The Cologne Cathedral quarter () is the area immediately surrounding Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. When the Gothic cathedral was built, it was closely surrounded by houses and smaller churches. When the cathedral was completed in 1880 as a national symbol, it was freed from adjacent structures and stood isolated, unhampered by traffic. After the inner city was destroyed in World War II, it was rebuilt, with a pedestrian area connecting to the cathedral. In 1970, the was constructed as a large concrete surface without steps around the cathedral, which became the location of major open-air events such as Carnival and pop concerts. The design of the cathedral surroundings has remained a challenge for urban planning.Das Wunder von Köln, Allmann Sattler Wappner und die runderneuerte Domplatte, in Bauwelt 15.2017,
Building history of the cathedral surroundings Cathedral construction in the Middle Ages
In medieval Cologne, buildings stood in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral. Contemporary illustrations show that the cathedral was surrounded by the houses of the bishop and the cathedral chapters. Secular buildings included the archbishop's prison "Hacht" from 1165, and the cathedral provostry built in 1363. Later buildings included the Binger houses built in 1596 for the publisher Arnold Kirchhoff by Johann von Winter in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral, attested as early as 1382 as an archbishop's fief of the .Hans Vogts, Die profanen Denkmäler der Stadt Köln, 1930, The by Arnold Mercator shows that buildings immediately surrounding the cathedral in all directions.
The cathedral still appeared enclosed by other buildings around 1800.Hugo Borger: Der Kölner Dom im Jahrhundert seiner Vollendung. 1980, . The Cathedral Deanery on its north side was built completed in 1658 for the Franz Egon von Fürstenberg-Heiligenberg, and was demolished in 1892. The open spaces in its immediate vicinity were Frankenplatz, the market place Domhof, and Domkloster. To its west, several large medieval buildings included the Kamp(f)hof (later: Kamperhof), first mentioned in the in 1356, and zum Palast, owned by the book printer family since 4 November 1500.Johann Jakob Merlo: Das Haus zum Palast auf dem Domhof zu Köln. In 42 (1884), , here .
The French administration installed a guillotine in the cathedral courtyard, which they called Place Metropole, on 16 October 1798, where more than 30 people were executed.Udo Bürger: Die Guillotine im Schatten des Domes. 2001, . The secularisation of 1802 led to the expropriation and demolition of the existing sacred buildings.Jürgen Wilhelm: Das große Köln-Lexikon. 2008, .
The cathedral as a national monument
Schinkel The first plans to change the surroundings of a cathedral to free space were sketched by Karl Friedrich Schinkel in 1816. He proposed to demolish the old houses around the cathedral and create a ring of green space with terraces down to the Rhine. The difference in height between the cathedral choir and the Frankenplatz, which was lower at the time, was to be compensated by a two-winged staircase, part of an overall garden design which included a fountain, the later Petrusbrunnen.Mario Zadow: Schinkel. Leben und Werk. 2003, .
To follow the plan, the dilapidated provostry was demolished in June 1830, and the Cologne prison Hacht in August 1893, for an unobstructed view of the cathedral.Carl Dietmar, Gérald Chaix: Chronik Köln. 1997, . In November 1857, two houses at Domhof were demolished. The Köln-Mindener Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (Trankgasse No. 8) and the Colonia insurance company (Trankgasse No. 6) donated their buildings to the city in 1863.Hasso von Wedel: Heinrich von Wittgenstein 1797 bis 1869. Unternehmer und Politiker in Köln. 1981, . The desired free exposure of the cathedral was thus achieved in the east, but plans to clear a Kaiserstraße in the west, running axially towards the west facade of the cathedral, could only be realised in a small section..Judith Breuer: Die Kölner Domumgebung als Spiegel der Domrezeption im 19. Jahrhundert. 1981, .
Another plan for the redesign of the cathedral surroundings from 1 October 1866 was not realised.
Stübben In October 1885, city architect Josef Stübben submitted a plan for the free exposure of the cathedral which he presented in the Deutsche Bauzeitung.Joseph Stübben: Die Freilegung des Domes zu Köln. In Deutsche Bauzeitung, XIX (1885), . The collapse of the first Dom-Hotel on 31 December 1885 encouraged a new design of the cathedral surroundings, especially in the west in front of the portals and in the south in front of the south transept. A decisive idea was that the complete cathedral should be visible. The Dom-Hotel was rebuilt at a distance according to the requirements of the Dombauverein (Cathedral building association), and reopened 15 April 1893. Between 1826 and 1893, two churches and 69 houses had to make way for the plans. This marked the end of the extensive demolition work to expose the densely enclosed cathedral. Stübben noted in 1903 that "the exposure of a building ... can arise from the need for traffic or from aesthetic intent".Eduard Hegel, Wilhelm Neuss: Das Erzbistum Köln zwischen der Restauration des 19. Jahrhunderts und der Restauration des 20. Jahrhunderts, 1815–1962. 1987, .
As early as the Gründerzeit, building near the cathedral was to be avoided, to present the cathedral as a monument enthroned majestically on the Domhügel (cathedral hill). All secular buildings had to keep a respectful distance from Cologne's most important sacred building.
Transformation in the 20th century
Construction of the Domplatte The results of an international competition launched in February 1956 to redesign the area around the cathedral were not realised. In May 1964, construction work began on the underground Cologne Stadtbahn, which initiated new concepts of the cathedral surroundings, especially since the tram running close to it would be no longer needed. In order to integrate the cathedral into the urban fabric, built the from 1968 to 1970, as an elevation of the pedestrian terrain to the level of the cathedral portals, which had been accessible only by stairs. Giving up the idea of a cathedral mound, a concrete platform was built surrounding the entire cathedral, covered with multi-coloured granite paving, with stairs leading to the elevation at a greater distance from the cathedral, both to the traffic office in the west and to the main station in the north.Peter Fuchs (ed.), Chronik zur Geschichte der Stadt Köln, vol. 2, 1991,
Below the Domplatte, a two-storey underground car park for 613 cars was built from 1969 to 1971. A new building next to the Domplatte was the Roman-Germanic Museum, which opened on 4 March 1974. In 1980, construction began on the Museum Ludwig, which was opened on 6 September 1986.Judith Breuer: Die Kölner Domumgebung als Spiegel der Domrezeption im 19. Jahrhundert. 1981, .
Urban upgrading and improvement of the quality of stay Competitions brought about a partial renewal of the Domplatte in 1988. In April 2003, the city commissioned Christian Schaller with the redesign of the stairs to the main station, which he designed as a 70 m wide flight of steps, opened on 10 August 2005. In September 2009, the decided to develop an overall urban development concept for the area around the cathedral, with the aim. to turn the Domplatte into the city's central focal point. The concept was to be realised in four construction phases. In August 2013, the redesign began in the east between the cathedral, the museums and the station. The entire upper level around the Domherrenfriedhof (cathedral cemetery) as well as the street level below between Trankgasse and Kurt-Hackenberg-Platz was redesigned with wide pedestrian ways, an improved lighting concept and spacious straight stair areas and the demolition of part of the Trankgasse tunnel. In November 2019, the second phase began for the north. Here, too, the cathedral base is to be made visible again through uniform cladding with natural stone and pedestrian friendliness is to be increased.
Squares around the cathedral Four large squares surround the cathedral: in the south the Roncalliplatz with the Papstterrasse, in the west the Domvorplatz with the Kardinal-Höffner-Platz, in the east the Domherrenfriedhof and the Heinrich-Böll-Platz, and in the north the Bahnhofsvorplatz.
Roncalliplatz
The Roncalliplatz connects the Domkloster with the street Am Hof. It was named after Pope John XXIII - in 1971 after the construction of the Domplatte. It was called Place Charlemagne; in 1813 during the French period, then Kaiser-Karls-Platz in 1815, then Domhof. In 1972, the house of the was completed at Roncalliplatz 2, which also houses the Dombauhütte. In 1974, the Romano-Germanic Museum was opened at Roncalliplatz 4. In 1984, a sculpture Columne pro Caelo (Column for Heaven) by Heinz Mack was erected, a 68-ton monolith of Portuguese granite.
Kardinal-Höffner-Platz Domvorplatz is the name given to the western part of the Domplatte in front of the towers and the main entrance to the cathedral. It features an arch of the Roman North Gate. Since 2008, the area between Domplatte and Trankgasse has been called Kardinal-Höffner-Platz, after Cardinal Joseph Höffner. A full-size replica of the finials of Cologne Cathedral is set up on the square and is a popular meeting place for tourists. However, its location is controversial because it obscures the view of the façade. Therefore, a new place will have to be found for it. Next to it is the Taubenbrunnen, created in 1953 by Ewald Mataré.
Heinrich-Böll-Platz To the east of the cathedral choir is the Domherrenfriedhof (canons' cemetery). The members of the Cathedral chapter are buried here in a crypt laid out in 1925. The gravestones are based on a design by the cathedral master builder Arnold Wolff.Arnold Wolff: Der Dom zu Köln, edited and completed by Barbara Schock-Werner, Cologne 2015, Below it is the baptistery, an early Christian baptismal font from the 6th century, which had been built on an even older Roman basin. The small, octagonal structure testifies to the transition from pre-Christian antiquity to late antique Christianity. In the most recent rearrangement of the eastern cathedral surroundings in 2017, the baptistery has been joined by the Fountain of Dionysus. The sculpture, created in 1973 by Hans Karl Burgeff, shows a twisted Dionysus, the god of wine.
Dani Karavan designed the Heinrich-Böll-Platz, named after the writer Heinrich Böll from Cologne, between 1982 and 1986. He used the brick of the adjacent museum, granite as on the Domplatte, cast iron as in the main station, and greenery as in the Rheingarten. The Museum Ludwig is on the square.
Bahnhofsvorplatz
The Bahnhofsvorplatz (station square) connects the hall of the main station and the elevated Domplatte. The open staircase is made of Polish granite and widens to 73 m at the top.
Buildings and streets in the cathedral surroundings Former buildings As usual in the Middle Ages, the area around the cathedral was densely built, with churches, the archbishop's palace and other culturally significant buildings. Buildings included, with their street address in brackets:
(Unter Fettenhennen/Burgmauer): A former Roman city gate from 90 AD with a central arch 15 m wide and 9 m high. It became the entrance to the cathedral district in the Middle Ages, and then got its names from (pastor), also Porta clericorum, or Porta paphia. The gate was depicted in Mercator's maps as "Paffen pfortz" and "paffinporze". The gate was renovated in 1606, 1616 and 1621, but demolished in 1826. Reinaldscher Palast (Domhof): a three-storey Romanesque palace, dating from 1164, can be traced back to Archbishop Rainald of Dassel and served as the archbishops' residence. It was demolished in 1674.