Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom)

Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 to provide a suitably grand setting for the relics of the Three Kings, acquired by the Archbishop of Cologne in 1164 and housed in the elaborate gold Shrine of the Three Kings, completed around 1225 by goldsmith Nicholas of Verdun. Work stalled in the 16th century, leaving the building an unfinished torso with a crane atop the south tower for roughly 300 years, until a wave of German nationalism and Gothic Revival enthusiasm in the 19th century funded its completion in 1880 using the original medieval plans discovered in Paris and Darmstadt. The result is the largest Gothic cathedral facade in the world, with twin spires rising 157 metres, and it was briefly the tallest building on Earth. Inside, alongside the Shrine of the Three Kings, the cathedral holds the Gero Cross, carved around 970 AD and the oldest known large-scale sculpture of the crucified Christ north of the Alps, as well as medieval choir stalls, stained glass ranging from the 13th century to a contemporary window by Gerhard Richter installed in 2007. The cathedral withstood repeated Allied bombing raids in the Second World War that devastated the surrounding city, though it sustained serious damage and required extensive postwar restoration that continued for decades. Today an active parish church and UNESCO World Heritage Site, it draws roughly six million visitors a year, making it Germany's most visited landmark, with ongoing conservation work addressing pollution damage to the sandstone exterior visible in the scaffolding that rarely leaves the building entirely.