Cologne Cathedral

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING & DESIGN

Foundation in Natural and Built Environment (FNBE)
Effective Public Communication [COM 30103]
Oral Presentation (Part I)
Topic 2(a): Religious buildings around the world
Name : Yong Ai Yi 0321977
Session : Tuesday 4pm
Intake: March 2015
Lecturer: Persis Rodrigues

Cologne Cathedral
Roman Catholic cathedral in Cologne, Germany

Historical Background

Historical Background
Cologne Cathedral stands on the site of a 4th century
Roman temple, followed by a square church known as the
"oldest cathedral. A second church built on the site, the
"Old Cathedral," was completed in 818. This burned down
on April 30, 1248.

Construction of the present Gothic church began in the 13th

century. It takes more than 600 years to complete. The new
structure was built to house the relics of the Three Magi.

The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral was laid on

August 15, 1248, by Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden.
After this initial rapid progress, construction work gradually
came to a standstill.

 Construction resumed in 1824 and there was addition of the

towers and other substantial parts of the cathedral,

Cologne Cathedral, 1853c

The completion of
Germany's largest
cathedral was celebrated
as a national event in
1880, 632 years after
construction had began.
The celebration was
attended by Emperor
Wilhelm I.

Emperor Wilhelm I.

 The cathedral was hit by 14 aerial bombs in World War II

aerial bombs but did not collapse. Reconstruction was
completed in 1956. In the northwest tower's base, it was
repaired by bad-quality brickstones taken from a nearby war
ruin remained visible until the late 1990s as a reminder of
the War, but the cathedral was reconstruct the section
according to the original appearance.

In 1996, the cathedral was added to the UNESCO World

Heritage List of culturally important sites and in 2004, it was
placed on the "World Heritage in Danger" list.

An American soldier and a

destroyed Panther tank in front
of the cathedral on 4 April 1945.

Architects

Architects

Barbara SchockWerner
master builder at
Cologne
Cathedral with
overall
responsibility for
conservation and
restoration
work.

Ernst
Friedrich
Zwirner

Master Gerhard

Richard
Voigtel

Arnold
Wolff

Willy
Weyres

Nikolaus
van Bueren

Friedrich
Adolf
Ahlert

Structure

EXTERIOR

A "Bird's eye view" shows the cruciform plan

INTERIOR

Ornamentation Used

Layout

Layout

Type of Materials Used

Type of materials used

Trachyte

Sandstone

shell-limestone

Basalt

Other Relevant Information

Other Relevant Information

The cathedral still holds the honor of being the tallest building of Gothic architecture found
anywhere in the entire world.

It is said that the cathedral contains the bones and clothes of the Three Wise Man (the three
kings from the East, who visited Jesus Christ following his birth).

During the World War II the cathedral was hit by fourteen bombs, but the cathedral was not
destroyed, every one believed that it was a miracle from God.

Reference :
1.http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/stained-glass-materials-methods.htm
2. http://www.adventured.co/21085/cologne-cathedral-floor-plan/cologne-cathedralfloor-plan-and-520155b02de3dd19ec55e8e678c059d9
3. http://www.koelner-dom.de/index.php?id=geschichte&L=1
4. http://www.colognecathedral.net/History-of-Cologne-Cathedral.html
5. http://www.koelner-dom.de/index.php?id=19261&L=1
6. http://www.nanomatch-project.eu/517.html
7. http://www.nanomatch-project.eu/517.html

The End
Thank You