Cologne Cathedral: 632 Years to Build, Worth Every One

Construction on the Kölner Dom started in 1248 and stopped in 1473 when money ran out, leaving a half-finished crane sitting on the south tower for four centuries as Cologne’s unofficial symbol. Work resumed in 1842 and the cathedral was finally completed in 1880 — at which point it was briefly the tallest structure in the world. That long, interrupted history is worth knowing before you walk in; the building carries different weight once you understand it wasn’t an unbroken act of ambition but a half-millennium argument with gravity and funding.

Entry is free. The cathedral is open daily from 6am to 9pm, though masses and services close parts of the interior at various points throughout the day. There’s no queue to enter the main nave. The north tower climb (533 steps to the top) costs €6 and gives you views over the Rhine, the train station, and a city that rebuilt itself almost entirely after being 90% destroyed in World War II.

What to Look At Inside

The Shrine of the Three Kings behind the high altar is the cathedral’s central object — a gilded reliquary containing what the church claims are the bones of the Biblical Magi, brought here from Milan in 1164. It’s the largest surviving medieval reliquary in existence, and the reason Cologne became one of the major pilgrimage destinations in medieval Europe. Whatever your views on the provenance of the contents, the craftsmanship is staggering: two metres long, covered in gold, cameos, and filigree work that required decades of skilled labour.

The Gero Cross (circa 976) in the south transept chapel is older than the current building — one of the earliest large-scale depictions of the crucified Christ in Western art. The Bayerische Fenster (Bavarian Windows) in the choir, donated by Ludwig I in 1848, are worth pausing for: deep reds and blues that produce a quality of light the modern stained glass in the central nave, installed after war damage, never quite matches.

Around the Cathedral

The Hohenzollernbrücke pedestrian bridge is a two-minute walk from the cathedral’s south side. The love locks are still on it (hundreds of thousands of them), and the view of the Dom from mid-bridge is the one you see in most photos.

The Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum) is directly adjacent. It houses the Dionysus Mosaic — a 3rd-century floor mosaic found during WWII construction — and substantial collections of Roman glass. Entry around €9. Currently undergoing renovation; check hours before visiting.

Wallraf-Richartz-Museum is five minutes’ walk south and holds medieval Cologne paintings alongside Dutch masters and 19th-century French works. Worth an hour if you’re interested in the pre-Gothic visual world this city produced.

Food and Drink

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

For food in the cathedral area: the tourist restaurants on Domplatz are overpriced. Walk five minutes to the Altstadt and find something in the side streets. Früh am Dom is fine if you want traditional Rhineland food (Himmel un Ääd — black pudding with mashed potato and apple sauce — is worth ordering).

Getting There and Around

Cologne Hauptbahnhof is literally attached to the cathedral’s north side — you walk out of the train station and the Dom is in front of you. High-speed trains from Frankfurt: 60-75 minutes. From Brussels: around 2 hours. From Amsterdam: around 2.5 hours.

The cathedral is walkable from most of central Cologne. The old town, the museums cluster, and the Rhine promenade are all within 20 minutes on foot.