Windows of the Kings over the Chapel of the Magi. Cologne Cathedral.
As all three of you long time readers know, I’ve been to quite a few churches and cathedrals in my travels. Even on this trip to Germany and England, I went to several churches that easily made my list of 10 best churches that I’ve ever visited. However, nothing in my travels prepared me for Cologne Cathedral. From the first time I saw it upon arriving at night (with its massive black exterior dramatically illuminated), I was ready to put the Cathedral at the top of my list of best churches. Touring the interior only confirmed my initial impression.
Why was I so impressed by Cologne Cathedral? One word: size. This building is HUGE! With an external length of 474 feet (390 feet long in the nave) and 357 feet tall at the roof line (516 feet tall at the bell tower), Cologne Cathedral dominates the buildings around it and overwhelms its visitors. But, the Cathedral isn’t just some big box. It’s a symphony of the Gothic style, with flying buttresses, pointed arches, and ornamentation guaranteed to please the most stringent Gothic purist. That Gothic style is carried over to the interior, where the magnificent stained glass and the massive pillars holding up the center spire just overwhelm the visitor all over again.
I could go on and on about every little detail that we observed. But, I’ll just mention four highlights:
- Before going inside the Cathedral, I stood at the base of the south bell tower and looked up. Thanks to some tapering, I couldn’t see the bell tower’s top. The impression I got was that the spire went straight into heaven. I don’t know if that was the architect’s goal, but I thought it was an effective way to drive home the point that this was a house of God.
- The Cathedral’s centerpiece (and the reason it was built) is the Shrine of the Magi (or Three Kings). It’s believed that the skeletons of the Three Kings (yes, the same Three Kings that visited Jesus in the manger and brought him gifts) are entombed in the shrine. Are they really in there? Well, there are three skeletons in the shine. But, it’s a matter of faith as to whether they are the Three Kings or not. Still, you don’t need to have faith in order to appreciate the shrine: a magnificent gold and jewel encrusted box that actually resembles a church. The wonderful relief sculptures on each side tell their own individual story. And, of course, the box is illuminated, so that it shines bright enough to be seen from the Cathedral’s entrance. To me, the whole thing looked like the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that the Shrine of the Magi was the inspiration for that movie prop.
- I thought I’d seen some interesting crucifixes in my travels. Then, I came across the Gero Crucifix. Is it artistically the best crucifix I’ve seen? No. But, being carved in 972 A.D., it is the oldest crucifix I’ve seen. And, surprisingly, it still seemed (artistically) very modern. In any other church, this crucifix would be the showpiece. However, in Cologne Cathedral, it’s just off the main altar in a side chapel (although it is the centerpiece of the side chapel). That just shows how rich the ornamentation and decoration is within Cologne Cathedral.
- The oldest section of Cologne Cathedral is behind the main altar, which is now populated with several chapels. The oldest stained glass in the Cathedral, dating from the late 1200s to early 1300s, resides in these chapels. Of that stained glass, the most impressive is the Elder Biblical Window in the Chapel of the Three Magi. This window depicts scenes from the Old Testament with a thematically equivalent scene from the New Testament. So, for instance, a panel showing Noah with a dove is paired with a panel showing the Holy Spirit descending on Jesus during his baptism. Now, I’ve seen and admired the Great East Window in York Minster. But, I have to say that I was almost as impressed by the Elder Biblical Window. It tells much the same story as the Great East Window; but, in typical German fashion, does it more efficiently.
How impressed were we with Cologne Cathedral? Over a 48 hour period, we spent about seven hours in the Cathedral. Some of that time was spent in silent reflection while taking in the sights. Most of it was spent walking around the interior finding the various relics and architectural features. And, a bit of it was spent on an hour-long guided tour that cost €4/person. Overall, I’d say that the tour didn’t add much more to my understanding/appreciation of the Cathedral than I received from the excellent guidebook that I purchased at the Cathedral’s bookstore for €3.20. However, two items did elevate the tour above the guidebook. First, the guide pointed out where construction initially stopped on the Cathedral and then restarted 300 years later. Sure enough, the stone has a slightly different color in the newer sections (you can see it on the north transept). That fact isn’t mentioned in the guidebook. Second, the guide took us into the choir to get an unobstructed look at the Shrine of the Magi. Now, one can get closer to the Shrine than we did on the tour by simply walking to the back (east side) of the Shrine. However, there are a thick set of bars between the tourist and the Shrine on the east side. For an unobstructed view, the tour is the best way to go. If one decides to go on a tour, there are English tours at 10:30 and 2:30 daily. I’d also recommend skipping the film at the end of the tour, which added nothing to my knowledge of the Cathedral.
As most of you know, I’m usually looking for faith when I visit one of these shrines. So, did I find faith at Cologne Cathedral? Well, yes and no. No, because the vast majority of people that I saw inside the Cathedral weren’t there to pray or display any particular religious interest in the relics and artifacts that populate the Cathedral’s walls. However, the building itself is a testament to faith. Having a commitment to build a structure as huge as the Cathedral over 600 years takes faith. Creating something so soaring, yet so delicately beautiful takes faith. Keeping this structure open and accessible to all takes faith. Any structure that displays that kind of faith deserves a special trip to visit even if one doesn’t have Germany on the itinerary. Cologne Cathedral is worth that visit.
Below (Left to Right):
1) The North Transcept of Cologne Cathedral
2) The Gero Crucifix
3) The Shrine of the Magi
4) The Shrine of the Magi with the Elder Biblical Window
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