It was the tallest building in Europe until the Eiffel Tower was built.. despite the fact that the record stays lost for nearly a hundred years, it still seems an impressive introduction to the Cologne Cathedral, looming large and black on the river Rhine, easily dominating not just the skyline but the very life of the city of Cologne. Germans all proudly say that this was the only building in Cologne that escaped destruction during the second world war bombings, without mentioning the fact that it was purposefully kept intact as landmark.
The Cathedral of Cologne has a long and colourful history - like most buildings worth mentioning in Europe - and yet today it defines the city. It is everywhere.. on souvenir t-shirts and mugs and keychains, on the glasses of the typical local Kölsch beer, and of course very much present there physically right in the centre of the city, immediately outside the main station. No matter if you have been told before it is still surprising to every visitor just how close to the main station it is.. you come out and, well, there it is! I am yet to meet anyone who escapes without an Oh! of surprise.
I find it very difficult to describe the Cologne cathedral as 'beautiful' - I personally think its rather forbidding, especially on winter evenings with the moon hanging behind it - but I cant escape the word Impressive. In fact I have already given myself away on that front in calling it that in earlier post. It makes for a wonderful object for photographs, day or night, cloudy or sunny!
