Cologne Cathedral and Soccer
By Lothar. Filed in Germany |
It is Tuesday, April 15th, and Gabi and I are having breakfast at a “Kamps” bakery in Köln-Porz, fortifying us with croissants and cappucino. Afterwards, we meet Dagmar and Gabi’s students at the school and take the S-Bahn to Köln-Deutz. We walk across the Rhine river bridge and have the magnificent Cologne Cathedral right in front of us. With it’s impressive Gothic towers, under a blue sky right now( for a change), it is the third tallest cathedral in the world. The first phase of the cathedral’s construction lasted from 1248 to 1510 and then ceased due to lack of funds. The unfinished church was part of Cologne’s skyline for over 300 years.
The Prussian King Frederic William IV ordered the continued construction in 1842, and in 1880, Emperor William I celebrated the completion of the cathedral. 300000 tons of stone had been used for the cathedral and at that time the “Kölner Dom” was the world’s tallest building!
We climb the 509 steps to the top of the South Tower and have great views of the Rhine River, Central Train Station and the city, 152 meters below us. Next we visit the very interesting “Schatzkammer” (treasure chamber) beneath the cathedral. On my way out, I leave a couple of Euros in the collection box for the cathedral’s maintenance. Later I learn, that it costs about 10 Million Euros per year to maintain the “Dom”.
After all this culture, it is time for a break. The chaperones retreat to the Cölner Hofbräu Früh and I have a “Rheinischer Sauerbraten”, accompanied by a Früh Kölsch beer, a normal lunch-time German custom!
In the afternoon, we split into 3 groups, offering different museum tours for the American students. Gabi and I head for the Roman-Germanic Museum, having only 6 out of 26 kids with us. We see some famous Roman mosaics, one depicting the 7 wise men, Dionysos in his wine barrel being one of them. They also display children’s toys, a re-built Roman travel coach and many pots and amphores, kitchen utensils, scales, coins as well as other objects of daily life.
I am interested in studying the medical instruments, which were buried together with the physician at the time of his death.
Next on the agenda: a Bundesliga soccer game. Our group of 30 squeezes into a crowded tram, taking us to the “Rhein-Energie” soccer stadium. We join about 30 000 other soccer fans and watch 1.FC Köln win the match against Osnabrück 2:0. It is cold, Gabi and I have a blanket wrapped around our legs. The kids have fun and join the fans in cheering, singing and waving the Cologne team’s red-white scarfs.
After the game, our students are in for a special treat : 30 000 people cramming into the trams, going back into town. The last square inch in our tram is being utilized. We can hardly breathe and don’t have to hold on to a handle, the people around us prevent us from falling or moving anyway.
Gabi and I have dinner at Maria’s house; Gabi’s special lentil soup, good home-cooking.
We survived another day with lots of walking and are getting in good shape!