Cologne Cathedral
Construction began in 1248 on French models but came to a halt in the 16th century. For almost four hundred years a crane stood on the half-finished south tower. In the 19th century the cathedral became a national symbol and was completed according to the medieval drawings, with twin towers 157 metres high.
In 1164 Archbishop Rainald von Dassel brought the relics of the Three Kings from Milan to Cologne. The city became one of Europe’s most important pilgrimage sites, and the old cathedral was no longer adequate. Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden laid the foundation stone of a new cathedral in 1248. Master Gerhard, the first master builder, had studied the French cathedrals, especially Amiens and the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, and brought their forms to the Rhineland. The choir was consecrated in 1322. The building was constructed mainly of trachyte from the Drachenfels hill on the Rhine. In the late Middle Ages work slowed steadily, and around the middle of the 16th century it stopped altogether, with the choir finished, the nave only partly built and the south tower at half height.
The cathedral is a five-aisled basilica with a transept and a choir with an ambulatory and seven radiating chapels, entirely on the French model but on an even larger scale. The walls are almost entirely dissolved into glass. Behind the high altar stands the Shrine of the Three Kings, one of the greatest works of medieval goldsmithing, begun by Nicholas of Verdun around 1190. The cathedral also houses the 10th-century Gero Cross, one of the oldest surviving large crucifixes north of the Alps, and Stefan Lochner’s 15th-century altarpiece. The choir has carved 14th-century choir stalls. A modern addition is Gerhard Richter’s window of 2007 in the south transept, with thousands of coloured glass squares placed at random in a grid.
During the Romantic period the half-finished cathedral became a symbol of the divided German nation. In the early 19th century parts of the medieval drawings for the west front were rediscovered, and the art collector Sulpiz Boisserée campaigned for the building to be completed. Work resumed in 1842 with the support of the Prussian king. Ernst Friedrich Zwirner and his successors followed the medieval plans but used modern technology, including an iron roof structure. The cathedral was completed in 1880 and for a few years was the tallest building in the world. During the Second World War it was hit by a large number of bombs but remained standing amid the devastated city. The cathedral’s works department still carries out maintenance. The completion of Cologne inspired the Gothic Revival throughout Europe, including Zettervall’s spires in Uppsala.