Cologne Cathedral Timeline

The foundation stone was laid on Saturday, 15 August 1248, by Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden. With the construction of the Gothic cathedral in 1248, the Old Cathedral was to be demolished step by step.

After completion in 1265, the radiating chapels were immediately taken into service as a burial place for prominent figures associated with the cathedral.

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 work continued. The western parts of Hildebold Cathedral were provisionally rebuilt and were only taken down after 1322, when construction of the Gothic nave began.

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, leaving the cathedral unfinished for centuries.

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. Attempts began around 1814, but the project was not properly funded until the 1840s.

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 relations with its Catholic subjects gained in 1815.

Construction resumed in 1842 to the original design of the surviving medieval plans and drawings, but using more modern construction techniques, including iron roof girders. Schlaitdorf sandstone was used from 1842 onwards for the transept façades and upper parts of the nave and transept.

Ernst Friedrich Zwirner led the cathedral's construction until his death in 1861, and designed several parts including a chapel dedicated to St Mary and the crossing tower, which was completed in 1860.

Image source: Ernst Friedrich Zwirner

After the official completion of the cathedral in 1880, finishing work continued for around 20 years. Shortly before his death in 1902, master builder Richard Voigtel publicly stated that the cathedral had finally been completed; however, after an angel figure fell from the façade in 1906, master builders resumed renovation work.

The edifice was completed to its original medieval plan in 1880. The completion of Germany's largest cathedral was celebrated as a national event on 15 October 1880, 632 years after construction had begun.

In 1944, amid World War II, Willy Weyres was appointed as the cathedral's architect, later overseeing repairs of war damage.

Image source: Willy Weyres

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 German Panther tank.

Image source: Battle of Cologne (1945)

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 only in 1997.

Repairs of the war damage were completed sufficiently and the cathedral reopened in 1956, the work being overseen by architect Willy Weyres.

In 1965, Weyres redesigned the cladding of the crossing tower — severely damaged by bombing though structurally sound — in an Art Deco style, with decorative angels designed by Erlefried Hoppe.

During the 1992 Roermond earthquake, the 400-kilogram finial on the eastern pinnacle of the southern transept gable broke off, smashed through the roof and damaged the roof truss.

Image source: 1992 Roermond earthquake

In 1996, the renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture was declared a World Heritage Site and added to the UNESCO World Heritage List of culturally important sites.

In 2002, the Melanchthon Akademie held a conference addressing antisemitic imagery in the cathedral, and performance artist Wolfram Kastner specifically protested the Judensau imagery carved into the choir stalls.

In 2004, it was placed on the 'World Heritage in Danger' list, as the only Western site in danger, due to plans to construct several high-rise buildings nearby that would have visually impacted the site.

A repair to part of the northwest tower, carried out in 1944 using poor-quality brick from a nearby ruined building, remained visible as a reminder of the war until 2005, when it was restored to its original appearance.

On 18 August 2005, Pope Benedict XVI visited the cathedral during his apostolic visit to Germany, as part of the World Youth Day 2005 festivities.

The cathedral was removed from the UNESCO 'in danger' list in 2006, following the authorities' decision to limit the heights of buildings constructed near and around the cathedral. That year, the Karl Rahner Academie also held a colloquium discussing actions regarding antisemitic imagery.

On 25 August 2007, the cathedral received a new stained glass window in the south transept. Cardinal Joachim Meisner, who had preferred a figurative depiction of 20th-century Catholic martyrs, did not attend the unveiling.

Holder of the office since 2014 is Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, who leads the archdiocese associated with the cathedral.

Image source: Rainer Woelki

On 5 January 2015, the cathedral remained dark as floodlights were switched off to protest a demonstration by PEGIDA.

From May to November 2021, a remote-controlled drone took 200,000 high-resolution photos of all parts of the façade from a distance of 5 to 7 metres and assembled them into a digital 3D model with 25 billion polygons.

On Thursday, 3 March 2022, landmark cathedrals across Europe chimed in unison 'in a gesture of solidarity with Ukraine'; the Kölner Dom was among them, as bystanders gathered to mourn those killed during Russia's invasion.

In August 2023, the working group launched the Cologne Cathedral International Art Competition, calling for a new permanent artwork acknowledging the full history of Jewish-Christian relations while focusing on their present and future. As of 2024, the group opted to leave all antisemitic art in place, not hiding or modifying it.

On 3 April 2025, the cathedral chapter announced that Andrea Büttner had won the Cologne Cathedral International Art Competition, with her proposed mural for the wall of the Chapel of St Mary chosen.

In March 2026, the cathedral's management announced that it would begin charging admission for tourists in the second half of the year to support maintenance expenses.