The Cologne Cathedral Trivia Quiz

Answer: Notre Dame d'Amiens, France

The Amiens cathedral was the first significant Gothic church using the flying buttress architecture to facilitate the extremely high inner dimensions (over 40 meters). The reason for having this vast height was the ideal of a church evoking the image of heaven when inside.

When designing the Cologne cathedral, the already spectacular Amiens plans (with a height of 112 meters for the highest tower) were upgraded even further, aiming for a lofty height of almost 160 meters.

Answer: The walls would collapse outward

The high walls of the cathedral's choir (over 40 meters) are, by themselves, easily toppled in either direction. The inside is supported by the arch construction, so they cannot fall that way, but without the diagonal support of the buttresses, the weight of the arches and the roof would simply push the walls outward, taking down the building.

As a secondary function, the flying buttresses also absorb and distribute wind forces affecting the walls and roof to their support structures.

Answer: Nine - three each on the north, west and south sides

The three portals of a church facade remind of the Holy Trinity with one larger, central, portal and two smaller ones flanking it. The eastern side of the church (facing the sunrise, interpreted as the light of God) contains the choir and high altar and has no entrances, but the nave (facing west) and the aisle (facing north-south) each have a set of three portals. Like almost all arches used in Gothic buildings, these portals are ogives (pointed arches), culminating not in the continuous round segment used in earlier periods, but in a single point.

Answer: Intricate stonework that both supports and decorates the windows

Window tracery was the highest art form for a gothic-era stonemason. The very frame of the windows would be carved from stone blocks laid out on a tracing floor. Especially the top part of the window with its interlinked structures was extremely difficult to create, often being carved from a single block several square meters in area.

Answer: Lead

In the middle ages, the material of choice for large roof coverings was lead - a soft metal easy to hammer into the plates needed without the need to heat it to as high a temperature as iron or copper. In spite of its weight per volume, the fact that it could be made into quite thin sheets with medieval technology made it a relatively light and corrosion-resistant covering for roofs. Of course what the architects of the time didn't know was that lead is a slow-acting poison, further shortening the already short life expectancy of the construction workers.

Answer: There was nothing between the finished choir and the partially finished towers

By the year 1500, the church's interior was actually mostly complete and the church was in full daily use. The choir was fully built and roofed while the nave was only constructed to the height of the ceiling and had received a much lower provisional roof (not seen in the picture due to the plants in the foreground). Neither of the two towers had been completed - the southern tower, with a full set of bells, had a height of 59 meters and its northern counterpart had never progressed beyond a partial foundation.

The 14th century crane atop the half-complete tower was 25 meters high and rested atop the masonry on just four spots. It was lifted by workers, one corner at a time, whenever a new row of stones was to be placed. If funds had not run out, the technology of the age could easily have brought the tower to its full planned height - the wooden crane was sturdy enough to still be standing, and in mostly working order, as late as 1856!

Answer: The use of steel for the roof trusses

The original 14th century choir roof was supported by wooden trusses, the only material available to the architects of the time. When the builders resumed work in the 19th century, they stayed true to the plans for all visible work but possessed the wisdom to upgrade invisible components to state of the art materials. The old, partially decayed, roofing was removed and replaced with a steel-supported roof using the same construction techniques that would a few years later make the Eiffel tower possible. The nave also finally received a full-height roof, also using a steel support structure.

This decision saved the cathedral during World War II, as several incendiary bombs scored direct hits on the building and a wood-supported roof would most certainly have caught fire and collapsed.

Answer: It could have been completed with 14th century technology and materials

Incredibly enough, the plans, tools and workmanship of the 13th and 14th century master architects would have been absolutely sufficient to finish the cathedral looking almost exactly as it was ultimately completed in the late 19th century. While there would have been differences in materials (the wooden roof support instead of the steel one) and construction would have taken much longer, all the technology and craftsmanship needed was there by the time the plans were drawn up in the 13th century.

This feat of architecture becomes even grander when taking into account that, upon its completion, the cathedral actually was the highest building in the world (to be topped four years later by the Washington monument) - if everything had gone by the plans of the architects, it would have held that title for over 400 years!

Since then, however, work has never stopped - the sandstone used is prone to weathering and the building requires constant repairs and upgrades to remain stable.

Answer: None at all - they're just open

The massive spires were the crowning piece of a German Gothic church. Constructed almost entirely of intricate tracery work, they were left open to the elements. They serve no structural role or purpose except for decoration - the highest accessible level of the tower is at the mentioned 98 meters and there are also no bells or other active components in the spires.

While the spires are sturdy enough to last for many centuries given proper maintenance, they cannot support any significant weight beyond their own and any repair work on them needs to be conducted with great care.

Answer: A hasty, improvised repair of critical war damage

It speaks for the skill of the 13th century architects and the wisdom of the 19th century engineers who finalized their work that the building survived over 70 bomb hits in World War II with only minor structural damage. The only significant damage was the depicted location, where the loss of masonry endangered the stability of the north tower. The damage was hastily patched in 1944 with low quality materials, but after the war, the provisional repair remained in place as a memorial.

In 2005, it was finally decided to restore the original appearance of the area. Today, nothing reminds of the only hit that actually threatened this magnificent building.