2024-01-31 11:01:00
Why was Cologne Cathedral not destroyed during World War II? Between 1942 and 1945, Cologne suffered more than 260 air strikes, resulting in the destruction or damage of about 95 percent of all buildings there. The historical center turned into ruins – it seemed that only this temple remained standing among the charred ruins of the Old City.
Bombing of Cologne. Legends and reality
After the war, a legend spread widely according to which the tallest church in Cologne was allegedly not bombed, since the 157-meter towers of the cathedral were supposed to serve as a guide for British pilots, but this is not true. As is the suggestion that the cathedral was not included in the list of targets due to its significance as an outstanding architectural monument and religious symbol.
One of the collapsed Gothic vaults and scaffolding at Cologne Cathedral in 1948Photo: picture alliance/KEYSTONE
How badly was Cologne Cathedral damaged during the war?
However, a total of about seventy aerial bombs hit the Cologne Cathedral, almost a dozen of them heavy. Some burst on the outside, some on the inside. Incendiary bombs slid down the slopes of the sharp roof. These bombs were quickly extinguished. However, heavy bombs pierced the metal roof and stone Gothic vaults. The roof did not burn, but of the twenty-two stone vaults, nine collapsed completely and six received significant damage.
The first director of excavations at Cologne Cathedral, Otto Doppelfeld, with his staff in 1946. Photo: Hohe Domkirche Köln, Domgrabung
The fuses were set so that the heavy bombs would detonate inside the buildings and fall into the basements. There were no basements in the cathedral. The small crypt, which tourists can now descend into, was built only in the late 1960s as a new tomb for the Cologne archbishops. Inside the building, the bombs exploded after hitting the stone floor. The fragments scattered across the naves, hit the columns and walls… The features of the Gothic architecture helped the cathedral to stand – in particular, the presence of large high windows through which shock waves passed. At the same time, not only glass was knocked out, but also fragments of carved stone frames.
The vibration and shaking of the building were compensated by reliable foundations laid by medieval craftsmen with a large margin of safety, which was described in detail in the first part of this material: Excavations under the Cologne Cathedral – what did archaeologists find out? External supports – Gothic frames – also played their role in stabilization.
They began preparing for the evacuation of valuables, altars, relics and works of sacred art from their cathedral in Cologne back in 1936. The lower stained glass windows of the side naves and chapels were removed and taken away, but the stained glass windows of the central and transverse naves, located high under the roof, remained in the temple. Already after the first raids they were knocked out – they flew out, breaking into millions of fragments. After the war, these stained glass windows were replaced with windows with repeating, simple patterns. The rescued were returned to their places.
Among those lost forever was the southern stained glass window of the transverse nave, donated to the cathedral by the royal house of Prussia in 1863. It was made at a manufactory in Berlin, the archive of which burned down during the war – it contained sketches and other documentation. From the only photograph that was found in Cologne, nothing could be reconstructed. The temporary glazing remained in place until 2007, when work was completed on a new “Pixel Stained Glass Window” – a gift to the cathedral from artist Gerhard Richter.
“Pixel stained glass” of Cologne CathedralPhoto: Sodapix AG/picture alliance
Brick seal of Cologne Cathedral
Until the mid-1990s, visitors to Cologne could see the so-called cathedral seal in the lower part of the North Tower, built from twenty thousand bricks during the war in 1943-1944. This part of the building was badly damaged during one of the raids and needed stabilization – urgent repairs.
Later, they even wanted to leave the brick seal forever as a reminder of the war, but in 1995-2005 the facade was restored according to historical drawings and sketches. The recreated cladding consists of almost 825 stone fragments decorated with figures and ornaments. The costs of this project in Cologne are compared to the cost of building a small church.
The so-called cathedral seal of the North Tower in 1945 Photo: picture alliance
The first stage of archaeological excavations at Cologne Cathedral
The first service after the end of World War II took place in the cathedral in 1956. It took so much time to put the temple in order. Before starting this work, the first step was to find out the condition of the foundations – to make sure there were no cracks or other problems that could threaten the statics of the building. To do this, it was necessary to first dismantle the rubble – clear the naves from collapsed vaults, then dismantle the damaged parts of the stone floor…
Items from a Merovingian-era child’s grave discovered beneath Cologne Cathedral. Chainmail mesh reconstructed Photo: Hohe Domkirche Köln, Dombauhütte; Photo: Matz und Schenk
It was then that the decision was made to begin excavations here, the first stage of which began under the leadership of Dr. Otto Doppelfeld on May 21, 1946 and took about ten years. The total research area was about four thousand square meters. The stone floor was then restored, underneath which an underground archaeological zone was preserved, which can now be visited during excursions. Archaeologists were not only able to study the features of the foundation of the Gothic temple, but also discovered traces of two earlier churches and structures from the Roman period.
Immediately before the construction of the current Gothic Cologne Cathedral began in 1248, the so-called Old Cathedral from the time of Emperor Charlemagne (Karl der Große, 747-814), built in the Romanesque style, stood on this site. During the first phase of excavations, a sixth-century baptistery was discovered near the cathedral, which was used by members of the Christian community of Cologne for several centuries. It was established in the second or third century and became the first Christian community in the northern part of the Roman Empire. Under the cathedral itself, traces of foundations and heating of houses from the ancient Roman period were also found.
Exhibition in the Treasury of Cologne Cathedral
In 1959, two burials from the sixth century – from the time of the Merovingian dynasty – were found under the building. Presumably, we are talking about the graves of the Frankish queen Wisigarde (Wisigarde, 512-540) and the queen’s infant son, which contained rich funeral gifts.
These exhibits can now be seen in the cathedral treasury, where until March 14, 2024 there is a special exhibition entitled “Excavations. Archaeological Treasures from Cologne Cathedral” (“Excavations. Archaeological treasures from Cologne Cathedral”). The exhibition summarizes almost forty years of scientific work by archaeologist Dr. Ulrich Back, who published the results of his research in the book “Archaeology in Cologne Cathedral” (“Archaeology in Cologne Cathedral. Research results on its prehistory and construction history”).
Excavations at Cologne Cathedral. Photos
Stone font – baptistery of the early Christian community of ColognePhoto: Hohe Domkirche Köln, Dombauhütte; Foto: Matz und Schenk Diagram of a child’s burial in Cologne Cathedral Photo: Hohe Domkirche Köln, Dombauhütte; Photo: Matz und Schenk Decorations from the queen’s tomb found under Cologne Cathedral Photo: Hohe Domkirche Köln, Dombauhütte; Foto: Matz und Schenk Parts of the floor mosaic from the Romanesque Old Cathedral in Cologne Photo: Hohe Domkirche Köln, Dombauhütte/Foto: Mira Unkelbach Foundations of the towers in the archaeological area and fragments of the temporary west portal of the Cologne Cathedral, which was used until the completion of the temple in 1880 Photo: Hohe Domkirche Köln, Dombauhütte/Photo: Mira Unkelbach Fragments of the balustrade of Cologne Cathedral 1869 Photo: Hohe Domkirche Köln, Dombauhütte/Photo: Jennifer Rumbach
In total, over many decades of research begun after the war, scientists discovered under the cathedral about two thousand fragments and traces of old walls, floors, mosaics, graves and foundations, as well as about 260 thousand individual objects – fragments of ceramics, glass, metal products and bones of various types. periods, right down to parts of the temple’s gas lighting system from the 19th century.
We also managed to find a place – traces of a pit in which in the middle of the 15th century one of the large cathedral bells – Pretiosa or Speciosa – was cast right on the construction site. In the Middle Ages, large bells were cast on site, since transporting multi-ton cargo required much greater costs and time. The heaviest bell of the cathedral is now the 24-ton “Fat Peter” – Petersglocke. It was manufactured in 1923 in the Thuringian city of Apolda and transported to Cologne by barge along the Rhine.
Two thousand years in several display cases
The special archaeological exhibition in the Treasury of Cologne Cathedral is small and consists of several sections dedicated to different stages in the history of this place. The first shows a fragment of a Roman sanctuary of the 2nd-3rd centuries, dedicated to matrons – female mythological characters who were especially revered in this part of the Roman Empire. This is followed by the first finds, which may be the first evidence of the spread of Christianity in Cologne – in particular, a fragment of a bowl from the first third of the 3rd century, on which a fish is depicted – one of the symbols of the new religion, as well as a comb from the first half of the 5th century, on which is drawn with dots cross.
The Merovingian era is represented by a gold-handled knife around 540 and the funerary offerings already mentioned. Traces of the Carolingian Romanesque temple are exhibited in the next showcase, which contains fragments of a floor mosaic, a fragment of painted green window glass from the early 9th century, as well as parts of polychrome wall paintings.
During the construction of the Gothic cathedral in the Middle Ages between 1248 and 1520, after which construction stopped for several centuries, many different objects fell into the ground – from gold coins and a gold ring to fragments of eyeglass frames made from animal bones.
In the uppermost layer, which dates back to the final stage of the construction of the temple, various smoking pipes, a gold ladies’ pocket watch from around 1875, and fragments from which it was possible to glue a wine bottle made before 1850 were found. The fragments were discovered in 1993 during the study of the medieval basement near the Cathedral Treasury, where the sacristy had previously been located. On the surviving parts of the label, archaeologists were able to make out the inscription “Cathedral Wine Cellar” and an image of an unfinished temple.
The archaeological area under the cathedral, where tours are conducted, is officially still a construction site. Excavations under the Cologne Cathedral are far from being completed, as is the process of studying the history of this place.
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