COLOGNE DOME
The “High Cathedral Church of St. Peter and Mary”, as Cologne Cathedral is actually called, is the second tallest church in Germany and the third tallest in the world with its 157-meter-high towers.
The “High Cathedral Church of St. Peter and Mary”, as Cologne Cathedral is actually called, is the second-tallest church in Germany and the third-tallest in the world with its 157-metre-high towers.
In 1164, the Archbishop of Cologne, Rainald von Dassel, brought the relics of the Three Wise Men to Cologne. Because the rush of pilgrims became so great, it was decided to build a new cathedral in 1225. Construction of the Gothic cathedral began in 1248.
The cathedral stood unfinished for many centuries. The Prussian chief architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel was the driving force behind the completion of the cathedral around 1860. It was not until 1880 that the cathedral was completed according to the façade plans from 1280. Cologne Cathedral has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.