Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-11-07

lapse of 63l years, present magniiiceI
triumph over obstacles which seemed a
one time insurmountable.
t The event will be II most notable on
/ i'll the history of nrt That might
y building links this age of materialisl
with the age when ''art was stillreligion,
l. and when devotional architecture marke,
d the intensity of the faith of the people.
o.: 1t was on August II, l24S, shortly afte
Il the destruction by fire Of the cathedra
/ founded by Hildebold of Cologne in tn
Y year 74S, that Archbishop Conrad laid tn
Q first stone of the present Cologne cathe
i dral, A feet beneath the surface of tb'
/ ground. The author of the design of tn,
e cathedral is not known. Archbishop
4 Engelberg, count of Altoona and Berg, i
b credited with the conception, but there il
/ no proof of it, The architect who con
5 ceived this stoney blossoming of devo
t tion is unknown. His name is graveI
e nowhere, but his spirit pcrvades Tho
G whole building, and Overback has ap.
D propriately represented in one Of his
: great pictures this unknown man as the
: genius of architecture. When Conrad laid
the corner stone there were present many
distinguished men of that day. 1t is q
long way to look back to that gala day il
I archbishop of a letter from the pope
/ granting indulgence of year and 40 davs.
n host of penitents went praycrfully to
work laying the mighty foundations
which were to support the marvellous
, structure. Somewhere beneath the
, ground under the stones the name of Co
logne's great architect may possibly be
, found. The pile began to rise. Eng
/ tpi1, 70
on the building. In 1922 the choir of
the church was consecrated with great
pomp and ceremony, its exuberance of ex-
quisite ornament giving promise Of the
transcendent beauty of the completed
pile. Service began to he held in the
choir, and contributions continued to
pour i'll. Edward Ill Of England, in
1897, left rich offerings for the cathedral
Charles ~ of France also left his trib-
ute. The work, however. through the
difference of successive archbishops, drag
ged. In 1897, about 200 years after the
foundations were laid, the south tower
was completed TO the height visible ut
the revival of the work in 1896. The six
teenth century and the reformation, inmi-
ical to cathedral-building came upon
the Cologne marvel with bcnumbing
effect The work was suspended; rub
bish accumulated; other buildings en-
croached on the cathedral space: men
talked of pulling the building down. At
this stage of the proceedings the choir
was finished, as We're portion of the
east walls of each transcpt, the north
aisles, four great windows with colored
glass and seven compartments of the
groined roof The south aislcs had reach
ed n height Of Al feet; the south tower
had reached height Of 10 feet; the
north tower was Just begun. Portions of
the facade were built, and yawning chasms
were visible everywhere. 1t stood like Il
beautiful thought arrested enough to
show what Il marvel of inspiring beauty
the whole would he.
I The cathedral was plunderedand multi
lated shockingly. The exquisite orna-
ments Ill the choir were destroyed.
Brazcn angels were melted down. A
beautiful stone screen was demolished;
the rich, stained glass was taken from the
windows. When the French soldiers oc-
cupied Cologne III 1.9i they camped i'll
the old cathedral ami desecratei it i'll
every way. The archives were carted
away, and with them one of the original
| plans of the building. Cologne cathe-
dral was looked upon as II Gothic ruin.
No one at the beginning of this country
seemed to believe that it would ever be
built. The poet Wordsworth after visit
ing it wrote:
''Oh, for the help OF angels To complete
This temple-angcls governed 10y plan
Thus far pursued ,how gloriOuslyl by man:
StudiOus that He might not diS,lain the seat
Who dwellS in heaven
About the year 1910 Sulpice Boiseres,
-ttct ,.t i 81
about the cathedral, directed the attention
OF Europe TO the unfinished thought, by
means of pictures of the building. He
was fortunate enough to discover the
original design on parchment, which had
been carted off in the troublous times in
1874 This valuable parchment was
found in an obscure locality, used by an
old lady as a stretcher upon which to
dry her beams In 1924 the Prussan
government began to make repairs, but,
after spending fortune on the structure,
the work ceased, and cathedral tax was
then levied to continue it. Great pro-
gress was made Many plans to raise
money to complete the whole edifice were
proposed. In 1910 the King of Prussia
signified his intention to aid the work
The Cologne people organized societies
for the same purpose. Concerts were
given and plays were acted in the same
cause. In 1871 burgher of Stuttgard
sent a boat-load of hewn stone for the
cathedral
At length 1t was agreed that the second
foundation-laying of the cathedral should
take place September /, 1872 On that
day most brilliant pageant appeared.
The King and Prince of PRUSSIA were
there. with scores of dignitaries and
princes, and in Il glittcrinG procession
they proceeded 10 the center portal of the
southern tranccpt where the ceremony
took place. Swirner, the new architect,
secured the consent of all parties that the
original design. III all lis grandeur.
should be carried out. Since that time
the work has slowly proceeded. great
difficulty being encountered laying pro-
per foundations. During the repairs to
the Interior exquisite angle-figures Were
found beneath the whitewash above the
arches of the inner choir. In 1915 Swir-
ner had completed the south aislcs. In |
1913 the body Of the hniliing was com
pleted, together with aislcs and transepts,
and temporary roof was put over the
nave. Next August the last final and
tower-stone will be placed in position,
and the conception of the unknown archi- /
tect will he complete.
There is something exceedingly won /
derful and interesting III this history, and /
the most wonderful incident to us was the .
success of the architect Swirncr i'll secur- |
ing the exact naturalization of the orig /
lnal plans. 1t WAS well that the ReHdis-
SdRcc period did not witness resumption .
of work on the Cologne cathedral. Its .
grand, pure Gothic symmetry would have .
been destroyed. Modern ecclesiastical .
architecture is more dcferential to the /
ancient and medieval style, which can
never be improved upon. When Co
lognc cathedral is finished To the top of .
its tower, 236 feet high, the faith of the
Thirteenth century, which laid the foum-
dations deep and strong, Will be linked
to the faith of the Nineteenth century,
which had tine courage 10 complct, the
great work begun by the penitents G3O
years ago Such building has its noble
uses besides that of Il temple of the Al
mighty. 1t imprcsscs MS with the fact
that We eau not helittlc the people of
those dim ages who wrought ont such
glorious and mighty conceptions Theirs
was not faithdecrying age like ourown.
Rich and poor deemed it II privilege 10
labor ON these mighty cathcdruls. for
such WAS their highest conception Of duty
and service to God
Ours is not thcdr,l-building age,
nor are our chrchcs often built in the
spirit of self-sacriiicr. which cnohlcs and
hr.,utliies the work. That was Tia" spirit
of the middIe-agc builders. 1t is true, a,
Ruskin says: "All old work. nearly. has
been hard work. Ii mny Ice the hard
work of children, of barbarins, of rus
ties, but IT ls always their "to,oxi. Ours
has as constantly the look Of moneys
worth, of "A stopping short wherever and
whenever we can, ~ " tr-y conipiidncc
"tth 10" coHiitioHy. Hero' If II mir
putting forM Df o,'r Sfr'HgH
Cologne cathedral Is built IN the form
"f II cross IL 81 feet long, 2Jl feet wide,
and the roof is supported on 100 columns,