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Cologne Cathedral, German Kölner Dom, Roman Catholic cathedral church, located in the city of Cologne, Germany. It is the largest Gothic church in northern Europe and features immense twin towers that stand 515 feet (157 metres) tall. The cathedral was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.The site of Cologne Cathedral has been occupied by Christian churches since about the 4th century. An older cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1248, and immediately thereafter work began on the present cathedral, which was designed in the Gothic style in emulation of French church architecture. The choir was consecrated in 1322, but construction continued until 1560 (or only until 1520, according to some authorities). The project then stalled for centuries, with a large wooden crane left standing some 184 feet (56 metres) above the ground, at the top of the south tower. During the 1790s, troops of the French Revolution occupied Cologne and used the cathedral as a stable and a hay barn. Restoration work began in the 1820s, spurred on by Sulpiz Boisserée, a German proponent of the Gothic Revivalmovement. In 1842 a new cornerstone was laid by King Frederick William IV of Prussia, and work to complete the cathedral resumed in earnest. The architects Ernst Friedrich Zwirner and Richard Voigtel carried out the enterprise, guided by architectural drawings made in about 1300. Construction finally ended in 1880.At the time of its completion, Cologne Cathedral was believed to be the world’s tallest structure, a distinction it held until 1884, when the Washington Monumentwas finished. It continued to be the world’s tallest building until it was exceeded by Ulm (Germany) Cathedral in 1890. Cologne Cathedral was badly damaged by Allied air raids in 1944, but the medieval windows had been removed beforehand. By 1948 the choir had been restored and was again in regular use, as was the rest of the interior by 1956. In the late 20th century work began to repair the effects of acid rain on the stonework.
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