. Because of the wartime destruction it’s a pretty low key city. There is no instant wow-factor. No huge historic center filled with monuments and old buildings. But it’s a city with down to earth people who seem to like a good laugh and a good life. The big draw is the cathedral, but you can find plenty of other things to enjoy your stay. Between all the post-war buildings you have to find the old and the restored. The beauty is in the details and the stories the city carries. So don’t forget to look up!
