Cologne Cathedral: Started in 1248, Finished in 1880, Free to Enter

Construction on the Kölner Dom started in 1248, stopped in 1473 when the money ran out, and left a half-finished crane sitting on the south tower for four centuries as Cologne’s unofficial symbol. Work resumed in 1842, driven by German Romantic nationalism and a wave of enthusiasm for medieval Gothic architecture, and the cathedral was finally completed in 1880. For the next four years it was the tallest structure on Earth before the Washington Monument and then the Eiffel Tower overtook it.

Knowing that building history matters when you stand inside. This is not a structure that happened in one period with one coherent vision. It’s a 632-year argument with physics, interrupted by a funding crisis, resumed by a different civilisation, and completed according to original plans preserved in partial drawings. The result is extraordinary.

Entry is free. The cathedral is open daily from 6am to 9pm. The north tower climb (533 steps, €6) gives views over the Rhine and back across a city that was 90% destroyed in World War II and rebuilt from scratch in the 1950s.

What to See Inside

The Shrine of the Three Kings behind the high altar is the reason this cathedral was built. A gilded reliquary, two metres long and covered in gold, cameos, and medieval filigree work, containing what the church claims are the bones of the Biblical Magi - brought to Cologne from Milan in 1164 by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Whether or not you believe in the provenance of the relics, the shrine is the largest surviving medieval reliquary in existence, and it turned Cologne into one of the major European pilgrimage destinations of the Middle Ages. It is worth standing in front of for a long time.

The Gero Cross (circa 976) in the south transept chapel predates the current building. It is one of the earliest large-scale depictions of the crucified Christ in Western art - the suffering physical body rather than the triumphant theological symbol. The Bayerische Fenster (Bavarian Windows) in the choir, donated by Ludwig I of Bavaria in 1848, produce a quality of light from deep reds and blues that the post-war replacement glass in the central nave never quite matches.

The City Around It

Cologne Hauptbahnhof is attached to the cathedral’s north side - you walk out of the station and the Dom is in front of you. High-speed trains from Frankfurt take 60-75 minutes; from Brussels, about 2 hours; from Amsterdam, 2.5 hours.

The Hohenzollernbrücke pedestrian bridge two minutes south has hundreds of thousands of love locks attached to its railings. The view of the Dom from mid-bridge is the photograph everyone takes.

The Roman-Germanic Museum adjacent to the cathedral holds the Dionysus Mosaic, a 3rd-century floor mosaic found during World War II construction work, alongside substantial Roman glass collections. Worth an hour.

Kölsch and Eating

Cologne’s contribution to German culture is Kölsch - a pale, top-fermented beer legally protected to breweries within the Cologne area, served in narrow 200ml glasses called Stangen. The custom is that Köbes (servers) keep replacing your glass without asking until you put your beer mat on top. Päffgen on Friesenstrasse and Peters Brauhaus near the cathedral both do it properly.

Avoid the tourist restaurants on Domplatz. Walk five minutes to the Altstadt and find something in the side streets. Früh am Dom is acceptable for traditional Rhineland food if you want to stay close.