MOC: Cologne Cathedral - Architecture for Eurobricks Event 2014

[Aredhel]

Hi all,

after some time I finally found the time to take at least some pictures of my Architecture model of Cologne cathedral.

First of all: some facts about it:

Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom)

General information:

The Cologne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in the centre of Cologne. The construction commenced in 1248. Leaving unfinished, it was halted til 1473. In the 19^th century the work started again and the construction was completed, defined on the plans from 1880. Concerning to those plans the Cologne Cathedral measured a length of 144.5 meters and a width of 86.5 meters. This Gothic cathedral is the largest church in Northern Europe. The height of the two spires, which give the largest façade of any church in the world, is registered with 157 meters. It is located 250 meters beneath the River Rhine where the former Roman city boundary was located.

Since 1996 the Cologne Cathedral belongs to the UNESCO-cultural heritage.

Overview:

The front:

History:

In 1164, the Archbishop of Cologne (Rainald of Dassel) acquired the relics of the Three Kings which the Holy Roman Emperor had taken from the Basilica of Sant’Eustorgio (Milan). Those relics had a great religious significance and because of this there had to be a “proper house” for them.

The foundation stone was laid in 1248 by the Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden. The eastern arm was completed in 1322 and sealed off to the rest of the construction to ensure its use. In the mid 14^th century work on the west front commenced, but halted in 1473. The south tower was completed up to the belfry and for the next 400 years, the skyline of Cologne showed a crane at top of the Cathedral. During the 19^th century the construction was completed. This was achieved by civic effort and, in 1842, the “Central-Dombauverein” was founded. It raised two-thirds of the costs while the Prussian state supplied the remaining third. It was finished in 1880 resuming to the medieval plans and rediscovered façade plans from 1280.

The front of the west side was completed in 1911.

With the 19th century romantic enthusiasm for the Middle Ages, and spurred on by the discovery of the original plan for the façade, it was decided, with the commitment of the Protestant Prussian Court, to complete the cathedral. It was achieved by civic effort; the Central-Dombauverein, founded in 1842, raised two-thirds of the enormous costs, while the Prussian state supplied the remaining third.

While World War II, the cathedral suffered fourteen hits by bombs. It was not broken completely so the Cologne Cathedral stood very tall to the flattened city. The cathedral was, in later years of the war, used as navigational landmark which may be the reason that it was not destroyed completely while World War II.

Repairs of the building were done around 1956.

World Heritage Site

In 1996, the cathedral was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List of culturally important sites. In 2004 it was placed on the "World Heritage in Danger" list, as the only Western site in danger, due to plans to construct a high-rise building nearby, which would have visually impacted the site. The cathedral was removed from the List of In Danger Sites in 2006, following the authorities' decision to limit the heights of buildings constructed near and around the cathedral.

As a World Heritage Site, and with its convenient position on tourist routes, Cologne Cathedral is a major tourist attraction, the visitors including many who travel there as a Christian pilgrimage.

Visitors can climb 509 stone steps of the spiral staircase to a viewing platform about 98 m (322 ft) above the ground. The platform gives a scenic view over the Rhine.

Minifig in front of the Cathedral/in front of the Burj Khalifa and "the Walker":

You can find more pictures here:

The background information about the Cologne Cathedral was taken by wikipedia.de / wikipedia.com

[Legogal]

Wow, nice history of a great build! (The only thing that old in America that comes to mind is the cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde in Colorado. And they are not free standing.)

One question. Did you say it is located 250 meters beneath as in under the Rhine or 250 meters distance from the Rhine? Flooding must be a threat in either case. Thanks!

[Aredhel]

The distance to river Rhine is only about 250 metres. The historic centre of the city was indeed flooded several times but the last years there was no bigger flood.

Here is a pic from the internet

http://www.gourmet-blog.de/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/koeln-dom-und-rhein.jpg

[Legogal]

Wow! I m so glad it was not hit by the terrible floods a year ago!

This is a gorgeous building and build!!!

[MstrOfPppts]

Looking at the images of the real building, I'd say this was quite a hard task. It has a lot of spikes and so has your models. Maybe using normal plates instead of tiles for the steeple roof would make it even less smooth. I'm not too sure about using both dark grays, it makes it look more colorful than it is ... I like the bats at the top to represent something that is not an ordinary cross and the roof in new color looks way better ;)

[Skalldyr]

...and the roof in new color looks way better ;)

Yes, it is nice to see it with the grey cheese slopes!

Very nice pictures. I have to take some for my own entry.

[TheLazyChicken]

Nice History lesson! Great job with the build also!

[Cecilie]

I think you did a really great job recreating all the details at this small scale

[Aredhel]

Thank you for your kind words :) it really was fun to take part at this competition and I hope to find some more time to MOC a bit more than I did til now

I'm not too sure about using both dark grays, it makes it look more colorful than it is ...

Yeah I know... I ordered some parts at bricklink to those I already had and got those old gray parts... So I had to work with that... Maybe I will change that some day but I have to make a new order for that

I like the bats at the top to represent something that is not an ordinary cross and the roof in new color looks way better ;)

Thank you very much. Especially from the side view it looks very similar to the real thing...

[SaneInsane]

Hi , ich habe euch auf der Lego Fanwelt 2014 gesehen.Tolles Model !!!

Ist es möglich eine Bauanleitung zu bekommen ? Den Kölner Dom werdet ihr mir wohl nicht verkaufen oder ?

Legofreundliche Grüße

Tim