Cologne Cathedral - History of a German Gothic masterpiece
Here‘s what you need to know about the history of the Cologne Cathedral: The foundation stone for the tallest building in the world was laid on August 15th, 1248. The builders in Cologne knew that they would never get to see the finished cathedral. Construction lasted for 632 years - and work on the Cologne Cathedral never really ends. The local saying is, “When the cathedral is finished, the world will end.” The cathedral is a long-term project to create an appropriate home for the precious relics of the Three Wise Men, that can also accommodate the large streams of pilgrims. Today, the cathedral is Germany's most-visited landmark.
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00:00 Intro
03:00 How the huge cathedral is maintained and preserved
08:25 The hidden side of the cathedral
10:35 The history behind the cathedral
19:00 Skaters and railroads - is the cathedral disrupted by modern times?
21:00 The cathedral's historic-political meaning - a platform for identity and protests
27:59 Gerhard Richter's famous windows
28:46 A Cologne crime story - How the cathedral got robbed
32:17 Safety Issues of the cathedral
33:32 Destruction and preservation
38:10 The cathedrals symbolism in modern times
I visited this cathedral with my family when I was twelve, and even today at sixty, I remember it like it was yesterday and is still one of the most magnificent buildings I have ever seen.
You should come and see it again!
Wonderful documentary on an iconic church. I'd like to add a related personal story. As a college student in the 1980s, I spent a semester abroad studying in Cologne or "Alt Koelle" as the locals refer to it. My German father of the host family was a WWII veteran from the Kriegs Marine (German Navy) and told me a moving story about the cathedral. He had been captured at the end of the war and served some time in an allied camp as a prisoner of war. He was on a train with his fellow POWs from Cologne being repatriated after the war. As the train rounded a curve along the Rhein river, they saw the city had been destroyed by bombing, but then the spires of the old cathedral came into view, the men gasped...somehow, despite being hit and somewhat damaged, the grand old lady had survived the carpet bombing of the city, and was still proudly standing tall among the devastation and rubble of the flattened city. He said that to a man, the grizzled war veterans on the train, stood up and began to weep openly at the sight of this miracle.
Thanks for sharing this story with us and our community!
Een onzinnig verhaal, dat stuk steen heeft het land niet kunnen vrijwaren van de ellende van oorlog en moord. Ja, misschien heeft het de pedofielen geholpen om hun lusten bot te vieren, meer niet.
What a magnificent story. My eyes are in tears. My father was also in WWII & although he is now gone I cherish his wonderful stories. He was a Seabee in the US Navy. Thank you for sharing such a heartfelt story.
We must have a profound respect for this monument that stood long before us and will continue to stand long after us. Thank you for this documentary.
Actually, Sagreda familia in Barcelona is also next to railroad tracks of speed trains. How come in the 13th century people could build grand cathedrals but not now?. We need to protect all of cathedrals around the world because we can’t build such huge or even small cathedrals like that anymore.
I'm a native of Edinburgh. In my 70 years some buildings in the city centre have been replaced 3 times according to architectural fashion. The 11th Century Chapel in Edinburgh Castle, and many homes and buildings from 4 or 5 hundred years ago still function beautifully and don't suffer with cladding that could catch fire, or softening concrete. People have nothing in mind but money nowadays. Save on materials and charge a fortune because it can always be replaced. It's horrific how the throwaway society cares nothing for pride in construction.
Sagrada as in sacred
We can still build these things
To expensive to build beautiful buildings nowadays
As it took until 1880 for the cathedral to be completed, it doesn’t appear in this case 13th century people could build a grand cathedral. Barcelona as you point out is building a grand cathedral now.
Cologne Cathedral is definitely on my bucket list. I live near Ulm and visited the Münster several times, no matter how often you see it it’s still breathtaking. I absolutely adore gothic architecture.
Truly striking. I will always remember seeing it for the first time in the 1980s.
This is an excellent documentary. It was so interesting to see all the challenges faced by these types of architectural monuments and the spirit of people to save them. I love the answer at 40:17. Cheers from Kandy, Sri Lanka.
I have been to the Cathedral 3x times since 1989 and every time I walked away in absolute admiration of the building and everyone who was involved in building it.
Невероятная честь получить подряд на реставрацию этого шедевра мировой архитектуры.
This place is magical, i got tears in my eyes the moment i walked in. Since that moment it holds a special place in my heart. Greetings from Amsterdam to the people of Köln!❤
I still remember the first time I visited the Cathedral. I was coming out of the train station and greeted by the Kölner Dom. I was in awe. I can’t forget that feeling. It‘s so wonderful!
I nave had the opportunity to visit the cathedral twice. It looms large and completely dwarfs the city around it. Impossible to get the full effect unless you see it in person. Incredibly impressive that something so huge could have been built so many hundreds of years ago - long before structural steel!
Excellent documentary as always. DW should cover the history of "Silent Nacht" creation in Oberndorf, Austria next time, since this is exactly the Christmas time!
Excellent idea! Thank you for that
I’m planning to see this wonderful marvel in the spring.
I have led several exchange groups to the top of the Dom as well as climbed the staircase on my own time. It truly is a sight to behold!
The Cologne Cathedral Plaza would be a busy area. Skateboards are a hazard to the people around. It was proper to remove them from the plaza. Now, they need to put a decibel limit on amplifiers.
fantastic construction, when art meets engineering, impressive work. Hope it stays forever, as it is truly a marvelous feat of human excellence. 👍🏽
Ernst Friedrich Zwirner... From 1833 he was the leading architect of Cologne Cathedral and was born in Jakobswalde [Kotlarnia] in Silesia. Its just 10 km from my home and to this day there is his parents grave :D fun fuct about this person who worked at this Cathedral
Thanks for sharing this personal connection with us and our community!
Thanks for your upload. In the 1950s, my mother and I went to the cathedral, and she was astounded. She remembered that the cathedral was twice as big. Turned out that the Germans had closed off half of the cathedral, because it was so heavily damaged. When I took the stairs to the top, I could see the destruction--it was massive. The hole on the ground was scary and extremely deep. Its nice to see how well the restoration turned out.
Thanks for sharing this memory of yours!
Interesting video. Thanks for posting.
I grew up in the 90s if I got caught leaping over church pews during a service my pastor and my grandma and my grandpa would take me out back and do the you know what to me whoop my behind
And I imagine the result is that you respect others’ property and know how to act like a human being.
My German-born mother recalled that the location of the Koln Hauptbahnhof (central railway station) meant that the Kolner Dom was also hit by bombs. This was in contrast to the Aachen Cathedral, which was quite a distance from the Haupt Bahnhof and therefore was less scarred by bombing.
The fact that these Gothic cathedrals were built without power tools or cranes and the stones were all cut and carved by hand, never ceases to amaze me.
Do you REALLY believe it was built that way? How naive you people are...
Learn to speak ENGLISH before asking damned stupid questions.@@user-ml6xc1hh8t
@@YTChiefCritic No, aliens with anti gravity machines pitched in.
Really??? Npc comment
Thank you for presenting a brilliant, tragic, heart-warming, finally triumphant history of a structure that must stand as an inspiration for all--Survival!
Been there in the 90s... Beautiful and haunting. A certain vibe.
Most stunning building ive ever seen
What a magnificent masterpiece from 13th century people . Even the artwork details on the window is insane!
Magnificent building. It's incredible to think that the original craftsmen who started on it knew they would never see the end product in their lifetime.
wow what a magical looking place.
It ıs looks so amazing ı Will definetly go there
It's another wonderful documentary and historical coverage video of infamous Colon Chathedrals in Germany 🇩🇪... thank you, an excellent ( DW) documentary channel for sharing this wonderful documentary about ancient Roman trails, Medieval existence below this wonderful Cathedral in German history ..
The cathedral is not “infamous”, you disrespectful platypus.
@@C.O._Jones This seems to be a simple spelling mistake. No need to be mean.
@@DWHistoryandCulture That’s not a spelling mistake. If the man can’t use the correct English word, he should use his own language.
When I was there in 1974, there were very few tourists at all. My friend and I were nearly alone inside. There were no tours. It was wonderful to be there with barely a whisper of noise. In 1974 there were benches to sit on in the square. I see none in this video....a shame. Skateboarding in the square? How stupid, pointless and disrespectful. Same goes for any protest. In spite of what is stated here, I was told by many former Bomber Command Pilots of whom I interviewed, all told me that they tried to avoid hitting the cathedral. That was due to respect for history AND that the twin towers were a navigation aid that would be lost if destroyed. On most nights those 2 towers were visible at any height. One must recall too that just on one night alone, the RAF hit Koln with nearly 1,000 aircraft. Isn't that a point that proves that those pilots that I interviewed were telling the truth? During the entire war, the cathedral was only hit approx. 14 times, while the rest of the city was nearly flattened. Surely the cathedral was only hit by accident and never intentionally.
Who TF would throw gum on the floor? And play games in the Church. That’s disrespectful. I would volunteer and make people eat the gum !
If I saw them doing that, they’d have a tough time eating the gum with no teeth.
Absolutely agree... I'm an atheist and yet everytime I hear/see someone answering a call, eating (gum included), being dressed as if they were going to the beach, etc. in a church, it really pisses me off. Just f... off to Disneyland...
@@C.O._Jones How very 'christian' of you.
@@leftpastsaturn67 It actually is. It’s much better for them than what I actually want to do. And rest assured that I hold you in the exact same regard I have for them.
@@leftpastsaturn67 You know: "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth!" Old Testament. Not my opinion.
This place is absolutely amazing
I visited here is 1975 as an American Serviceman - and ate at a McDonalds across the street. That was when there were few overseas McDonalds! It was a great day!
Yes, that’s exactly what happened to me, too. I walked over Mc.Donald’s across the road and went to the bathroom down the basement, then there was black-man at the door collecting money 💰 for using the restroom.
The McDonalds across the street still exist. ;-)
I visited on a school trip in 1962. We walked in off the square, paid the 2DM in a wooden box, then walked around. I was impressed beyond belief, the cathedral is so large and richly decorted. I am used to the austere plain stone of English churches it is fabulous.
That's not really a fair comparison though is it? I know cathedrals ARE churches, but I'm going to assume you meant regular parish churches - and of course they are going to seem somewhat anticlimactic by comparison with not just even any old cathedral, but amongst the most magnificent to be found anywhere on the planet. That being said, may I also respectfully contend, that until the middle of the sixteenth century, England was as Catholic as anywhere else - and just as Gothic, Mediæval - and prone to superstition and excess as anyone else - with the architecture to match. The ancient English cathedrals are a match for any - Benedict XVI (presumably familiar enough with large and ancient churches....)was visibly awestruck and moved by Westminster Abbey when he came to England in 2010. Your comment leads me to suspect that you have not availed yourself of most, or any, of the splendours which dot this isle - if you had, it would be inconceivable that a complaint of "plainness" could be applied and an unequal comparison implied: Winchester, Salisbury, York, Gloucester, Worcester, Ely are my picks for your first half dozen. Any and all of the above are beyond compare. I suppose Canterbury would feel offended to be left off - and Bath, Norwich, Durham, Wells, Peterborough are all absolutely fabulous days out, most of the cathedrals there absolutely dripping with the curlicue serrations and astounding minute tracery in stone and wood that you favour - and you should see the just mentioned Westminster Abbey and while there, St Paul's - which while Baroque, not Gothic, makes up for its lack of intricately carved detail by its thumping great size, sense of incredible, mountainous solidity and one of the longest echos in the business. If you're lucky enough to catch the choir rehearsing - or even just the assistant sub organist - you'll be guaranteed to be blown away. In THAT sense, England, clearly Protestant by then, on the cusp of world primacy and nurturing in its bosom some of the greatest Enlightenment geniuses of the day - Wren, Newton, Boyle, Hooke, Hume, Marlborough - of course was going to project itself cockily and in a fresh new way, departing the gnarly, spooky Gothic of the Middle Ages for the very smoothest, whitest limestone and marble and neo Classical pediments, porticos, colonnades and domes. Anyway, there's no reason to be defensive since, as I said, any and all of the above palaces of ingenuity, determination and, let's be honest, (archi)episcopal/cardinalatial hubris - positively bristle with the sort of stunning detail you admire - quite rightly - at Cologne.... I m sure you will appreciate for yourself the impressions I have certainly had, from all of those spectacular places. And if you can't make it in person, try some of the better quality documentaries 🙂
39:14 This caught me off guard...wow
I love that they show the hidden parts of the church as well
I personally like Gothic Style Architecture a lot, it's very beautiful . Love from India
The title said “History …” but I’m 7 minutes into the video and there has been nothing about history at all. It’s all every day trivialities. WTF!?!?
I wish they talked more about the prostitutes.
Darnet! Germans just have to have the biggest and best of everything. I both admire and envy that bunch.
Story of a feminist peasant with the Cathedral in the background was so touching. Like an interview with random pigeon leaving some dirt behind. Dark ages were not in the past. It is today!
Cringe
Thanks 👌 God bless 🙌
Modern genious society not able to even clean the surface of the Cathedra. Doesn't that perhaps tell you something?
Amazing it survived WW 2.
It would be wonderful if a method could be found to clean the exterior stonework without damaging it. I would love to see the exquisite carved detailing come to life with the grime removed.
They actually showed exactly that being done with a laser - someone wasn't paying attention 😏
Who was the structural engineer in 1248 that knew the soil would hold the worlds tallest and heaviest building in the world?
St Philomena's Cathedral in Mysore, India (world's yoga capital) is based on the Cologne Cathedral.
Thank you for sharing that insight with us and our community!
Such a beautiful work of art and so proud of Cologne. Pity that some gargoyles were released too early from the edifices of the cathedral (explains why some were missing too!😂) and came to the grounds in the form of a skateboarder, a violent freespeecher, a robber, a vandal, and a fountain😮 trust that even gargoyles can turn a new leaf and work to restore this church. If you're mad at someone, take it elsewhere, not on sacred spaces ✨🕊️.
I love the use of a refugee boat as an altar. Powerful.
Histoire AND cultures This is my favourite mind
Many thanks for making this documentary. A few months ago, I fell in love with this cathedral at first sight. Now I know more about it.
Thank you! We're glad you liked the documentary. Subscribe to our channel for the latest uploads.
@@DWHistoryandCulture Oh,I thought I was subscribed your channel, but that was your documentary channel. Now I subscribed also your history and culture channel.thanks for reminding me.
This documentary is from 2017. Should've been mentioned in the title or, at the very least, in the description. Some documentaries (not saying this one in particular) don't age very well, the year of production is always important to know. Furthermore, it can look like clickbait without it.
Nobody seems able to explain how the cathedrals were built. He says only that "they did an incredible job".
What dont you understand about it?
We love the Cologne cathedral
There used to be great ancient history docs on this channel, but not for the last year or two 😞
I would like to meet the salesman who sold the “relics”. What a farce!
Give up. Slaves dont buy, sell.
This is so Destroy Lonely
beautiful city, one of the oldest in Germany
I climbed up the tower once. 500 steps.
11:10 sorry that was Lincoln cathedral in england
Uhmm...No?
Get some new glasses. Definitely!
Dude, you can see both the Rhine and part of the roof of the Hauptbahnhof at the end of the shot...
That looks nothing like Lincoln Cathedral.
The worlds impressive cathedrals are the spiritual architectural engineering and astronomicallineage of the pyramid buildersAnd whoever came before them
lol…. To be honest ,the spires hold a unique place for me… on my first travel there they meant my brother and I had made a huge mistake. We were supposed to wake up in the Netherlands; we had never heard of splitting the train w passengers on board….
An honest tale, making the certain spirit shine to our current days towards the end of this documentation - even for atheists. Well done, DW ! Thank you.
We're glad you enjoyed it. Make sure to follow us for the latest uploads 😊
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Too many modern buildings too close to the cathedral.
How on earth "Humans" managed to design and build such a magnificent church 700 years ago..Even with Todays technology it seems impossible...😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱
Can charge 5 per person times 20,000 persons. My math says that is 100,000 monetary units per day. That will put a dent in the cleaning bill. Is that 36.5M? Each year? Wow.
Yes I enjoy studies as a welcome member of the global national Park Services tourists system of the youth experience of every territory of the world history. God bless everyone that's involved!
How much does the Catholic Church contribute to the maintenance of the cathedral?
I always remember how to spell Cologne by deliberately mispronouncing it in my head as "Co-log-nee", otherwise, I always miss the "g"... and bologna is "Bo-log-nah", and Lasagna is "Lah-sag-nah"... now, I DO say them correctly, it's just in my head when I'm writing/typing them.... ;-P
Just say the native Köln instead.
These guys don’t realise that these treasures won’t last forever as Jesus said
That new window is silly and makes no sense
The Cologne Cathedral survived the Allied bombing of Cologne inn World War 11.
Sort of
There were eleven world wars?
😇💯👋👋👍👍!! STUNNINGLY BEAUTIFUL !!!! FROM, U.K. (2024).
DW is a favorite channel, but this report was not it's best. There weren't many history details. More than half the time is spent on other matters with endless shots of visitors.
Thanks for sharing your opinion with us. We'll try to do better next time :)
I sometimes wonder why we have to share the planet and its treasures with people who would damage, urinate on, graffiti or thieve from such a treasure. What is wrong with them??
Just include the chapel as the university as the heads of every old royalty king rights should already be installed but now welcome the civilian sector of the world studies that I assist with my life's works studies! Match my knowledge of any studies that are housed in your university and then winner controls the university!
Holy smokes, 20K a day! I don’t regret paying admission fee now.
Peter fussenich keeps how much of that 20,000 euros a day
Seems more of a museum rather than a place of worship.
A shame with the modern, low-effort stained-glass windows.
You can't blame the Americans for putting the train station next to the Cathedral. You can't blame the Americans for the war either. You want to point a finger point it at Hitler. Point it at those who put the train station there.
Of course blame it on the easy planned scapegoat lmao, what am embarrassment
I plan on visiting this in May 2025. I promise to not throw chewing gum on the floor. Smoke in the cathedral, or play Pokémon… Who raised those people? I’m not perfect but I have been in many cathedrals and churches. It’s not hard to not be a disrespectful moron.
🎉❤🎉
Супер видео собора супер красота его ❤❤❤❤ 🙂😋😀😎
HOW DID THEY FIND THE 3 WISE MENS RELICS ❓❔PLS THEY DID LIVE IN THE 1ST CENTURY A.D. AND WENT SEPARATE WAYS TO THEIR OWN COUNTRY ❓❓❔🕊🕊✝️✝️
Made : Tartarian
Cologne, a Roman colony. I'll bet that Roman DNA can still be found there. In my mind it was ownership of Saints parts that was the downfall of the Roman Catholic Church. The Catholic Church was a protestant church.
No. The cathedral belongs to the church. Yes, it has larger social and economic impacts but those impacts should not define ownership, mission or purpose.
Why maintain this when Europe is going to be Muslim soon? I have fond memories of this place. This is the first church I visited in Europe. I celebrated my first mass here too. I met three half drunken Japanese here who were really impressed by how large the pillars were and you know how expressive those guys can be. I was imagining the last stand of the Panther tank on the grounds outside the church in WWII. Outside at one of the stores I met my first migrant Filipino who coincidentally named just like me.
No Europe will not.
Liberty statue have miniature, effel tower have miniature, piramide have miniature, cologne dom??? 😅😊
For souvenir
I was wrong. I google it and i found it. In my mind to complicated to make miniature 😅
I wonder if within 50 years it will become a mosque, like Hagia Sofia.
🙈
Probably not.
Christians are soft and no longer have that Viking amd Crusade spirit in them,Islam will gradually take over Europe and everything which is not associated with Islam will be removed or destroyed,its evident from their history
Least obvious troll 😂
What about just being able to go and look and be quiet and BE in the place. (Although I can quite understand the problem with disrespectful and idiotic people doing damage and being annoying. As for the skateboarders… Do you realise what noise you make and the damage that can be done by hopping up onto some of the structures? Are all skateboarders going to cause damage? No, but it takes only a handful of idiots to do damage and spoil it for everyone else.
An absolutely remarkable and beautiful church, so why in gods name don’t they clean up all the black on the exterior ? cathedrals throughout Europe have been cleaned up and they look wonderful. Why not this one and by the way, I CAN imagine the church without that god-awful window, let’s face it it has no meaning at all And my friends is that not a peculiar thing for a church
That feminist is an horrible, hollow person.
There are some important incorrect statements in this documentory. Coln the largest city north of the Alps in the Middle Ages?? Nope, Paris was much larger. The Coln cathedral the largest building in the 13th century? Also wrong. The 2 towers were only build in the late 19th century. The old St Paul's cathedral (built from 1087 to 1314) in London was bigger! But burned down in 1666. I don't know who did the research, but it was a lousy job!
Cologne had been bigger than Paris for centuries.
Why does God need so many houses??!?
He doesn’t, The Holy Spirit dwells inside of us.
I am disgusted that of all religions, only Christianity is expected allow desecration of its sacred sites. As for to whom the cathedral belongs, it is the property of the Roman Catholic Church.
You people and your invisible sky wizard.
@@leftpastsaturn67 You non-people and your existence on my planet. I know exactly what to do in this circumstance. And I’ll enjoy it.
Is it that hard to have respect, we don't all need believe in the same things to give it
@@jamesleyda365 Nobody is obliged to respect intellectual dishonesty and wilfull ignorance. It isn't hard to not be a hypocrite either, but here you are.
@@C.O._Jones 'Non-people'... you pitiful child.
Adds all over this not even 5 minutes gone 3 adds ... ridiculous... unwatchable..
Unfortunately, we don't control the ads.
Very odd to start a religious architecture art documentary talking about safety.
SUCH A SPLENDID Palace! TOO bad God is nowhere NEAR IT!😁