Köln

On Saturday we took a day trip to Köln (Cologne). Random Fact of the Day: cologne did in fact originate in Köln. In the city’s early years the waste management systems were less than par, and as a result the city reeked. In order to deal with the stench, many of the citizens and visitors of Köln held a cloth to their nose that was perfumed with none other than cologne. Anyways, we all met at the Hauptbahnhof and traveled by train to Köln. I slept the whole way there, so I do not really recall how long the train ride was, but I don’t believe it was too long. I woke up as we were decelerating and pulling into the Köln Hauptbahnhof. The train station is literally right next to the Kölner Dom and as a result it is necessary for the incoming trains to slow down to a crawl before coming into the station in order to reduce vibration. As we pulled into train station I was able to get my first partial glimpse at the Dom (cathedral) and my first thought was – big! I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from the Kölner Dom, as pictures can never do such wonders justice. As we exited the train station I was able to see just how big. The Kölner Dom has the largest Façade of any church, and is 157 meters tall at its highest point.

The Kölner Dom took roughly 600 years to construct, and that is no surprise when you look upon the scrupulous detail that was put into every square inch of the façade. Of all the churches that I have seen (which are quite a few) I have never seen such an ornate and majestic façade as that of the Kölner Dom. We had a group meeting in front of the cathedral, but I could hardly pay attention for the Cathedral. The Gothic style windows, with all of their points, draw your attention upward and upward and upward until you are literally leaning back to get a glimpse of the final point atop the Dom. We had a tour scheduled at the German-Romanisches Museum right next door, but it wasn’t for a while so to kill some time we checked out the inside of the Dom. Walking into large cathedrals like the Kölner Dom always brings about a unique feeling… it’s kind of like being amazed and humbled at the same time. The inside of the dome was astonishing. The ceiling must have been 10 stories high, and the stained glass windows looked more like paintings that belonged in the Louvre or the Vatican than simply colored glass. There was also a very modern stained glass window that looked like a bunch of pixels that was pretty cool, but it seemed a little out of place. At the alter there was a relic that is supposed to contain the bones of the three Mageai. In recent years an MRI or x-ray was done on the relic, and they found that it does indeed contain three male skeletons of the correct proportions.  

I could really kill a lot of time inside of the Dom, and before I knew it was time to head over to the Museum. Köln was once occupied by the Romans, and the museum displayed many of the Roman artifacts that were excavated in Köln. They have been trying to build an underground railroad system in Köln for the past 12 years, but they have had very limited success, because every time they start digging they run into some historical artifacts. But as a result of all of the excavating, the German-Romanisches Museum has the largest collection of roman glass. The museum was pretty cool, but I think that our tour guide’s voice is going to haunt me forever…it was rather unpleasant.

After finishing up at the museum we were free to find some lunch. We popped in a little bakery and grabbed a quick bite. There I found my new favorite type of sandwich, a Laugenbrötchen mit Camembert. It’s pretty much a big pretzel roll with some camembert on it, but it tastes divine! After wolfing down our sandwiches we made a quick sojourn over to the local brewery to try a specialty of Köln – Kölsch. Kölsch is Kölner equivalent of Alt in Düsseldorf, but given the rivalry between Köln and Düsseldorf it is only acceptable to drink each of the beers in their respective locations. Our tutors made it very clear not to ask for an Alt in Köln, because they would likely not give you any service after asking. So we were all good pupils and asked for a Kölsch. I had a Gaffel Kölsch (Gaffel was the name of the brewery), and it actually tasted very similar to an Alt but slightly more watered down. We finished up our beers and headed back to the Dom for the part of the day that I was looking forward to the most – ascending the tower!

The entrance to the tower climb was under the church, and to get to the room they had literally bored holes in the base of the church to make a tunnel. At the base, the walls were about 30 feet thick! We worked our way to the bottom of the staircase and began the long and spiraling trek to the top. The staircase was a very tight spiral and it was used to go up and down, so the climb was cramped and hot and it didn’t smell very pleasant either. But once we got to the top it was instantly worth the effort! The view looking out on the city was quite a spectacle, and the view looking down on the church itself was just as amazing.  Looking down on the church makes you realize the level of detail in the facade, and just how much effort it must have taken to build such a marvel.

After enjoying a good long stroll around the top we went spiraled our way down to the bell tower. There was something like 7-9 bells in the tower ranging in size from about 4 feet tall to the largest one in the middle which was probably about 10-12 feet tall. It was about to be 15 past the hour and we wanted to hang around in the tower until we heard the bells ring. We stood and waited, and we heard the bells ring at a church in the distance and then it was quite again. Just when we though the bells weren’t going to ring, the smallest of the bells was struck. Kurt, who was standing on the platform across from me nearly jumped out the window behind him. The bell was stupendously loud, and the sound resonated in the room for a good while after the striking. I’m kind of glad that they only rang the smallest bell, and I am also kind of glad they only rang it once. Regardless it was a pretty awesome thing to witness! After the tower when walked a little more around Köln and then headed back and called it a day.