Touring Cologne Cathedral

We will be touring the Cologne Cathedral today.  It took over 600 years to complete and during World War II, it was one of the few locations in Cologne not destroyed.  It did suffer bomb strikes but the belief is that the Cathedral was a landmark to pilots.  Since the Cathedral helped pilots know their location, they did not want to wipe it off the map.

Electronic Cigarette Machine

Taxis

The Cathedral

Köln Hauptbahnhof Train Station

After we purchased our tickets, we had a little time to pass before our tour began.  We went outside and walked around the Christmas Market in the square.  It wasn't open yet, so we went to the Cathedral gift store.  The gift store is quite good and has some beautiful souvenirs.

Shrine of The Three Kings

The Shrine of The Three Kings is said to contain the bones of The Three Kings/The Three Wise Men.

See the marks on the steps?  Those are remnants from World War II.

A closeup of The Shrine of The Three Kings

When the tour completed, we were brought to a building across the square to watch a video about the Cathedral.  I wasn't impressed with the video and would skip it if I had it to do over.

By the time our tour was over, the Christmas Market was open!

We then headed over to the train station for something to eat but didn't find anything we wanted.

 Hohenzollern Bridge over the Rhine River

The bridge is covered in love locks.  Couples buy a lock, place it on the bridge, and then throw the key away.  A lot of the locks are personalized.

Rhine River

Sadly, it is time to head to another country now.  I absolutely loved Cologne, Germany and would love to come back to explore more in the future.  Visiting Germany during Christmas Market season was incredible!