Deutschland. Das Land der Dichter und Denker. Which is German for: “The country of poets and thinkers”. That’s a common expression for Germany’s cultural heritage, which includes everyone from Johann Wolfgang Goethe who wrote the famous story of Faust to Martin Luther who initiated the Protestant Reformation to the Grimm Brothers or Brothers Grimm who are known for their many tales, it’s probably fair to say that we know at least one German who has left a major impact on the world. By many accounts, Germany seems to be doing quite well for itself. Oh, by the way, did we tell you we’re on Twitter? Yup, that’s right! Check us out on @ChurchMapped. Anyway, as I was saying, Germany has the largest economy in Europe ahead of European neighbours such as the United Kingdom and France. Depending on who you ask, Germany has either the third or fourth largest economy in the world. How’s that for Wirtschaftswunder! Things weren’t always so great for the Germans though. During the Weimar Republic back in the 1920s – yes, a long time ago – the Germans experienced substantial problems with their economy, particularly with the value of their currency. The Papiermark, as it was then known, lost so much value it was used as wallpaper. But things have improved since then, and Germany now uses the Euro. So if you are travelling to Germany to see Cologne Cathedral which is the church we’ll be reviewing today, be sure to bring Euros and not Papiermarks! Speaking of travel, Germany regularly ranks as having the world’s most powerful passport, or Reisepass as they say in Germany, according to the 2018 Henley Passport Index. This measures the number of countries a person can visit with a particular passport without needing a visa. Currently it’s 177 for the German passport which means you can effectively travel the entire world. Talk about worldwide recognition! Speaking of travel too, how about a brief German lesson? German is a notoriously difficult language. The Foreign Service Institute in the United States, a department of the federal government that gives advice to employees about foreign affairs, puts German in the “class 2” of languages. For comparison’s sake, French, Spanish and Italian are in the “class 1” group of languages whilst Mandarin is in “class 5”. That makes German the most difficult major European language. We all know how to say “Good morning” and “Goodbye” in German – “Guten Morgen” and “Auf Widersehen” respectively. But what makes German so difficult? Many things. First you have the use of articles before words – der, the masculine gender, die, the feminine gender and das, the neuter gender – which are supposed to denote gender but leads you into weird situations like where a young girl is “das Fraulein” which means a young girl has no gender because “das” is the neuter gender in German. That was noted originally by Mark Twain. Though having said that, the word Fraulein isn’t used that much these days in Germany. Then you have the use of cases: the nominative case, the accusative case, the dative case and the genitive case. The English language pretty much only uses the nominative case. But in German, which case you use depends on whether you are just naming the object – for instance, “the ball” – or whether you are doing something to the object – for instance, “I am kicking the ball” – or whether you are doing something indirectly to the object – for instance, “I will speak to the ball” (Hey come back) – or whether the object has anything in possession, a bit like our apostrophe – for instance, the ball’s home. And even then, this list is not exhaustive, because the case can change for arbitrary reasons because of the use of prepositions such as “auf”, “mit” and “bis”. Yes, I know! So confusing! Then the verb is mostly in the second place, but then sometimes right at the end. It’s amazing how many rules Germans seem to remember. So remember, if you’re ever lost, just raise your hands and shout: “Ich spreche Englisch”. Someone will hopefully come to your help. Hopefully. Remember in school when you got into trouble and your teacher instructed you to write lines as punishment? Oh, those were the days! But imagine doing that in German. German is notorious for its long words. Consider the word donaudampfschifffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft and imagine having to write that over and over and over again. Ja, not nice! As if German is not hard enough, the people of Cologne – a city in Germany where we will be looking at its cathedral - have something of their own language. They joke that it’s the only language you can drink because Koelsch, the language they speak, shares the same name as the beer that is brewed in Cologne. Ok, that hopefully gives a good overview of Germany and a bit of insight into Cologne. Let’s actually go and do some exploring. But before we begin exploring Cologne, ever wondered what Westminster Cathedral in London is like? We have a travel guide showing you everything you need to know about Westminster Cathedral in a busy city like London. Or have you considered visiting the United States? We’re recommending Minnesota and its capital city, St. Paul. Find out how this city was once named Pig’s Eye and the cathedral the city take its newer name from. ChurchMapped is an upcoming technology company with a Christian focus. Our travel website focuses on churches around the world. Want to know where the best art is? Or where to get married? Or even the best place for some peace and quiet? We’ve got you covered! ChurchMapped is also launching a dating, jobs, music and games service. Excited? We are too! Just be sure to visit ChurchMapped.com when we fully launch! Super! We’re off to Cologne! Cologne is one of the few cities in Europe, and perhaps even the world, that is reknown for the spires of its cathedral more than anything else. London is known for Big Ben and London Eye. Paris is known for the Eiffel Tower. Geneva is known for the Jet d’Eau. Can you think of a city that is defined by the spires of its cathedral? Be sure to leave a comment below if you can! The spires of the cathedral regularly feature on the logos of companies based in Cologne. These two giants measure a stunning 157ft, which made Cologne Cathedral the largest building in the world in 1880 until it was superseded by the Washington Monument in 1884, which in turn was beaten by the Eiffel Tower a few years later in 1890. Talk about a quick turn of events. But its impressive Gothic architecture, which took around 600 years to complete, also brought with it downsides. It was bombed 14 times during the Second World War and sustained serious damage. In fact, it’s a miracle the cathedral is still standing today. As a result of its age and the damage it sustained during the Second World War, it is still in repairs even to this very day. Construction for Cologne Cathedral started in 1248 and stopped in 1473. It’s inspired by the Amiens Cathedral in France, which we’ll be reviewing too in a later series here at ChurchMapped. Construction then resumed again several hundred years later and was finally completed in 1880. It’s noteworthy that this isn’t actually the first cathedral on the site that was built. Oh no. A bit like the Cathedral of Saint Paul in the United States, this is not the 1st or 2nd or even 3rd cathedral but 4th. It was originally built to house the remains of the Three Wise Men or Kings. Archbishop Rainald von Dassel initially brought the remains of the Three Kings in 1164 but considered the cathedral back then unsuitable for such prestigious remains and thereupon a new cathedral was planned. It’s clear to anyone looking at some of the details of Cologne Cathedral’s exterior that a lot of work was put into it. It’s a work of art and a work of engineering. Let’s take a closer look. One of the details you might miss were it not for [ahem, cough] ChurchMapped.com is the fact that the cathedral is decorated with gargoyles. These were placed to divert rain water as far away from the church as possible, which is typical for Gothic buildings. Speaking of gargoyles and evil spiritual forces, there is an interesting legend associated with Cologne Cathedral. Well, actually, several, but this one’s really good. As the story goes, there was once a man named Master Gerhard of Ryle who was commissioned to design a new plan for the cathedral. Each and every time he tried to draft something up, he had to discard the idea altogether because it just didn’t seem to work. He was extremely sorrowful and found himself walking beside the river Rhine. He then came across a large stone nicknamed “Devil’s Stone” where he then fell asleep. When he woke up, he found a stranger beside him who was drawing a marvellous design of the then-proposed cathedral in the sand. Amazed, Gerhard then asked the strange man what he should give in order to get the plan. The man said himself, his wife and child. The man reportedly said: “I will help you build this structure in three years when you offer yourself as well as your wife and child. In case I have not completed the building at the first crow of the rooster at the end of the last night of the third year, you will be free.” Gerhard agreed to the idea because he believed it’s a sure bet: “Not even the devil can complete such a massive structure within three years”. He then worked harder than ever before. But as work progressed, evil occurrences started to happen. When his wife heard of the plan, she was horrified. She started to think of ways to get herself out of such a disastrous deal. One day, she was with her child as she was preparing to go to the market. The child pointed out a rooster and she tried to mimic its cry, so much so that she could communicate with other roosters. The last night of the third year came and the wife of the architect prayed that God would deliver them. As the last stone was being lifted up, she made a loud cry like that of the rooster and all the roosters answered in return. The Cathedral collapsed and thus she liberated herself from the plan. Marvellous. The most recognised exterior of Cologne Cathedral can be divided into three sections: the Magi Portal, St. Peter’s Portal, and finally, the Main Portal. We’ll begin with the Magi Portal. The Magi Portal commemorates Jesus coming into the world and revealed to the Magi. That’s evident from the panel at the top, which shows the Magi adoring Jesus. Below, the Magi are depicted standing before Herod, who was curious about where the Christ would be born. The Magi are numbered in the Portal as being three in number, which is typical of Western portrayals of the Magi. It’s worthwhile to note however that the Bible doesn’t actually give the exact number of the Magi who came to Jesus; we’ve just assumed three because of the three gifts. However, in other traditions, particularly in the Christian East, they are numbered as many as 12. Here is Balthasar, Caspar and Melchior respectively, a name traditionally given to the Magi. It’s important to remember however that we do not know the actual names of the Magi. This panel also features individuals such as Abel and Job from the Bible, as well as King David. Moving on to St. Peter’s portal, this portal obviously commemorates St. Peter. St. Peter was one of the Twelve Apostles chosen directly by Christ. He is portrayed in the Bible as being something of a leader among the Twelve Apostles, and Catholics regard him as being the first pope. He is remembered for denying Christ three times according to all the four Gospels. In popular culture, he is often portrayed as holding the keys to Heaven. St. Peter has a special place with Cologne Cathedral, because the official name of Cologne Cathedral is “the Cathedral Church of St. Peter”. If you look closely, you’ll see a man being crucified upside down. That’s St. Peter. Tradition has it that he opted to be crucified upside down as he did not see himself fit to be crucified in the same way upside-up as Christ. The other statues here are those of the other Apostles. For brevity’s sake, we can’t outline every detail of the exterior of Cologne Cathedral. But we’ll show a few here for your own enjoyment. Now on to the final portal: the main portal. This is the entrance through which you will likely enter Cologne Cathedral. The theme of the main portal is the age before redemption. Featured here are individuals such as Adam, Noah and St. John the Baptist – all figures who existed before the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. When you enter the Cathedral, you’ll likely first meet men dressed up something like this. They are the cathedral wardens. They are there to help around. Be sure to speak to them if you have any questions. They usually speak English. There isn’t enough time to review the entire interior of Cologne Cathedral. Nevertheless, one of the interesting things to note is the number of stained glasses that are inside Cologne Cathedral. It’s been said that if you stacked all the stained glass windows in Cologne Cathedral, there would be enough to fill a 30 storey skyscraper. Thanks for visiting guys! I hope you’ve enjoyed our travel guide of Cologne Cathedral. If you want more information on Cologne Cathedral, be sure to visit ChurchMapped.com when we fully launch. Can’t get enough of Cologne? We aren’t done yet! We are heading to a nearby church in Cologne called St. George’s church. Done with Cologne? In an upcoming episode, we are going to Brussels, Belgium to review The Cathedral Church of Our Lady of the Sablon with the Mannekin Pis. But you might be wondering at this point what ChurchMapped really is. ChurchMapped is an upcoming technology company with a Christian outlook. Our travel website focuses on churches around the world. We also have a dating, jobs, music and even games service too. Excited? You very well should be. Just subscribe to our YouTube channel, follow us on Twitter, and be sure to visit ChurchMapped.com when we fully launch. Auf Wiedersehen guys!