Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in the Middle Ages. After a long interruption, work resumed and the building was completed in the 19th century, giving it a history across several eras.
The Gothic design was combined with later technology. Its final form did not result from a few uninterrupted decades of building and also reflects modern-era ideas about the past.
Medieval beginning
The foundation stone was laid on Saturday, 15 August 1248, by Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden. The eastern arm was completed under the direction of Master Gerhard, was consecrated in 1322 and sealed off by a temporary wall so it could be used as the work continued. Eighty-four misericords in the choir date from this building phase. This work ceased in 1473, leaving the south tower complete to the belfry level and crowned with a huge crane that remained in place as a landmark of the Cologne skyline for 400 years. Some work proceeded intermittently on the structure of the nave between the west front and the eastern arm, but during the 16th century this also stopped.
19th-century completion
With the 19th-century Romantic enthusiasm for the Middle Ages, and spurred by the discovery of the original plan for the façade, the Protestant Prussian Court working with the church, committed to completing the cathedral. It was achieved by civic effort; the Central-Dombauverein, founded in 1842, raised two-thirds of the enormous costs, while the Prussian state supplied the remaining third. The state saw this as a way to improve its relations with the large number of Catholic subjects it had gained in 1815, but especially after 1871, it was regarded as a project to symbolize German nationhood.
World War II and post-war history
The twin spires of the cathedral were an easily recognizable navigational landmark for aircraft bombing during World War II. The cathedral suffered fourteen kicks by aerial bombs during the war. Badly damaged, it nevertheless remained standing in an otherwise completely flattened city.
On 6 March 1945, an area west of the cathedral (Marzellenstrasse/Trankgasse) was the site of intense combat between American tanks of the 3rd Armored Division and a Panther Ausf. A of Panzer brigade 106 Feldherrnhalle. A nearby Panther, a German medium tank, was sitting by a pile of rubble near a train station right by the twin spires of the Cologne Cathedral. The Panther successfully knocked out two Sherman tanks, killing three men, before it was destroyed by a T26E3 Pershing, nicknamed Eagle 7 minutes later. Film footage of that battle survives.
In 1944, Willy Weyres was appointed as the cathedral's architect. Repairs of the war damage were completed sufficiently and the cathedral reopened in 1956, the work being overseen by Weyres. The crossing or central tower, completed in 1860 and designed by Zwirner, was severely damaged by the bombing, though remained structurally sound. In 1965, Weyres redesigned the cladding of the damaged tower in an Art Deco style, with the decorative angels designed by Erlefried Hoppe. This, along with his demolition of the war-damaged St Mary's Chapel designed at the same time by Zwirner, was considered controversial, with the modern redesign of the crossing tower being called a "wart" on the cathedral by some critics.
A repair to part of the northwest tower, carried out in 1944 using poor-quality brick taken from a nearby ruined building, remained visible as a reminder of the war until 2005, when it was restored to its original appearance.
To investigate whether the bombings had damaged the foundations of the Dom, archaeological excavations began in 1946 under the leadership of Otto Doppelfeld and were concluded in 1997. One of the most meaningful excavations of churches, they revealed previously unknown details of earlier buildings on the site.
Repair and maintenance work is constantly being carried out in the building, which is rarely free of scaffolding, as wind, rain, and pollution slowly eat away at the stones. The Dombauhütte, established to build the cathedral and keep it in repair, employs skilled stonemasons for the purpose. Half the costs of repair and maintenance are still borne by the Dombauverein.