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in. cologne cathedral a unesco world heritage site that draws thousands of visitors a day it's magnetic appeal extends well beyond the city that surrounds it the cathedral is brimming with priceless art of cultural treasures and inspires or an admiration and yet it is a vulnerable colossus. look at fetal is a long term construction site scaffolding seems to be a permanent fixture. cathedral architect peter first initial and his team are responsible for securing and preserving the judge. antic structure weather and

evolution take that toll the maintenance bill runs to around twenty thousand euros a day. if i get this stone here is much yellow where then it is up there. in the sindh the cathedral itself tells us what needs to be dumb we basically just set priorities and do the work kind for going on to put it head butting in. right now first the mission is planning projects that will not be carried out for another fifty years. this is our kind of kind of job it's a big responsibility and we need to approach our work with a bit of humility if i monitored it that's because we can complete just a fraction of the work that needs to be done by venice and.

when the cathedral doors are locked at the end of the day it's peaceful and quiet once again for at least a few hours. custody and was clean up after the day's visitors and they check to make sure that everyone has left the building. through the centuries many have sought to exploit the cathedral for their own ends kings emperors and cardinals the cathedral seem to inspire a sense of greed in these people and not just because it's treasures in the image there are lots of people who protect the cathedral who gunned that review that we need to protect the cathedral from it's a miss. cologne cathedral is

a world unto itself. and the master of that world is provost got back now. nothing takes place here without his permission. but back in his jurisdiction is limited everything that goes on outside the building for example on the dome platter cathedral square is a matter for the city of cologne. to fire the dome plat it is a crazy place there's a lot going on here and on a saturday like today it's really busy twenty thousand people a day visit the cathedral it's the most visited place in germany. has worked as a guide at the cathedral for more than twenty years. and when i started doing guided tours we just walked into the kids he joined looked around it was all very

casual it's not like it is today later they decided to regulate the flow of visitors that make sense to sell so now only ten groups an hour are allowed that helps people get more out of the tour if people were just heard through the place like they are at first sight i they wouldn't enjoy the experience and it wouldn't do justice to the cathedral either. filming in the cathedral is strictly forbidden this is a place of worship after all and church officials want to maintain the cathedrals dignity and integrity. still visitors do take photos and videos for their own private use to show the folks back home that they were actually here. but the twenty thousand visitors a day do have an impact. they throw used chewing gum on the floor. scribble on the

walls and leave behind a mixture of fabric fibers and particles that they've explained all this creates problems for the cathedral. and that's when i'm i've got all these people moving through the building and those particles settle on the artworks so we were constantly to limit the damage but we also want to make sure that the building remains open to a large number of visitors. that includes the faithful up to six masses a day are held here these services provide brief response between the waves of tourists. many of them don't show proper respect right now we have a problem with coke amount players we've actually seen them leaping over pews i'm not a very religious person myself but i still find it annoying it's just respectful cathedral it's a remarkable achievement it took centuries to build and people should respect that . the security stuff on responsible for keeping things under control but who

decides how the cathedral's public image should best be preserved. and that's an issue that has long concerned writer and cabaret artist martin sheinkopf skiing he's lived in cologne for decades. that's the computer bob the gee how many of the cathedral advisory board claimed that they have the authority to interpret that but that's not correct the board does represent the religious side of things but there are also artistic and political considerations and all sides have a legitimate claim when it comes to making decisions on those various issues and. the distinctive silhouette towers over colognes postwar concrete landscape from every direction the cathedral dominates the skyline and imposing landmark at the heart of the city.

ski poles all sorts of things are marketed under its name including cookies and beer it's not a registered trademark unfortunately there's no legal obstacle to people using the word cathedral but on the bright side the fact that manufacturers seek to associate their products with the cathedral shows that it's regarded as a valuable commodity. but for the promised the cathedral is first and foremost a church his favorite spot is halfway along a quiet section it's a place to give him strength a place where he can pause and reflect. he got on. board and regardless of whether you're religious you can oncet the life simple questions only if you can step back from the hustle and bustle and find a quiet spot in my mind. do that and you can do that in a sacred place like this. the cathedral has an inner radians that draws

people to it is mentioned. but there is also a hidden side to the cathedral deep down below the naive you can see the medieval foundations and traces of two thousand years of history they bear witness to the colorful past of this city and its people. you and i cannot we found roman residences on the cathedral site and a roman floor heating system that you know there are living rooms that have painted

walls we've also found old churches this is basically the nucleus of the present day cathedral. this passageway leads to an area that's close to the public this was once the village district of ancient colonial the foundation on which the modern day cathedral was belt. i knew from here i knew that something this is where early christians met in private residences to pray and hold religious services. and it's amazing you can still see the site of the altar of to notice these are the foundations of the present day gothic high altar of cologne cathedral in. the. cathedrals in a sanctum long before the gothic edifice was completed people made pilgrimages here

to see colognes greatest treasure. to do this cathedral was built to house the shrine and the shrine was created to store the mortal remains of the three kings by the magi. the earlier cathedral a romanesque church is where the relics were first kept when they were brought here from italy. if the relics were in milan and colognes archbishop saw his chance and took it he package it the relics no one here complained he turned cologne into a major pilgrimage center this year it was a lucrative business model for the church and for the city cologne ended up becoming the biggest mediæval city north of the alps. and i didn't like. colognes reputation as a commercial center a cultural center and a transport hub extended far beyond the runway and of course the city needed

a church a state of the art religious landmark to emphasize its stature mark. at the time the pyramids at giza in egypt were the world's largest structures but in the thirteenth century the title passed to colognes cathedral skilled labor from all over europe took part in its construction. mentioned he did in those early cathedral builders did an incredible job they were the first people to lay the foundations for a building that they would never see completed triumph and boyd's and they knew it and he knew my it's their stuff to see. the foundation pit was seventeen meters deep there is as much masonry down here as there is above ground. point of order today a structural engineer. i would say that this is way over the top the foundations

don't need to be this big but it also means that we don't need to worry if there's an earthquake you have been given. and this is the most earthquake prone region in germany two types of rock were used to make the foundations hard black battled and a casing of softer rock made of volcanic ash to cushion earth tremors. the structural solution for the high vaulted ceilings is equally ingenious without the buttresses the window walls would lack the necessary stability. the area around the altar is supported by numerous arms this creates a solid structure that is nevertheless airy and whiteness. it's protected like a castle by colonel ations and tarts yet he still might and transparent a medieval marvel erected in just seventy years.

has its place and for months imagine that you're living in the middle ages in a small have tempered house cologne with a city of have to make houses a stone house was a luxury your windows would have been about this big but what was in the windows not glass it was animal hide or oil soaked cloth and when it was cold in winter the shutters were closed so that's your home and then imagine yourself a pious medieval catholic stepping into the cathedral. this was the view that presented itself to pilgrims for centuries. the. the oldest window in the cathedral dates from twelve sixty

sunlight makes the colors so intense and luminous that many at the time thought that the glass panes were precious stones but people didn't come to the cathedral just to see the windows. people made pilgrimages to the gold shrine that held the relics of the magi it didn't matter what was inside the main thing was that people came they stayed overnight did some shopping bought some presents perhaps paid a visit to a brothel and then went home. but the cathedral was far from finished after the area around the altar was completed the aisles and parts of the south tower were built. but then construction came to a halt for hundreds of years. in there in the sixteenth century cologne was an economic decline martin luther had arrived on the scene so

indulgences were getting harder to sell gothic architecture was now well and truly passe the old building crane was left at the top of the unfinished tower and it stayed there squeaking in creaking for three hundred years. over by i think that living with a stopgap solution to this unfinished project played an important role in shaping the mentality of the people here cologne is not a particularly beautiful city nor is it a world beater yet but it's brilliant at being second rate like that so where does that ability to live with second best to come from i think it may have to do with the fact that it's most important building that was never finished but was always still functional and yet. the people of cologne didn't mind having a half finished cathedral the structure fell into disrepair under napoleon french troops occupied the city the archdiocese was dissolved in the cathedral became an ordinary parish church. for the catholics of course that was

a bitter pill to swallow their church had been taken away from them it was now a military barracks and it was in a dreadful state that it system was consumed by this group isn't and. that was the lowest point in the cathedrals history the french even used part of the structure as a stable. of the two three during that period the mediæval archive was also lost even today we don't know if it's. will exists or if it does where it might be the blueprint known as facade elevation f. also disappeared at that time as if. for saddle ovation f. is an original medieval drawing of the west portal the blueprint of the cathedral. to decide when and for the story of elevation and if it is quite incredible you

know it's for me just high drawn in ink on parchment few me and was rediscovered in the mid nineteenth century and how it of program half of it turned up in paris order be to offer for the. patti smith afterthought. it was found among a job lot of architectural drawings that was bought by a collector who had a special interest in cologne cathedral but the crucial left half was missing. and going to down santa drying was found in the attic of a tavern and damn stat and it proved a perfect match for the other half someone had been drying beans on it that was lucky because otherwise it might have been thrown away and lost forever demand does this get down inflation and move the stick and now this week. the drawing showed precisely what the cathedral was originally intended to look like. after the three hundred year break the prussians resumed construction around the site entire

streets of houses were demolished to maximize the majestic buildings visual impact a new square was created and it quickly drew crowds of local residents. to show nations and the square is really popular and at the same time it's a local landmark so people are always reinterpreting it and using it to promote their own interests but i think the square is more than just a stage. and very clubs as me are going to be. the city permits six major events a year to be held outside the cathedral but these events must be compatible with the dignity of the church whether that criterion is met by every street artist is debatable and some here some musicians show up with amplifiers and play or sing the same song ten times a day we elect you can hear it in the confessionals where people come to pray and reflect which is in which to me to touch you that's really disruptive no doubt

about it. i never last don't fit into one of. speaking of disruptive in the mid one nine hundred eighty s. the cathedral square became a rendezvous point for skateboarders from all over the country christian shall count was one of them. is five years there was a lot going on here and it was cool to be part of it that the backdrop was cool too especially at night when the cathedral was lit up that was special and it makes you want to stay out there a while longer and skate to my no wonder fans of some of. the debate went on for twenty years finally the skateboarders had to move elsewhere some of them a still upset about that decision. those are the kinds of it's purely

subjective some people thought that we were violating the integrity of the cathedral but how can you damage cathedrals reputations in is the world so how can you do that by skateboarding in the matters and then here. so what is acceptable and what isn't outside cologne cathedral the debate about that is probably as old as the building itself and it continues today fuelled by the immediate proximity of the city's main railway. stations. to pick i know no other european city has a cathedral right next to a railway station you almost stumble into the cathedral when you leave the station the cathedrals north door used to be open and on a rainy morning commuters used to take a shortcut through the church so the cathedral board had the door locked and. it was the prussians who wanted the main railway station built right next to the cathedral the idea was to create an impression of progress and modernity.

steel bracing the cathedral also has an iron roof truss despite opposition from local traditionalists it was used to preserve the cathedral structural integrity steel helps protect against fire and wood worms. but more importantly industrial age technology enabled the cathedral construction to be swiftly completed last american engineers are said to have learned a lot here for later use in the construction of skyscrapers but it was the local population who benefited most. it was also a job creation scheme for current workers and of the cathedral was always a project by and for the local community and in the nineteenth century especially there was a very close connection between the community and the cathedral. when the cathedral

was finished it was the tallest building in the world a powerful symbol but there was a price to be paid. the price of the question is used the cathedral to advance their own agenda there was no more talk of the magi the cathedral is now a symbol of german national identity and in particular german unification i'm pretty sure they're right. when the german empire was founded in eight hundred seventy one the prussians emperor wanted to call the world's attention to the new nation which it. attended as far west as the rhine and. could use a party to show the rhineland had been german territory since the middle ages but was also claimed by france the emperor needed a powerful symbol that represented german architecture and was located in the rhineland cologne cathedral fit the bill perfectly. good now in. so the cathedral construction project became a symbol of german nation building and therefore took on

a new political significance. even today the cathedral often plays a symbolic role in various political efforts. in sr back in the one nine hundred sixty s. for example birth going to evolve off and others including me held a religious service to protest the death penalty in spain. we went into the cathedral said some prayers and held a kind of vigil for. the vigil led by nobel laureate bo made headlines tabloid press portrayed it as an occupation if you hold a political event at a major location it has a major impact the cathedral has been the scene of numerous similar events since both prayer for peace. keep the cathedral draws political

activists like a magnet. when you lose a few novich visited the cathedral for the first time with her family she could not know that she would one day stage a feminist protest there. isn't some we drove to cologne and as we got closer to the cathedral we played a game to see you could spot it first i won i can still remember the overwhelming sight of it you looked up and it seemed endlessly tall it was breathtaking and and special. find. a few years later vit was looking for a place to stage a protest against the oppression of women. protests we decided to hold the protest in a church and cologne cathedral came to mind right away that kind of an invalid because it's so big and because cardinal mice now is still in office thank god it's not. cardinal you often meisner archbishop of cologne known for his conservative

views my sickness perception of women made him the perfect target for the feminists protest. even we had radical demands these included the overthrow of the entire petri arkell system and when a building ties patriarchal power so closely to a particular ideology it's an obvious place to try to break that power at least for a day or even for a brief moment so. christmas twenty fatting protest and provocation in a sacred place on a psych radack a. fun i was extremely nervous and excited it was christmas and everyone was in a christmassy mood including me it wasn't really a time for a protest so it was a really big deal and i knew it wasn't going to win me any friends that doesn't mean i'm a kind of one of my words. you're just

done so as. i didn't think it would escalate to the point of physical violence. but i was afraid that it might. fit so the protest as an act of free speech. escaped from there's a place for everything people can demonstrate but this is a place where others come to commune with god. find peace pray and celebrate the liturgy for their sake and for the sake of god's will i am radically opposed to such protests so it's hard to come up and. use a fine of it was arrested found guilty of gross interference with the exercise of religion and find.

if everyone ok no cause for concern. book hot yom has patrolled the cathedral square for twenty seven years he likes his job despite the rising threat level. your state's your backpack when they are step closer place. it isn't to listen to terrorism it's not a new problem that's been around for a number of years but we're still at risk of course recently here in cologne as part of a danger zone that includes germany and all of europe as you can find homes. so what's the answer fences more security personnel and this is what is meant in the best protection would be for people to just leave the cathedral i love and i wish that it's a place of worship a place for kilograms and the community as a whole dimensions some people who walk past might have their doubts about the cathedral but once they go inside they almost always find it

a moving experience money mentioned so at five. since two thousand and seven the magic of the cathedral has been in homs by the new south window the work of cologne artist gala. archbishop meissner thought the window was wholly unsuitable but after a lengthy debate the will of the cathedral board prevailed today it's hard to imagine the south transept without it. but where there is light there is also shadow on november the second one nine hundred seventy five the cathedral treasury was robbed thieves got away with artworks worth several million dollars the crime caused

a sensation. and there were appeals on t.v. for anyone who had information on the crime to come forward in crude. the thieves gained access to the treasury through a ventilation shaft the cathedral's chief custody and was appalled at the way the robbery was carried out. this is a month of years and people were not trying to steal art just gold and precious stones poured on it or stands over to and they tore apart some extremely valuable items to get them as and they got as not. in the. senior public prosecutor might be a tell there's a mercian was in charge of the investigation it was one of the most exciting cases of her career. and it is. on the night of the crime some pedestrian saw two men climbing out of the cathedral the witnesses gave chase. the

only star who could roll for the perpetrators split up and the witnesses lost track of them all the witnesses went to the railway police and told them what they'd seen . but the railway police said it wasn't their response ability amazing but true you know why i was on. the next day an artist who had a criminal record was identified as a. i'm suspect the prosecutor immediately ordered a search of his apartment and the stolen treasure was indeed bad as investigators like to discover. the quote from if there was a suitcase behind the door in the hallway but before a proper search could be conducted two more men turned up they were later found to be accomplices so two police officers had three men to keep an eye on the suspect's wife then saw her chance she said she felt ill walked out the door and took the

suitcase with her. trish is close to going to safety she went down to the basement and put the bag in a neighbor's storage room who killed. the suspect allowed police to search his apartment and cellar storage room he knew that the bag was gone as police closed in on the prime suspect he fled to belgrade that he persuaded a dental technician to melt down the gold. the hot soup. did melt down some of the items but others were so obviously valuable that he asked the suspect to spare them. but the suspect demanded that the precious stones be removed and the gold melted down. just as good and you schmaltzy but a private detective working on the cover managed to track down the treasure. it

told you we recovered a lump of compressed metal like a big salami it was a heartbreaking sight bull's eye was placed. as well trimmed with both. it took ten years to reconstruct the damaged items. theft is not the only problem that church officials have to weigh. re about there's also vandalism. in my mind the lighter spots up there are places that haven't been exposed to weathering them with that's where it's been damaged by vandals and people climb up and use an umbrella to knock off a bit of a gargoyle or gable or pinnacle we're very concerned about this by order in the yard or not as much something you saw them on by stone mason might spend a year and a half working on a canopy that hype so it breaks your heart to see that were destroyed and it makes

all of us angry of course so we're trying to find new ways to protect the cathedral or is it does it once you want to believe just couldn't wouldn't want to show it. says the waiver of sexual assaults in cologne on new year's eve twenty fifteen there have been calls for tougher security measures at the cathedral these include a fence around the entire building like the one on the south side that stops people you're an icing on the wall but many cologne residents don't like the idea of putting barriers around their. vendettas when those in cross station and dirt are removed you can see some beautiful workmanship all the wonderful stone carvings and sculptures from the

nineteenth century these are real works of art and they're being restored to their former glory and for. a conservative uses a laser to remove the dark dirt and the like colored stone underneath remains intact afterward the figures of the north portal seem brand new. but some of the sculptures still show signs of damage suffered during world war two some would have faced by bullets or shrapnel the war pose the greatest threat to the cathedral in its entire history.

by may nine hundred forty five cologne had been almost completely destroyed but one structure rose above the rubble the cathedral or what was left of it is feel a film with a lot of americans arrive here on the rhine chris ships and i take them on tours they're convinced that the allies did not intend to bomb the cathedral but there's no credible evidence to back that up. from a distance the cathedral seems unscathed. if you mention a lot of people believe that the cathedral came through the wall without any major damage but that's wrong and the fact of the matter is that the cathedral suffered serious damage during the war not least because it was located next to the main railway station hope on hooves and so had to do a few in the cathedral was hit by no less than fourteen allied bombs large parts of the roof of the navy collapsed on much of the north transept lay in ruins and the

cathedral organ was destroyed. in order nine hundred forty three a bomb tore a massive hole in the north tower there were concerns that the tower might collapse so despite the water on complications the hole was bricked up partly by forced labors. after the war cologne was virtually unrecognizable only forty thousand people still lived among the ruins. that kind could include loughner as proud city and the oldest in germany was no more but the fact that the cathedral was still standing may have given people hope they saw that the cathedral had survived and they might chew so they stayed put the logical thing to do would be to leave there was nothing left here so i think the cathedral really did give strength and encouragement to the people of cologne. in

one nine hundred forty eight to mark the cathedral seven hundredth anniversary a mass was celebrated in the chancel. the war damage in the north tower has been repaired you can recognize the temporary filling by its lighter color. as a plumber had done that filling survive for decades but it sparked an intense debate among preservationists getting some thought it should be removed the other said it should be kept in place as a memorial to the wall. despite they could. it was decided that this scar should be removed even if it meant to raising a highly visible reminder of the city's recent history. personally i would have favored the other option but you have to respect the

opinions of those who were affected by those events and still you've got to explain to people what that white spot is perceptions of buildings are always changing depending on how you explain the context annoyed at. a refugee boat as an altar. in may twenty sixth cardinal vine a movie of archbishop of cologne sparked vehement debate with this mass held. the feast of corpus christi. the boat was later put on display in the cathedral a reminder of the essence of the christian message and a powerful political signal the story made headlines around the world. to do not just on a human religious and political level i think it's brilliant that he used the cathedral in this way a corpus christi procession featuring

a boat from lampedusa that saved refugees into quick it's own. so what sorts of activities are acceptable in the cathedral. there are lots of different answers in summer twenty sixteen provest gap open the doors to those who returned in the cologne computer games fad games cause there was an exotic music a lighted laser show and a party atmosphere that put a new perspective on colognes launch a structure. first in the hope we can both flesh comes from of yet i want to build bridges perhaps people can take away more from these events than they think i do with other and from i think the idea was not just to address those who already have a close relationship with the church it was designed to reach out to those who

might have a problem with this goal this church and it's very close because it can be committees blog. cologne cathedral a place for everyone even those who want to use it for their own purposes but who owns it now. so for the authors of the city of cologne i hope all the people of cologne said i like the i'd say it's owned by everyone who respects it and can feel its magic and that can be any. one from anywhere cologne cathedral belongs to the world. and it doesn't belong to the archbishop or the archdiocese as a lot of people think that the cathedral belongs to itself. and that's more than just a legal formula the cathedral represents an obligation for the current generation and a gift to future generations. the

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the because the be taken personally the by. is fast and is headed for the tongue. in cheek. sensation as in christmas joy. if you could come out to talk to submit. my first vice like the sewing machine. where i come from women are balanced by their social goals. something as simple as learning how to write them by saying goes missing. since i was a little girl i wanted to have a bicycle of my home and it took me years to been. filing

a mob and mental buying and my status but returned to the sewing machine. sewing i suppose was more appropriate for those than writing about. knowledge i want to meet our small and back home. and social norms and inform them about the basic rights my name is the about of people homes and i'm more into. unimpeded access to education and knowledge and the same opportunities for everyone . a central goal of the global community but what's the reality on the ground into question for all w.'s multimedia special roommates personal stories and highlights extraordinary projects world over find out more on the internet d w dot com education for all. climate change.

waste. isn't it time for good. eco africa people and projects that are changing our environment for the better gives up to us to make a difference let's inspire other. people would go beyond farming magazine. d w. russia's foreign ministry is expanding sixty u.s. diplomats and closing the american consulate in st petersburg for its part of the diplomatic spat following the poisoning of former russian spy sagaciously paolo and is still to yulia and britain both remain in hospital yulia has begun responding well to treatment according to u.k. health officials.