The magnificent Cologne Cathedral – Rhine & Moselle valley, Part 1

I have always wanted to see a major football tournament live and have been unsuccessfully trying to do so ever since I started earning enough to dream of doing so. I saw a Serie A match at the famous San Siro stadium in Milan when we went there in 2016 ( Watching a Serie A game at the San Siro – Off the bucket list ) but that only fanned the flames of seeing a major tournament even more. The pandemic robbed me of the opportunity to see Euro 2020 (that was eventually conducted in 2021!) inspite of having tickets allotted for a couple of matches in Budapest, Hungary. I eventually managed to go and see the beautiful city after the pandemic abated in 2022 ( I may write about it someday, time permitting!) but the desire to see the football game still remained. I was sad and relieved at the same time when I didn’t get allotted any tickets for the Qatar World cup & when Euro 2024 in Germany came along I applied for the usual early matches that you have the best chance of getting allotted tickets to. I applied for a handful of matches but got lucky in just one match in Frankfurt. I quickly consulted the better half who is always game for any new experience and bought the tickets and planned a vacation around it. 

Germany is a country which we have mostly used as a transport hub to fly into before proceeding to what we considered more interesting places. We had only seen the beautiful city of Munich (twice!) in our time there ( A short stay in Munich – The Delightful Dolomites, Part 1 )and I was itching to explore more of the country and Euro 2024 gave me the perfect opportunity. Since we had the match in Frankfurt, which anyway is the most convenient place to fly in and out of Germany from India we booked direct flights from / to Mumbai. This would be our third trip to Europe in the European Summer which is peak tourist season. Never a fan of crowds I started searching for places which wouldn’t be so crowded and easy to get around by public transport.

After consulting my trusty Rick Steves guidebook and obviously the internet, I zeroed in on the Rhine and Moselle river valleys as the region we would explore on this trip. It had all the things we were looking for – pretty villages / towns well connected by train, magnificent castles all along the river & they were not the most well known places in the mass tourism market! I zeroed in on the pretty village Bacharach in the Rhine valley & town of Cochem in the Moselle valley as 2 bases. I added what would be our most expensive hotel stay yet – 2 nights in an actual refurbished castle in Oberwesel, the Burghotel Schonburg as our third base. For the first 2 days of our trip I took the opportunity to see another monument that I always wanted to see ever since I started visiting Europe and seeing the Cathedrals there – that monument was the magnificent Cologne Cathedral! With the trip planned almost 6 months in advance we secured our Schengen visa with time to spare and soon it was time to fly out. 

We flew out on a late night Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt from Mumbai which was predictably late. After a long time we had a direct flight to our destination without a layover which meant that always anxious me could actually sleep on the flight without the fear of missing the next one keeping me awake!

Having a home made egg roll as we wait for our flight at Mumbai Airport

We landed in Frankfurt with a good 5 hours of shut eye under our belts and had an unexpectedly pleasant experience with luggage and passport check taking almost no time. I had feared the worst after our horrible experience in Munich on our last visit, where the same things had taken an inordinately long time. That meant that I had booked train specific tickets to Cologne which were a good 3.5 hours after when we landed. So we now had to wait at the long distance train station at Frankfurt airport which didn’t turn out to be such a bad thing. It was a relatively clean place with the usual bakeries dotting the main waiting area and we enjoyed the first chocolate croissant of the trip (Although the quality of croissants in India has improved there is still nothing like a fresh croissant in the morning in Europe!).

At the long distance train station at Frankfurt Airport 

First chocolate croissant of the trip !

A modern art installation at the train station 

Soon it was time for our train to Cologne and we went down to the platform from where our train would depart. We got into the coach where we had reserved seats because I didn’t want to be standing for the entire duration in a full train after our long flight. A rapid one hour and a few minute train ride later we were in Cologne.

Saying goodbye to Frankfurt airport 

In our reserved seats on the train to Cologne 

We got off at the Cologne main train station and immediately were awestruck by the huge cathedral right next to it. But first we had to go to our hotel Bucholz which was a short walk from the station and check in. On the way we saw a falafel and doner ( shawarma) shop and decided we would be back there for lunch after we freshened up at our hotel.

The hotel was a no frills hotel that was in a quiet lane close to the station on the other side of the cathedral. I had booked it because of the location but they proved very helpful as I had managed to misplace my travel adapter and provided me with one.

At our comfortable room at the Hotel Bucholz , Cologne 

We then freshened up quickly as it was lunch time and our tummies were growling for food. We walked to the Falafel and Doner place simply called “Pizzeria & Hop” (they served pizzas too!) and ordered a Döner teller ( without the bread) with fries for me and a Falafel Döner for the better half. I had read that these places run by old Turkish immigrants were a reliable place to find good, well priced food with a vegetarian option for the better half. The better half enjoyed the falafel so much that we would frequent a couple of these places in our time in Germany this time.

Enjoying our meal at Pizzeria & Hop, Cologne 

It was a Sunday afternoon and with the Euros going on Cologne was at its most crowded. So we decided that we would visit the Cathedral interiors since it was so close and there was no point roaming around the other parts of the city when it was this crowded, that would have to wait for the next day early morning. So we walked over to the hulking cathedral that looms large over the entire city.

The front facade of the Cologne Cathedral on a beautiful Sunday Afternoon 

It’s free to visit the interiors of the cathedral but tourists are only allowed when religious services are not going on. We were perfectly on time as interiors can only be visited in the afternoon on Sunday. So we went inside and were instantly struck by the insanely high ceiling – 140 foot high to be exact. This cathedral was started in the 13th century but as with most ambitious churches of that time ran into financial trouble. It was finally finished by the Prussian Empire in 38 years from 1842-80.

The 140 foot high ceiling of the nave of the Cologne Cathedral 

We wandered through the beautiful interiors and all the while I was gawking at the stained glass windows which have always been a favourite of mine. While these range from very old to recent, they are all spectacularly beautiful and no photo can do them justice. When most of Cologne was bombed and in rubble after WW II, the cathedral didn’t collapse inspite of being hit with multiple bombs. But the Nazis were smart enough to remove the glass and the precious artefacts to a shelter before the bombs struck and they were reinstalled after the war when the city rebuilt.

Beautiful stained glass lining the nave of Cologne Cathedral 

The transepts of the Cologne Cathedral with recent stained glass 

The most recent abstract 80 colour stained glass window at the Cologne Cathedral

Even though I’m not Catholic or religious I had read that the Cathedral had important religious relics that were centuries old. These cathedrals are sometimes as good as museums with art that’s situated where it has context. The first such piece of religious art  we came across was the Gero – Crucifix from the 970s the oldest such crucifix north of the Alps. 

The centuries old Gero -crucifix 

Everyone who has some rudimentary knowledge of Catholicism knows about the 3 kings who travelled with gifts for Jesus when he was born. The Cathedral has a shrine which apparently has the bones of these 3 kings acquired by the city when the building of the Cathedral started to house them.

The Shrine of the Magi / 3 Kings in Cologne Cathedral 

The other important structure in the Cathedral is the Chapel of the virgin which has a beautiful 14th century painting called the “Patron Saints of Cologne” and a 12th century Madonna of Milan sculpture associated with miracles. We stood in front of the painting amazed at the photographic realism!

The Patron Saints of Cologne 

The Chapel of the Virgin with the Madonna of Milan on the wall on the right 

Just outside the chapel on a pillar is a statue of St Christopher with Jesus on his shoulder which is facing the original entry to the church from the 1400s. I am always amazed at the talent of these artists who managed to sculpt folds in clothes in stone.

Then we came across an extremely detailed altarpiece which was carved with such detail that you could find new things if you looked at it every day for weeks! There are sadly no descriptions in the cathedral itself. We found out later that this was a 15th century Altar of St Agilufus from Antwerp than was brought here in the 18th century.

The Altar of St Agilufus 

Christ being taken off the cross 

Inspite of the numerous art pieces I mentioned the biggest art piece is the structure itself. I have always enjoyed photographing the beautiful symmetry that the cathedrals have.  Arched ceilings, tall stone pillars, windows with stained glass – Gothic architecture at its peak. I will just let the photos do the talking.

The impressive Gothic architecture of Cologne Cathedral 

The Organ on the left isn’t attached to the wall but suspended by steel wires!

I have been to a lot of cathedrals but the thing that impressed me the most in Cologne cathedral were the  stone mosaics on the floor made with 1000s of stone pieces intricately laid down forming beautiful patterns. The cathedral was so crowded on Sunday that I returned again on Tuesday morning as the Cathedral opened just to take photos of these mosaics. I’m including them here just to complete the full picture.

The intricate stone mosaics on the floor of the Cologne Cathedral 

We must have wandered through the cathedral for more than an hour, nearly two and we could have spent more. These cathedrals were built to inspire awe among visiting pilgrims and it still has that effect on tourists all these years later. We walked out into the sunshine thoroughly awestruck.

Happy us at the Cologne Cathedral 

I took some more photos of the exteriors of the cathedral as we had beautiful skies that day and it made the already beautiful structure look even more impressive. We took a full round of the exterior of the cathedral enjoying the sculpted exterior as much as the decorated interior.

Some photos of the exteriors of the Cologne Cathedral on a crowded Sunday evening 

With the cathedral visited I decided to do the next thing I wanted to do most in Cologne. Enjoy the Kolsch beer in one of the famous beer halls around the city. The closest to us was the popular Gaffel am Dom and we went in. We didn’t expect to get a table but since there was a Germany football game later that day most people had reserved tables for that time and we got a table immediately.

Gaffel am Dom beer hall close to the Cathedral 

Unlike the huge mugs of beer elsewhere in Germany, Kolsch is served in tall and thin 200ml glasses. Kolsch making is highly regulated and can only be made within 50 km of the city. All that aside, it was really refreshing and I enjoyed it a lot while the better half had their house made lemonade. Since I wanted to watch the Germany game on TV we decided to have an early dinner and ordered the Cologne style potato pancakes called Reibekuchen, served with stewed apples and two slices of their typical black bread and butter. It was simple but tasty and very filling!

Enjoying my Kolsch in Cologne!

At the famous Gaffel am Dom in Cologne 

Reibekuchen with stewed apples, black bread and butter – tasty !

one with the meal at Gaffel am Dom 

We enjoyed our meal and drinks at a leisurely pace since we would be retiring early that day. It had been a long day of travel and the tiredness was creeping in. We had a full day of activity planned the next day which included walking across the famous Hohenzollern bridge across the Rhine in Cologne followed by a visit to the Drachenburg Castle which was an hour away. 

We hoped that the weather would continue to hold up. But that and if we would be able to do it is the topic for another post some other time, some other day.

Till then,

Ciao!