Cologne Cathedral - Table of Contents .............. Architecture Around the World
Facade - Cologne
Cathedral
Cologne, Germany
1248 | Construction
begins |
1330 |
Construction
on Western
section (facade), Nave, and transept |
1473 |
Construction
halted - A large crane remained in situ scarring the Cologne skyline
for 400 years |
1842-1880 | Construction
completed |
Architects:: |
|
Style: |
Rayonnant
Gothic style, with some Flamboyant Gothic architecture |
Important exterior features: |
|
Status: |
In
1996, added to the UNESCO World
Heritage List |
On this page, below:
November 2019 Photos
Twin towers
Meister Arnold, West facade,1280
Two dominant towers ... Rayonnant Gothic style, with some Flamboyant Gothic architecture
Lighter areas are the result of cleaning ... Note the extensive cleaning taking place on the south elevation ... Twin steeples .... Finials ... Crockets ... Pinnacles ... Belfries
Cologne Cathedral is the model for St. Louis Church in Buffalo ... 19th century European Immigrants to the US continued their religious beliefs and built churches that imitated churches from their homeland ... See German-American history in Buffalo
Vertical Gothic gable roofs ... Finials ... Crockets ... In lower tympanum, unusual cinquefoil tracery
Lighter area is the result of cleaning
Note bird in flight ... Center: Quatrefoil above paired trefoil tracery with flanking crocketed pinnacles ... Right: Quatrefoils
In center tympanum, unusually shaped cinquefoil tracery
St. Mark the Evangelist and his symbolic lion
Center main portal
All sculptures of the Cathedral are made by Christian Mohr and Peter Fuchs. The three portals of the west façade are the Magi Portal, the Main Portal and St. Peter's Portal.
The theme of the center portal is the age before redemption.
Triple portals feature gable roof tympanums, archivolts, and jamb statues ... Center portal details below:
Tympanum center : Christ, holding a book with the letters Α and Ω and making a blessing gesture with his right hand ... At his sides are statues of the four great prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel
Compound arches ... Archivolts, (ornamental moldings surrounding the arched opening) ... Tympanum ... Jamb statues fanning from the doors ... Details below:
Archivolts ... Note netting to prevent pigeons from nesting
Tympanum ... Relief depicts scenes, from top to bottom: The Fall of Man ... Noah's Ark ... Moses receiving the laws ... the Nativity ... Jesus in the temple ... 2 tympanum details below:
Left: Noah's Ark ... Center: Moses receiving the laws ... Right: Worship of the Golden Calf
Upper panel: The Annunciation ... the Nativity ... the Presentation of the Christ Child in the Temple
Lower panel: Jesus in the temple ... the Baptism of Christ ... Sermon on the Mount
Mary, crowned as Queen of Heaven holding a royal scepter, stands on a crescent moon and a snake symbolizing evil ... 2 details below:
Note fleurs-de-lis on crowns ... Jesus holds an orb (the world) and gives a blessing
Crescent moon and a snake
Center portal door jambs - left side
Adam ... Noah & Ark ... Moses ... David ... Elijah ... Joachim, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus ... St. John the Baptist .. 4 details below:
Adam ... Noah & Ark
Moses and the Ten Commandments
Fae left: King David and his harp ... Elijah ... Joachim,, the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus ... St. John the Baptist
King David ... Elijah
Center portal compound arch door jambs - right side
St. Joseph ... St. Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary .... Eliseus / Elisha, prophet ... King Solomon and the First Temple, son of David ... Samuel ... Abraham ... Eve (detailed below):
Eve and the serpent with a female face, detailed below:
Serpent
Abraham, detailed below