Here‘s what you need to know about the history of the Cologne Cathedral: The foundation stone for the tallest building in the world was laid on August 15th, 1248. The builders in Cologne knew that they would never get to see the finished cathedral. Construction lasted for 632 years — and work on the Cologne Cathedral never really ends. The local saying is, “When the cathedral is finished, the world will end.” The cathedral is a long-term project to create an appropriate home for the precious relics of the Three Wise Men, that can also accommodate the large streams of pilgrims. Today, the cathedral is Germany's most-visited landmark.

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00:00 Intro
03:00 How the huge cathedral is maintained and preserved
08:25 The hidden side of the cathedral
10:35 The history behind the cathedral
19:00 Skaters and railroads - is the cathedral disrupted by modern times?
21:00 The cathedral's historic-political meaning - a platform for identity and protests
27:59 Gerhard Richter's famous windows
28:46 A Cologne crime story - How the cathedral got robbed
32:17 Safety Issues of the cathedral
33:32 Destruction and preservation
38:10 The cathedrals symbolism in modern times