Oct 5, 2015 :
Appartel am Dom, Köln:
Appartel am Dom, Köln is a lovely place to stay and just a
stone’s throw from the cathedral.
I made my way to the cathedral in the morning
around 7 am
Cologne Cathedral:
The cathedral covers almost 8,000 sq m of floor space and
can hold more than 20,000 people.
This Gothic cathedral was built to house the remains of the
Three Wise Men, which the Archbishop had brought to Cologne
from Milan after conquering it in
1164. Cornerstone was laid in 1248. In the early 16th century, building was
stopped for more than 300 years - partly due to lack of money. In 1842 King
Friedrich Wilhelm IV laid the foundation stone marking the continuation of
building work. The Cathedral was completed in 1880 - in accordance with the
plan originating from the Middle Ages - in a record time of just 38 years.
It is nothing short of a miracle that, although badly
damaged, Cologne Cathedral survived the Second World War in spite of extensive
bombing
Today the cathedral
is Cologne ’s second-tallest
structure, surpassed only by the telecommunications tower.
At 157.38 m, the northern tower is 7 cm taller than the
southern one.
Repair and maintenance work is constantly being carried out
in one or another section of the building, which is rarely completely free of
scaffolding, as wind, rain, and pollution slowly eat away at the stones
Due to the building’s impressive Gothic architecture, the
shrine of the Three Wise Men, the outstanding stained-glass windows and the
many other important works of art, UNESCO declared Cologne Cathedral a World
Heritage Site in 1996.
The main entrance shows the 19th century decoration. This is
where visitors can enter the cathedral during the day.
These are 43 m high arches
I took another look at the awesome stained glass windows; with the sun light streaming in, they glittered like gems
These five windows on the South side called the Bayernfenster were given by Ludwig I of Bavaria
The main altar with the
huge reliquary was cordoned off and visitors were confined to other parts of
the cathedral. Worshippers were being let in to the altar by a priest. I
approached him, said Gutentag and asked if I may attend the mass, please. He
said, OK, But no photos. I entered and sat near the reliquary for almost an
hour. The mass and the choir’s singing were soothing and the sight of the
reliquary and the altar was great.
The Shrine of the Three Kings (German
Dreikönigsschrein) is a reliquary containing the bones of the Biblical Magi,
the Three Wise Men. The shrine is a large gilded and decorated triple
sarcophagus placed above and behind the high altar of Cologne Cathedra
The Shrine of the Three Kings is 43 inches wide, 60 inches
high, 87 inches (220 cm) long. It is shaped like a basilica: two sarcophagi
stand next to each other, with the third sarcophagus resting on their roof
ridges. It is made of wood, with gold
and silver overlay decorated with filigree, enamel, and over 1000 jewels. There are 74 high relief figures in
silver-gilt in all, not counting smaller additional figures in the background
decoration. On the sides, images of the prophets decorate the lower part, while
images of the apostles and evangelists decorate the upper part. On one end,
there are (across the bottom, from left to right) images of the Adoration of
the Magi, Mary enthroned with the infant Jesus, and the Baptism of Christ, and
above, Christ enthroned at the Last Judgement. The other end shows scenes of
the Passion: the scourging of Christ (lower left) and his crucifixion (lower
left) with the resurrected Christ above. This end also has a bust of Rainald of
Dassel in the center.
This is the Medieval statue of St. Christopher...Christopher
means "Christ-bearer", he had dedicated himself to the service of men
and one day carried a child, who was unknown to him, across a river before the
child revealed himself as Christ. So now he is the patron saint of travelers
This is the Crucifix of Bishop Gero, (965AD), the oldest
known large crucifix...
It is carved in oak, and painted and partially gilded.
The halo and cross-pieces are original, but the Baroque surround was added in
1683. The figure is 187 cm high, and the span of the arms is 165 cm. It appears
to be the oldest Western depiction of a dead Christ on the cross; in most
earlier depictions Christ holds his head erect and looks straight ahead, or
looks down at the Virgin at the foot of the cross.
This is the Crypt where Archbishops are buried
Went back the apartment, had some food, had a
pleasant chitchat in my pathetic German with the maid who had come in to clean.
Google map had given complicated instructions to take a bus to visit the perfume house.
Google map had given complicated instructions to take a bus to visit the perfume house.
When I tried to inquire details on buying a bus ticket, the
reception girl directed me to their manager. He spoke excellent English and
gave me great walking directions. So off I went armed with a map.
Passed the Hauptbahnhof right in the Dom platz (cathedral
square).
Peeped into the Souvenir shop near Dom... Hummel figurines
are so cute.
This fountain called Heinzelmännchenbrunnen has the
recurring theme of pixies... the legend
of the good pixies, who emerge at night to do the work of people,
Reached the Daft Fragrance museum, FARINA-HOUSE
In 1709 Farina established what is today the world's oldest
fragrance company. John Maria Farina (1685-1766) named his fragrance Eau de
Cologne in honor of the city of Cologne .
Today the 8th generation of the Farina family still produces the original Eau
de Cologne
In the 17th century the tulip was a precious item that
bloomed in the gardens of Turkish palaces. The Dutch paid huge amounts of money
for a bulb of this beautiful flower. Farina, who desired an image of great
beauty for his trademark and his products, chose a red tulip for the original
perfume.
45 min Tours take place every hour on the hour. , I booked
the 4 pm English tour.
Then I strolled through the picturesque altstadt (old town).
The Old Town Rhine
This is Great Saint
Martin Church
Interesting sights…Heumarkt 62 - "Brewery for
priests"
Hotel Weinhaus since 1234...
This is Hohenzollern
Bridge
It is the most
heavily used railway bridge in Germany
with more than 1200 trains daily, connecting the Köln Hauptbahnhof and Köln
Messe/Deutz stations.
The total length of the Hohenzollern Bridge
Walked over to Köln Triangle (formerly also known as
LVR-Turm). It is a 103.2 m (339 ft) tall building
View from Köln Triangle was great... they’ve etched the
landmarks on the glass at appropriate places...
Retraced my steps
Returned the apartment, had lunch and
walked back to the Fragrance museum--Farina House, creator of the original Eau
de Cologne—for my 4 PM appointment.
Our guide conducted the tour as perfumer Johann Maria Farina
(1685-1766) who created the original Eau de Cologne, the perfume, which
reminded him of an Italian spring morning after rain.
We learn the history of the family Farina. In the ‘chamber of essences‘ we smell a number of interesting essences... hundreds of perfume oils in small phials.
A staircase leads down to the original cellar, where 300 years ago, the scents were produced. There is even an original barrel made out of cedar wood, dating from the beginnings of the company. There is a replica of a distillery, as used by Johann Maria Farina in the 18th Century.
This is a miniature display of an affluent 1700 home.
Special crystal vials for supplying perfumes to royalty...
Asian Perfume sample case in ivory, gold and mother-of-pearl here.
Son’s team had been put up at Hotel Ascaris, Pulheim, some
20 km from the city center of Cologne .
They had been driven there in a van from Netherlands
and he took the local train and reached the apartment in the evening.
We went
to the cathedral
Then had a walk through the old town.
Interesting concept here... map on an umbrella... ha ha!
Anthuriums
Orchids
This is a miniature train set in the train station... there is even a slot to feed coins to make it work..
Oct 6, 2015:
At 6 am the next
morning, we checked out of the apartment and took the local train to Pulheim.
Walked to son's hotel, Hotel Ascaris, Pulheim.
I stayed put in the room while he went for his official
training and in the afternoon around the time the training would be over I took
a cab to join the team. We were driven to our next destination Weimar in a van in steady drizzle. If we had tried to travel from Pulheim to Weimar
on our own by public transport, we need to take a train from Cologne to Frankfurt
and then go to Weimar … pretty round
about way. So it was nice that the office obliged giving a free ride to me.
Reached Weimar and settled in. Weimar is a lovely place, it's to Goethe what Stratford on Avon is to Shakespeare! The report is here:
http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/10/germany-trip-report-day-10-weimar.html
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