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
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
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
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
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