It’s a full day on a couple of trains to get from Copenhagen to Cologne (Koln). Again we are staying somewhere pretty central to the station, another great hotel Classik Hotel Antonious This is a quick visit, we are here for just over 24 hours.

We are here specifically to see the magnificent cathedral here. It does seem to dominate the skyline, you can see the steeples from almost anywhere in this gritty city.

Cologne Cathedral is famous for its impressive size, intricate Gothic architecture and historical significance. Its construction began in 1248 and spanned centuries, finally being completed in 1880, yes six centuries.

It was once the tallest building in the world and remains the tallest twin-spired church globally. Yes it’s all about the stats.

For me one of the most interesting things about this cathedral was why it was constructed. It was built to house the Shrine of the Three Kings, a relic believed to contain the remains of the Three Wise Men. Yes, those wise men. In 1164 Archbishop Rainald von Dassel brought them back as “war booty” (not my term) from Milan.

In 1942 the British made the decision to bomb Cologne. Cologne was an important military target, it was a heavily industrialised city with many factories producing war supplies. Cologne also had a large railway network that was used for the transportation of troops and weapons. Using the Cathedral as a pseudo target was ideal as it was obviously easy to spot from the sky given how tall it was and so the instruction for the pilots was bomb near the Cathedral but not on the Cathedral. This was because without google maps or navigation systems a ground target was required and if the first bomb was dropped on the cathedral those following behind would be flying blind. There were 14 direct bomb hits to the Cathedral, and while the city of Cologne was reduced to rubble the twin spires remained visible and the Cathedral continued to stand tall. After the end of the Second World War the repairs were completed by 1956.

From the cathedral to a 90 minute canal tour down the Rhine River. If you are coming to Cologne I would really recommend doing one of these, I love me a river cruise.💗 There is nothing quite like having a glass of something yummy, while you cruise along a new and fabulous city. How I wished I could have had a Rhine Riesling, which would have taken me back to my parents dinner parties in the 1970’s 😁.

Tonight we enjoyed a Dark side of Cologne tour. Our tour guide Michele was very keen to ensure that we had a suitably scary time this evening. I must say I was pleased that it is summer time here in Europe so we weren’t wandering around the cobbled streets in the dark, hearing these gruesome stories, it was still light and bright when we finished at 9.00pm.

Michele has a multitude of stories to tell us. I must say like every city there have been some terrifyingly awful people who have lived in and around Cologne, and I suspect just as many excellent story tellers.

We covered witches (100 women were burned at the stake here in Cologne), vampires (there was a man who tortured his victims time by making two incisions on someone’s neck – much like a puncture wound and let people bleed out) , werewolves (the story of Peter Stumpp who confessed under torture to having a magical belt that allowed him to transform into a wolf before he ate his victims), ghosts, zombies (people who were pronounced dead during the black plague when in fact they were simply have a rest) and deals with the devil himself.

Yes the material was at times horrific, but Michele was very entertaining weaving in humour and just the right amount of scepticism.

I thought I’d finish the post with a photo of the ruins of St. Alban’s Church. This Church was built in 1172 but was destroyed during the bombing I mentioned earlier in 1942. A decision was made not to rebuild the Church but intentionally leave it as a ruin as a reminder of the devastation of War. A sculpture called Mourning Parents by Kathe Kollwitz was placed in the ruins. It is very moving.

So much of Cologne was destroyed in the Second World War with 262 seperate air raids and so it is a real blend of historic sights and modern buildings. As a result it doesn’t have the fairy tale qualities of other German cities we have visited, but that’s okay it was wonderfully different, with lovely people and lots to do.