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Having visited Cologne for the first time about 35 years ago while inter-railing I was completely in awe of the building - I am a atheist but my impression was

Having visited Cologne for the first time about 35 years ago while inter-railing I was completely in awe of the building - I am a atheist but my impression was very much "The people who built this really believed". I was so impressed that I purchased a number of architectural drawings that I still have on the walls of our house!

pjmlp 2y ago
It was more like not believing wasn't an option to express publicly in a feudal society partially managed from Rome, in the country that became the extension of the Roman empire after the fall.
LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago
Funny. Growing up near there, and often passing by I just thought 'what a mess'. Because it's made out of soft stones which erode easily, and thus large parts of it are always encrusted in scaffolding for repairs. And when they are ready with that part, they can move the scaffolding to the next part, and start all over again. Without pause. They still believe. I believed in taking it as a shortcut from main station to shopping street during rain :) It also gave my hometown 'interesting' acoustics, because of this: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennert#/media/Datei:Bad_Godesberg_Godesburg_Kuckstein_Rabenlay_(2).jpg https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennert#/media/Datei:Bad_Godesb... & https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabenlay https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabenlay which reflected the sounds of ships on the Rhine, trains on both sides of it, right to where this picture was taken, and a little bit behind. All the times. Why? Because they took the stones from there. And from all around it. But the Romans did it first. Ejal. Kölle Alaaf! Schweinheim Wutz, Wutz! (Carnival thing, doesn't really matter)
- shiroiushi 2y ago
  I'm sure they used the soft stones because they were easier to carve. But I'm surprised someone in the modern age hasn't come up with a way to treat porous stone like this to make it more weather-resistant, so they don't have to do so much maintenance and repair on these old stone structures. It would be similar to how we use treatments in dentistry to fill the pores in teeth and make them less sensitive and wear longer.
  - LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago
    I think that's because of "Denkmalschutz", which means not changing the 'character' of the building, down to not really changing the building materials, even if they wouldn't look different from the outside.
shiroiushi 2y ago
>I am a atheist but my impression was very much "The people who built this really believed". Did they really believe that strongly? Or were they the best master craftsmen in the whole region, who were getting paid handsomely to work on a project that was pretty close to no-expense-spared?
- arethuza 2y ago
  Note that was my reaction 35 years ago - not necessarily what my old cynical self would necessarily think today...

pjmlp 2y ago

It was more like not believing wasn't an option to express publicly in a feudal society partially managed from Rome, in the country that became the extension of the Roman empire after the fall.

LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago

Funny. Growing up near there, and often passing by I just thought 'what a mess'. Because it's made out of soft stones which erode easily, and thus large parts of it are always encrusted in scaffolding for repairs. And when they are ready with that part, they can move the scaffolding to the next part, and start all over again. Without pause. They still believe. I believed in taking it as a shortcut from main station to shopping street during rain :) It also gave my hometown 'interesting' acoustics, because of this: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennert#/media/Datei:Bad_Godesberg_Godesburg_Kuckstein_Rabenlay_(2).jpg https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ennert#/media/Datei:Bad_Godesb... & https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabenlay https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabenlay which reflected the sounds of ships on the Rhine, trains on both sides of it, right to where this picture was taken, and a little bit behind. All the times. Why? Because they took the stones from there. And from all around it. But the Romans did it first. Ejal. Kölle Alaaf! Schweinheim Wutz, Wutz! (Carnival thing, doesn't really matter)

shiroiushi 2y ago
I'm sure they used the soft stones because they were easier to carve. But I'm surprised someone in the modern age hasn't come up with a way to treat porous stone like this to make it more weather-resistant, so they don't have to do so much maintenance and repair on these old stone structures. It would be similar to how we use treatments in dentistry to fill the pores in teeth and make them less sensitive and wear longer.
- LargoLasskhyfv 2y ago
  I think that's because of "Denkmalschutz", which means not changing the 'character' of the building, down to not really changing the building materials, even if they wouldn't look different from the outside.

shiroiushi 2y ago

>I am a atheist but my impression was very much "The people who built this really believed". Did they really believe that strongly? Or were they the best master craftsmen in the whole region, who were getting paid handsomely to work on a project that was pretty close to no-expense-spared?

arethuza 2y ago
Note that was my reaction 35 years ago - not necessarily what my old cynical self would necessarily think today...