Nat Geo_Cologne Cathedral
Transcript
00:00Built in six centuries, but never completed, the world's third tallest church, and the
00:11most beautiful one for many, its magic is almost irresistible.
00:31The Cologne Cathedral, a mountain made of stone, constructed by humans, it towers into
00:38the sky, Germany's most magnificent monument.
00:44More than 500 years elapsed between the laying of the foundation stone and its completion.
00:55Millions of people gave everything for their cathedral, their strength, their knowledge,
01:02and sometimes, even their lives.
01:14Whoever enters the cathedral begins a journey into another dimension, 14 million cubic feet
01:22of enclosed space, its central nave as high as a 15-story building, 100,000 square feet
01:30of window surface.
01:33Is this what moves people and makes them tremble?
01:37Is its magnitude so easy to grasp, or is there something else, a secret, some kind of magic?
01:48Millions of people visit the cathedral each year, some 20,000 every day.
02:07Of all the German monuments, it's one of the most frequented, and not just by the devout.
02:25Whether on tour or in need of prayer, there's rarely an occasion where so many people stand
02:32in silent awe, collective bewilderment.
02:41Is it the powerful dimension, the light?
02:45Is it the colors and shapes?
02:48It's more than the grandeur of architecture that captures its visitors.
03:03The medieval master builders wanted to create a piece of heaven, a heavenly Jerusalem, or
03:11heaven on earth.
03:17It took more than six centuries to make their vision come true.
03:28I admire the architects of the early Gothic period for their ability to quickly create
03:33a style with very few graphic and arithmetical means, a style so convincing that it is still
03:44admired today.
03:50What intrigues me about Gothic architecture is its mathematical, calculating nature.
04:03It has a highly emotional effect.
04:05This combination is very admirable.
04:10Each January, over 1,000 carolers gather in the cathedral.
04:16It's a cheerful and lively celebration of three men, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar,
04:23the three wise men, maybe even kings.
04:28For believers around the world, they are part of the best-known biblical story, the Christmas
04:36story.
04:40Without the three magi, the cathedral would not exist.
04:45The idea for this Gothic masterpiece may never have been conceived.
04:55When the service is over, the carolers visit the shrine of the magi, so close to the famous
05:03saints.
05:13Guided by star, as the story tells, the three magi found the newborn child.
05:20As witnesses to Jesus' birth, they've been worshipped ever since.
05:26This shrine contains their bones.
05:31But how did these relics come to Cologne?
05:41More warrior than clergyman, Cologne's archbishop, Reinald van Dassel.
05:47In early summer 1164, he returned to his diocese after contributing to the conquest of Milan.
05:55The bones of the three magi he brought back as spoil, given to him by Emperor Barbarossa
06:01as reward for his loyal following.
06:04In the following centuries, these relics draw millions of pilgrims to Cologne, the start
06:11of a movement that ends with the construction of the Cologne Cathedral.
06:21After a 500-mile journey, Cologne is the resting place for the three magi.
06:28Their shrine is decadently ornamented with 300 precious gems and an array of selected
06:35jewels and pearls, a miniature basilica that took more than 40 years to construct.
06:53The cathedral is a storehouse of treasures.
06:57The chain links rumored to have bound Peter to the wall of his Roman dungeon.
07:12The treasury.
07:14It contains the cathedral's riches, jewels and gold, only the best for the saints.
07:22In medieval times, relics are the most precious goods.
07:27For these people wage wars, steal and kill, since being close to these treasures means
07:34being close to God.
07:39The head reliquary of a martyr, the life-sized bust contains a handful of the saints' bones.
07:51Epiphany.
07:56Cologne's alleys are crowded with pilgrims.
07:59Many of them have been walking for months.
08:02Although there's time for trade and merriment, it's not the reason why they took this risky
08:08journey.
08:10The march reduces the punishment for their sins.
08:13They all hope for the intercession of the saints.
08:20Apart from Jerusalem and Rome, Cologne is the only city that may be called holy, thanks
08:27to the three Magi.
08:38Their house for eternity is the cathedral.
08:42Powerful and enormous, but in need of help just the same.
08:49The stonemasons' workshop of Cologne, adjacent to the cathedral.
08:56Some 70 stone professionals work here, artisans, engineers, architects and creative minds.
09:06They preserve the cathedral for future generations, under the supervision of cathedral master
09:13builder Professor Schock Werner.
09:16Today, almost 150 years after Cologne Cathedral's completion, this team works to preserve what
09:24previous generations created.
09:28They also build up.
09:30Construction and the skilled work of the stonemasons' workshop largely resembles the methods used
09:36in medieval times.
09:46Unlike their medieval colleagues, today's members of the stonemasons' workshop face
09:52typical modern challenges.
09:56It's the acidic air of progress that threatens the cathedral.
10:00It devours the cathedral, imperceptibly, but inexorably.
10:06Piece by piece, the cathedral's facade is renewed, tracery, buttress, stone ornaments,
10:14an endless battle.
10:18The stonemasons' workshop continues a project that began in the 13th century, a crazy time.
10:25Within a few generations, gigantic churches seem to appear from nowhere, built in a completely
10:32new style, the Gothic style.
10:36Stonemasons with only a few thousand inhabitants build huge monuments.
10:49A world in motion, financed by church communities, the cathedral chapters, as well as by wealthy
10:56noblemen and townspeople, a building boom almost unique in European history is spurred.
11:05Each stonemasons' workshop employs more than 150 craftsmen, plus hundreds of apprentices.
11:15Within only three generations, more than 20 cathedrals rise.
11:19France has about 15 million inhabitants, tens of thousands of them work on the Gothic miracle.
11:26Cohorts of craftsmen pass on the know-how of this building style from the north of France
11:32to the south, to neighboring countries.
11:36A technique that was once developed in the heart of France was heard of only a few years
11:45later, even in the eastern region of the German Empire.
11:50So information was not held back.
11:53Especially the stonemasons were moving freely across Europe, due to the structure of the
11:58workshops.
12:00And among the stonemasons, knowledge was passed on very quickly.
12:11The success story of an idea that eventually reaches Cologne.
12:23Gerhard von Reila is a talented young stonemason from the Rhineland.
12:30His tour de France takes him to the continent's largest cathedral building sites.
12:35He studies the new Gothic style from the bottom up.
12:43Magister Gerhard's La Piscita Recta Fabricae will one day be associated with the construction
12:49of one of the largest churches.
12:53But not yet.
12:57The Amiens Cathedral, the largest French church of the Middle Ages, and a likely source of
13:03inspiration for Gerhard's future projects.
13:10From bottom to top, the church is more than 140 feet high.
13:16To capture this wall with one look is impossible.
13:22When built, it became the world's tallest church, a building that inspired young Gerhard.
13:38In 1225, a plan to build the cathedral in Cologne already exists.
13:44But it takes 20 years for Gerhard to get the assignment of his life.
13:50In these two decades, his skills in all crafts improve.
13:54He becomes craftsman, planner, organizer, accomplishments that pave his way to master
14:01builder.
14:03Gerhard is middle-aged when Archbishop Conrad van Hoekstaden and the cathedral chapter appoint
14:09him master builder of the Cologne Cathedral.
14:13The Cologne ministry likes the Amiens Cathedral, but it wants more.
14:19Cologne's cathedral must be bigger, a great challenge for Gerhard.
14:23All he has is parchment, charcoal, and the experience of 20 years.
14:33For one year, he broods over plans and calculations.
14:37He plays the role of mathematician, structural engineer, and architect.
14:45Finally, his vision is complete, a building of literally biblical dimensions with an interior
14:58even bigger than that of Amiens, with five instead of three aisles, and spires 500 feet
15:05high that rise up to the sky.
15:09The vision developing in Gerhard von Rila's mind is nothing less than the world's biggest
15:16church, a house appropriate for the three magi, space for thousands of pilgrims, the
15:26greatest building project ever started on German soil.
15:33Generations living in the Eifel made a living from quarrying stones in the Eifel in order
15:38to bring them to Cologne.
15:41One should not only focus on the exploitation mentioned so often.
15:47The construction site of the medieval cathedral was as significant for the city's inhabitants
15:52as Ford is today.
15:58This medieval construction may have employed more people than any previous Gothic endeavor.
16:05Instructed by Gerhard, more than 250 men and women work in the quarry alone, most of
16:11them day laborers, unskilled workers, the poor.
16:16Every stone is checked, approved, labeled for its use in the building.
16:2350 highly paid masons work on the building block's quarry daily.
16:29They aren't paid per working hour, but by peace.
16:38Whoever wants to build a cathedral must move mountains, an organizational masterpiece for
16:45the master builder.
16:52Rising up to the sky, built for eternity, yet the cathedral is vulnerable.
17:00The delicate stone constructions, pinnacles and buttresses typical for the Gothic style,
17:08they don't serve as decoration.
17:10They support the enormous loads weighing on the building, bizarre stone canyons like a
17:17forest of spires and turrets.
17:23The sandstone facades are the Achilles' heel for the stonemasons' workshop.
17:28They get the lion's share of attention from the cathedral master builder.
17:33A soft tuff was used on completion of the cathedral, especially sensitive to the exposure
17:40to sulfuric acid, which exhaust gases emit into the atmosphere.
17:47Whoever takes to the ridges of the mountainous cathedral can see it, eroded stone as far
17:54as the eye can see.
17:57Some damages may no longer be repaired.
18:01On-site repair is impossible.
18:06Sisyphean labor, stone by stone, pinnacle by pinnacle.
18:12The old soft tuff is replaced by quartzite from Obernkirchen, a very hard and imperishable
18:19material.
18:21According to the people of Cologne, once the cathedral is completed, the end of the world
18:27is near.
18:28In view of this work, there is no danger for the time being.
18:36Cologne Cathedral's 21st century maintenance is ongoing, bridging the past with the present.
18:42A prefabricated ornamental turret, a pinnacle, is replaced.
18:48This happens every couple of weeks.
18:51It will last for centuries before it, too, will have to be replaced by the descendants
18:56of these men.
18:58A touch of eternity, teamwork over more than 500 years.
19:04Time is not measured in decades, but in centuries.
19:11And the gigantic scaffolding that nestle against its stone skin seem to be inseparably linked
19:18to the cathedral.
19:25Of course, scaffolding on a church can be considered a visual blemish, and laymen might
19:29do precisely that.
19:32I can only say, the Cologne Cathedral without scaffolding is not a dream.
19:38The Cologne Cathedral without scaffolding would be a nightmare, since no scaffolding
19:42would mean the cathedral is not taken care of.
19:46And this would lead, maybe not in the second year, but rather quickly, to a closing off
19:50of the area and the destruction of the church.
19:54Therefore, the scaffolding represents lifelines of all our big Gothic churches.
19:59For me, it's not something ugly, but the sign that this church is maintained, that
20:04this church is looked after.
20:16Cleaning dirty figurines and ornaments using cotton wads and swabs seems to be a desperate
20:23defense in a hopeless battle at first.
20:30It's the price to be paid for thousands of visitors every day.
20:37Continuous maintenance.
20:40Nobody wants a cathedral under protective cover.
20:50In 1248, work on the cathedral's foundation begins.
20:55There are no teams of structural engineers at Gerhard's disposal.
20:59No computer-based calculations.
21:02No architects or construction managers.
21:04He has only himself and his experience.
21:07It seems unimaginable, considering a construction project with an estimated budget that today
21:13would equal 9 to 13 billion dollars.
21:17In order to have enough space for this gigantic building, 20 acres of land is clear.
21:25Gerhard's principle of statistics and loads can be narrowed down to the simple statement,
21:31as above, so below.
21:35The cathedral's foundation may be as heavy as the cathedral itself.
21:50The cathedral weighs 175,000 tons, and its foundation will carry it for eternity.
21:57A cross-section of one of the supporting pillars conveys the dimension of this gigantic church.
22:04Remains of Roman dwellings from the 1st to the 4th century.
22:13Silent witnesses from ancient times.
22:17Once another church was built here.
22:20It was consecrated in the 9th century.
22:22A Romanic cathedral, which became far too small for the pilgrims who traveled to Cologne
22:29once the bones of the three magi were transferred there.
22:39To fully appreciate the achievement made by these 13th century builders, you need to follow
22:45Gerhard into his underworld.
22:48A shaft leading down to the bottom of the huge stone pillars carrying the cathedral's
22:54vault, each one possibly the size of a house.
23:00Nearly 110,000 tons of stone were used for the cathedral's foundation.
23:05Thus, the foundations of this cathedral are huge constructions themselves.
23:12It's an impressive feeling to step through the intersection of the supporting pillars,
23:18knowing there is a mountain of stone above.
23:27To what extent Gerhard's clients, the cathedral chapter, the cathedral canons, really understood
23:34the details is unknown.
23:37They probably only understood the basic plan, the project's dimensions.
23:43Gerhard introduces them to his architectural numerological game during his presentation.
23:50Gerhard's cathedral has 12 doors.
23:53Heavenly Jerusalem has 12 gates.
23:57Twelve apostles accompany Jesus.
24:00Gerhard plans to build seven choir chapels.
24:04That's the sum of three, a trinity, and four for the four evangelists and the four directions.
24:14The length of the gigantic building is 144 meters, 12 times 12.
24:24The same numerical values from the Bible keep recurring.
24:35The cathedral is a reflection of heavenly Jerusalem.
24:40Light is magic.
24:41I am the light of the world, Jesus' words in the Gospel of John.
24:47Light becomes a synonym for the divine.
24:50Light is the key to understanding the Gothic style.
25:06I think the real impulse was the desire to let much more light into the room.
25:12It was the time of light mysticism.
25:15If I open the walls even wider, then they will have to be constructed differently.
25:22Then I'll need the buttress to carry the weight of the vault.
25:27That makes the vaults inequilateral.
25:31An inequilateral vault with a width differing from its depth can only be roofed by a pointed
25:37arch.
25:41For me, the desire to let more light into the room explains a lot.
26:08The Cologne Cathedral is built higher than any other building before its time.
26:14Massive walls are replaced by large windows.
26:18Everything is bigger, higher.
26:21Despite the enormous amounts of stone, the space is surprisingly bright.
26:26The Bible window in the axial chapel of the Three Magi is the highest ranking and the
26:32oldest window of the cathedral.
26:36It was completed around 1260, during the lifetime of Gerhard von Rheyla.
26:42Hopefully he was alive to see it.
26:44Maybe he even helped shape its design.
26:57Colored glass was first used in ancient Egypt.
27:00By the 4th century, it was used for church windows in Europe.
27:04It's possible that crusaders imported the knowledge of its production to France.
27:10Without this recipe, the Gothic style would be deprived of its strongest artistic expression,
27:17light.
27:18Gothic glassmasters have an incredible knowledge, improvements in chemistry and the technique
27:24to connect and glue small pieces of glass pane using lead strips.
27:30This was the basis for creating glass windows of unprecedented sizes.
27:41The medieval glassmasters protected their recipes like valuable treasures.
27:49Eight hundred years later, the master of Glashütte Lambert's Waldsausen continues this medieval
27:55art.
27:56Here the glass for the youngest and most controversial window of the Cologne Cathedral was manufactured,
28:02the Richter window.
28:05Time seems to stand still in this craft.
28:08But in contrast to their medieval predecessors, today's glassmasters solved one significant
28:14production problem.
28:16Large red-hot pieces of glass can now be cooled down with modern temperature control, which
28:22prevents cracking.
28:28A perfect cast.
28:31The glass cools down slowly.
28:34Red turns into a rich blue.
28:42The cathedral's alive, not petrified.
28:46It changes over time.
28:48The Richter window's an impressive example.
28:51A glass composition in the south transept.
28:55It's not historical, but conspicuously contemporary.
28:59So different from the other 100,000 square feet of window surface.
29:12More than 11,000 colored squares on more than 1,000 square feet.
29:1872 colors chosen from the 800 that were historically used in the cathedral's windows.
29:26Those are the hard facts behind the Richter window.
29:34It's the first church window created by the artist Gerhard Richter, and it evokes both
29:39applause and devastating criticism.
29:43Richter's window is not made for the moment.
29:46It needs time.
29:48The moving sun, in order to unfold its full appeal.
29:57In the late 90s, the new nave organ opened a different acoustic dimension.
30:04The organist has 3,963 pipes on 53 registers at his command.
30:12Listening to organ music in the Cologne Cathedral on a summer's day is something one never
30:48For Gerhard and his family, there's a rare occasion for joint celebration.
30:53Twelve years after the laying of the foundation stone, Gerhard can feel satisfied.
30:59The cathedral chapter acknowledges the fast construction progress.
31:04Gerhard's made it.
31:05He's now known as one of the best Gothic period architects.
31:10He makes lots of money, is one of the town's wealthiest inhabitants, a universal genius
31:16with incredible imagination.
31:21His vision, the cathedral's western facade with more than 75,000 square feet, the largest
31:27of all Christian churches.
31:32Gerhard knows he'll never see his masterpiece completed.
31:36With a little luck, he may witness the choir's consecration, but the completion is left to
31:42the following generations.
31:46Whoever plans to build such a monument in medieval times needs at least half a century,
31:53and Gerhard's days are numbered.
32:03Master builder Gerhard von Rila envisions a rainbow of colors for the cathedral's inner
32:08room, surfaces painted in rich colors, countless ornaments.
32:16History shows that the Middle Ages weren't gray, but colorful.
32:21Even castles beamed in the colors of the rainbow.
32:25A light installation created by artists illustrates what it might have been like, a play with
32:32the senses and imagination.
32:51The work and its master builder, respected by fellow men, often feared, and almost always
32:59envied.
33:06On the one hand, people must have admired the master builders quite a bit.
33:11They were hired to work on large construction sites for a reason.
33:15Surely they also had to face suspicion and envy.
33:19Suspicion because people could hardly handle such a gift.
33:23Often it was attributed to supernatural powers or the devil.
33:27Envy because it's clear that the master builders were the big earners of the Middle Ages, at
33:33least in the crafts.
33:35Their salary was many times higher than those of other craftsmen.
33:39It doesn't take much imagination to assume that this caused envy.
33:50Medieval people live in a world of magic, fearing the devil and demons.
33:56Therefore, overwhelmed and under great pressure to succeed, may have needed supernatural help.
34:03Thus, a strange rumor has spread, nothing new in the professional history of master
34:09builders.
34:10There must be something odd about the fast construction progress.
34:15People are whispering, and then one day, in the year 1260, it happens.
34:22Like many times before, Gerhard climbs the main scaffolding of the cathedral.
34:27The walls of the choir are almost 65 feet high, and he has to climb more than 60 staves.
34:35Gerhard is proud of the building's quick progress.
34:39Weirdly quick, the rumor goes in the alleys of Cologne.
34:43Is it due solely to the master's gift, or are other powers involved?
34:50Dark powers.
34:52Many of his fellow men fear the devil's work.
34:56They say Gerhard promised his soul to the devil in exchange for the cathedral.
35:04The origins of the legend?
35:06Gerhard's fatal fall.
35:09Was it an accident, or did the devil really push him?
35:15A curse falls on the world's largest church construction site.
35:221530, more than 150 years after Gerhard's fall, the construction is finally stopped.
35:31The Gothic style is no longer popular, no longer in vogue, and money is tight.
35:40For three centuries, the unfinished cathedral characterizes the cityscape.
35:46A medieval crane crowns the top of the southern spire.
36:00Things change drastically in the middle of the 19th century.
36:04The forgotten cathedral becomes the romantic embodiment of an allegedly golden past, a
36:10favorite motif of countless romantic painters.
36:13The initial support turns into a storm of enthusiasm.
36:17The cathedral becomes the symbol of the German nation.
36:22The high church, supporting associations, collect donations.
36:27In 1842, the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV performs the administrative act for the
36:34completion of the cathedral.
36:36He provides a large part of the resources.
36:40Appeals for donations and the Central Cathedral Building Society restock the budget.
36:49The renaissance of a grand idea.
37:01The cathedral will be recreated closely to the vision of its medieval creator.
37:11But will the new industrial era bring too much innovation to the master builder's plans?
37:25The industrial era is awakening, a period where everything seems possible.
37:32The name of the man continuing Gerhard von Rila's Cologne Cathedral legacy is Ernst
37:38Friedrichswerner.
37:41He doesn't see himself as a dwarf on a giant's shoulders, but as a recreator.
37:48He bridges a connection between the external architecture of the Gothic style and the possibilities
37:55of state-of-the-art technology.
37:58A wonder of the world is hidden beneath 130,000 square feet of the cathedral's multi-ton
38:05roof made from iron.
38:10The cathedral's iron roof truss was one of the world's largest iron constructions, at
38:16least at the time of its construction.
38:19A gigantic lapse of taste, according to Cologne's conservative opinions.
38:27The fact that iron is non-flammable is Swerner's convincing argument.
38:32His opponents call for a reconstruction true to the original, wood as applied before.
38:55Reminiscent of one of the discussions about the Richter window, Swerner wins and the people
39:00of Cologne are thankful for his persistence.
39:08In a discussion about the iron roof truss, I would have been on Swerner's side, in favor
39:15of the iron roof truss.
39:21What fascinates me about the cathedral's completion in the 19th century is that it was rebuilt
39:27precisely according to the medieval image in combination with modern technology, which
39:34is a rather strange mixture.
39:36One might think either you do it the traditional or the modern way.
39:41They did it both ways.
39:45Traditional shapes along with modern technology.
39:48The iron roof truss is only one element.
39:51The machines they used are part of this too, state-of-the-art technology, ancient shapes.
40:07In the fall of 1880, after 630 years of work, the cathedral is completed.
40:17Sixty-five years later, the greatest catastrophe in its history dawns.
40:24The last months of World War II, airplanes of the Allied forces wipe out German cities.
40:35Cologne is among the targets of their bomb attacks.
40:38The cathedral becomes the landmark for the bomber pilots in their flying fortresses.
40:44The cathedral is hit 14 times, but remains almost intact.
40:49Members of the stonemasons' workshop hold out on its roofs to extinguish firebombs.
40:54They risk their lives in order to save this building.
41:12In the end, it's the only thing left standing, like a memorial in a field of debris which
41:18used to be its hometown, Cologne.
41:29The Cologne Cathedral.
41:31It's called one of the most gothic cathedrals of all, a building of international standing.
41:37It's the wonderful work of countless generations.
41:41By building it, Gerhard von Rila wanted to create a piece of heaven.
41:50The work on and in the cathedral is never just a profession, it's a vocation.
41:58It was made by people who gave it their lives.
42:05Though immense in size, it's sensitive and fragile.
42:10It needs love and care in order to survive, the devotion of many.
42:28The cathedral is full of magic.
42:32It carries people out of their world for hours, making them forget about everything
42:37else.
42:41It mysteriously captivates, a fascination that becomes devotion for many.
42:55Its magic will never fully be comprehended, but it will always keep us in awe.
43:04The Cologne Cathedral.