Cologne

Cologne, on the Rhine, has held a bishop's church since late Roman times; the Carolingian Hildebold Cathedral was consecrated in 870. In 1164 Archbishop Rainald of Dassel brought the relics of the Three Wise Men from Frederick Barbarossa's Milanese spoils; the gilded Shrine of the Three Kings drew pilgrims from across Europe.

To house it, Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden laid the foundation stone of the Gothic cathedral in 1248. The choir was consecrated in 1322, but work ceased in 1473 with the south tower raised only to belfry level, its crane a landmark for centuries.

French revolutionary troops occupied Cologne in 1794; the cathedral served as a stable and warehouse, while the shrine was hidden and returned in 1804. Reduced to a parish church in 1803, the cathedral regained its rank in 1821 under Prussian patronage and became a symbol of German nationhood.