Just as the history of Cologne can be traced back to Roman times, the earliest precursor of the cathedral's construction could also date back to this time. While the early episcopal churches of the 5th and 6th centuries were only about 50 meters long, increasingly larger architectures were built in their place over many stages of development, culminating in the 144-meter-long Gothic cathedral. Since large parts of the foundation walls of the various church buildings could be excavated, their ground plans are largely secured. However, this does not apply to the height of the respective buildings. Here, the reconstruction had to rely on still existing comparative buildings from the respective time and proportion studies.With architecturally trained eyes, the documented walls were also considered. The development of the cathedral building from Roman times to the present day is presented in pictures and words.

The history of Cologne can be traced back to the Roman era, and it is possible that the earliest building to stand on this site dates from this period. While the early fifth- and sixth-century cathedrals measured no more than 50 m in length, they were successively replaced over the course of a number of development phases by ever larger structures. This development reached its peak with the construction of the 144 m long Gothic cathedral. Because extensive sections of the foundation walls of the various church buildings have been excavated, it is now possible to say with a high degree of accuracy what their ground plans looked like. The same cannot, however, be said for the height of the respective buildings. In this regard, reconstructions of existing similar buildings dating from the same period and proportional studies were used to draw conclusions. The documented walls were also examined by trained architects. By evening out minor deviations and inaccuracies, the architects who made the drawings produced what are effectively idealised architectural images of each of the buildings.The purpose of this book is to focus on the various construction phases that ended with the completion of the Gothic cathedral.

Eds: Barbara Schock-Werner, Dominik Lengyel, Catherine Toulouse

ISBN: 978-3-922442-68-4