July 9 & 10 – The Cathedral & The Love Locks
Cologne (
Köln) is one of the largest cities in Germany with more than 10 million inhabitants. Cologne is located on both sides of the Rhine
River. The city's famous Cologne Cathedral and the University of Cologne, one of Europe's oldest and largest universities, are the icons most everyone is familiar with.
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Kölner Dom |
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Cologne after the devastation of WWII in 1945- the Cathedral still stands. |
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Cologne absorbed numerous
surrounding towns, and by World War I had already grown to 700,000
inhabitants. Industrialization changed the city and spurred its growth.
Vehicle and engine manufacturing were especially successful The cathedral,
started in 1248 but abandoned around 1560, was eventually finished in
1880 not just as a place of worship but also as a German national
monument celebrating the newly founded German empire
and the continuity of the German nation since the Middle Ages. Some of
this urban growth occurred at the expense of the city's historic
heritage with much being demolished (for example, the city walls or the
area around the cathedral) and sometimes replaced by present-day
buildings.
During the night of 31 May 1942, Cologne was the target of "
Operation Millennium", the first 1,000 bomber raid by the Royal Air force in World War II. This raid lasted about 75 minutes, destroyed 600 acres of
built-up area, killed 486 civilians and made 59,000 people homeless. By
the end of the war, the population of Cologne had been reduced by 95%. It's amazing that 70 years later, one can see very little remnants of this terrible time.
We start our day by going to the Old City of Cologne - nothing too exciting after everything else we've seen in other old cities in Europe. We have to remember, however, that most of it was lost due to the bombings of WWII.
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Very little left of the Altstadt |
We wandered into a church service of this old church. It was very nice with organ music and lovely singing of a small choir.
A tour through the inside of the church. It's always nice to know that some of the old historical buildings and churches weren't totally destroyed after WWII.
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Everyone comes to this church to see Christ's robe, which supposedly was in his tomb. |
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Pretty scary, isn't he? |
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A list of all the Bishops since the year ?? - Can you find it? Email me for a prize if you see the date. |
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Here is the pipe organs where we heard the beautiful music. |
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The usual market in the center of the square |
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Cologne is a major cultural center of the Rhineland; it is home to more than thirty museums and hundreds of galleries. We, however, did not explore any of them. Our time was short, and most of them cost money to go into. We chose to take our time in the Cathedral and wander around a bit to see what we could see.
We grabbed a bite to eat at a Turkish fast foods place. We had tasted them a coule of other times on our European trip - YUM!
Doner kebab döner or
döner kebap is a Turkish dish made of meat cooked on a vertical spit, normally veal or beef, but also a mixture of these with lamb or chicken.
The sliced meat of a Doner kebab may be served wrapped in a flatbread or it or as a sandwich
instead of being served on a plate. The modernized version of the Doner
kebab was first served in Berlin, Germany on March 2, 1971, by a Turkish
immigrant
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"Maybe someday I will meet a boy and we can have a lock to throw the key into the river." |
But for now, the wall of padlocks is enchanting -- though
not nearly as enchanting as the actual tradition of hanging one. A
happy couple, hopelessly enthralled by their affections, brings an
open padlock to the bridge, marks it with their names and
clasps it permanently into the collection, symbolizing the strength of
their attachment to one another.
And to symbolize the everlasting nature of their love, the key is
dropped over the edge, tumbling far below into the eternal waters of the
river Rhine.
We don't have a padlock or keys, but you can be assured that we have a love for each other - after all we've been on this European trip now for 4 months (24/7) and we still have 3 more months to go. WE CAN DO IT!
As impressive as the collection of padlocks is, perhaps
the more intriguing collection -- and almost certainly the
longer-lasting one -- are the tens of thousands of tiny keys that now
line the riverbed of the mighty Rhine.
After we walked across the bridge, we went up to a high look out area and saw a panorama scene of the city. The side toward the Cathedral was my favorite.
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I can't believe I'm here along the Rhine River |
Our hosts, Renke & Julian were referred to us by Renke's sister who we stayed with in Hamburg.
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What a nice young couple they were. |
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We had a lovely time in the park and they prepared a Vegan Picnic for us. |
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Some unusual dishes, but EVERYTHING was fantastic. |
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We slept on a mattress in the room of one of their flatmates who was gone for a couple of days. |
Nice stay in Cologne. Tomorrow is our 10th anniversary - we travel to another German city. Which one will it be?
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