page_title: Cologne Cathedral
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Cologne Cathedral / History
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Vorstellung der Sonderbriefmarke „Weihnachten 2017“. Das Postwertzeichen zeigt einen Ausschnitt des von Stefan Lochner gestalteten Altars der Stadtpatrone in der Marienkapelle des Kölner Doms.
context_page_description: Cologne Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1996. It is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day. At 157 m, the cathedral is currently the tallest twin-spired church in the world, the second tallest church in Europe after Ulm Minster, and the third tallest church in the world.
  It is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe and has the second-tallest spires. The towers for its two huge spires give the cathedral the largest façade of any church in the world. The choir has the largest height to width ratio, 3.6:1, of any medieval church.
  Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 but was halted in the years around 1560, unfinished. Work did not restart until the 1840s, and the edifice was completed to its original Medieval plan in 1880.
caption: The Dombild Altarpiece of the Three Kings by Stefan Lochner.
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "Vorstellung der Sonderbriefmarke \u201eWeihnachten 2017\u201c", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 60D", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 6.13 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2017:11:29 19:42:05", "Image Artist": "Raimond Spekking", "Image ExifOffset": "318", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[50, 112941/2000, 0]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "E", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[6, 575127/10000, 0]", "GPS GPSAltitude": "550009/10000", "Image GPSInfo": "920", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1148", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "17261", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/40", "EXIF FNumber": "14/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Shutter Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF RecommendedExposureIndex": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2017:11:29 11:42:55", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2017:11:29 11:42:55", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "665241/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "1485427/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "1/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "43", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "00", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "00", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "890", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "1036800/181", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "691200/119", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "1280631839", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[17, 55, 0/0, 0/0]", "EXIF LensModel": "EF-S17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM", "EXIF LensSerialNumber": "0000044e95"}