Blog: Kölner Dom

It had been 8 years since I had gone back to the city I grew up in; Cologne. Cologne is one of the oldest cities in Germany with a deep Roman History. Going back after so many years, I got to appreciate the city in a different light.

Cologne has a wide variety of architecture throughout the city, from Romanesque churches to Brutalist buildings and contemporary crane houses. However, the structure that you will notice first arriving is the cologne cathedral called the ‘Dom’. Throughout most of my childhood the Dom was constantly hidden away by scaffolding, meaning I never got to appreciate it in full, completed form as the architect intended. The Twin towers of the Cathedral rise 157 metres above the city centre making it the tallest twin spired church in the world and the second largest church in Europe.

Seeing it for the first time fully undressed from it scaffolding cover was more intimidating that I had thought before. It possesses an imposing nature like no other building in the whole city. Nothing comes close to its size and grandeur, to the point that no matter from where you stand in the city you will see the Dom.

The construction of the Cathedral began in 1248, after a smaller cathedral was burned down and it was decided to replace it with a new Gothic Style one instead. Having it seen in person, with not only it’s monstrous size but it’s intricate detailing and decoration, it comes as no shock to hear that the overall completion of the cathedral took over 600 years.

During World War II Cologne was one of the most destroyed cities in Germany, the Dom was hit by 14 aerial bombs and more than 70 firebomb hits. Nevertheless, the building somehow did not collapse and remained one of the only structures standing in the ruined city. Works were undertaken for a year after the bombings to repair it from the attacks plus the additional ongoing damage caused by acid rain.

I would recommend to everyone to go see it if you ever get the chance to visit cologne however it would be very hard to miss. Pictures simply do not do it justice. Seeing it feels somehow surreal as if a huge green screen was rolled over the city and photoshopped this monstrosity In, the shear scale of the cathedral makes what is a quintessential part of the city’s heritage feel somewhat out of place.

You can also go up the cathedral for the small price of agreeing to climb up 500 steps, which even after having lived there most of my life and I have yet to do.