Yep, but it still was a miracle that it was not directly hit by any bombardments.
The damages were pretty marginal, considering the devastation all around the area.
Not sure I would call it marginal
Considering what had happened all around it, the cathedral was really spared.
The restauration was also another great job.
If I remember right, the only thing which was not restored 100% like originally are the windows.
But I might be wrong here.
Considering what had happened all around it, the cathedral was really spared.
Was sort of my point. I guess I better dig out my pics today and try to show you guys what I'm talking about. I'll have to take pictures of pictures. It looks like restoration carried on and they redid the brick parts the the little figures of the saints that showed damage in 1980.
I had a 1 day stopover in Koln on the way back from the Golan Heights and took advantage of the opportunity to walk around the city. A friendly German citizen snapped this picture of me standing on the bank of the Rhine next to the Hozenhollern bridge with the cathedral in the background. Years later the local library is getting rid of books that aren't getting read so I picked up several, one of them being "Under the Bombs" by Earl Beck which chronicles the difficulty of life for the average German citizen during the war. Interestingly, there is a picture of the bridge after it was dropped into the river from the same viewpoint as my picture.
OK, pictures of pictures. There was no digital in 1980 so...here's the damage from gunfire and the old cathedral itself but no shot of the red brick wall. You can see the door arch and the little guys all shot to crap. A bullet went through that door and struck the base of the alter, was still a nice deep pock. That drew my attention, was on leave from UN duty in Nicosia. I'd seen lots of bullet marks. I guess after all the other, this was not much to worry about. Looks like it's all repaired now though.
The city started off as Colonia Agrippina, which was the provincial capital of Germania Inferior and a major Roman military base until the Franks move in after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. when I was stationed in Europe I made it a point to visit Roman points of interest as Roman military history is one of my hobbies.
Originally Posted by Mark in Rochester
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