The Basilica of St. Cunibert or St. Kunibert (, ) is the last of Cologne's twelve Romanesque churches to be built. It was consecrated in 1247, one year before work on the Gothic

Cologne Cathedral Cologne Cathedral (, , officially , English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia belonging to the Catholic Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archd ...

began. It was declared a minor basilica in 1998 by the then

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

History

A small church located at a burial ground north of the Roman city

Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium was the Roman colony in the Rhineland from which the city of Cologne, now in Germany, developed. It was usually called ''Colonia'' (colony) and was the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and ...

was founded or renewed by Cunibert, ninth

Bishop of Cologne The Archbishop of Cologne governs the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne in western North Rhine-Westphalia. Historically, the archbishop was ''ex officio'' one of the prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and ruled the Electorate of Cologne ...

. Cunibert was also buried there. After 690, the

Two Ewalds The Two Ewalds (or Two Hewalds) were Saint Ewald the Black and Saint Ewald the White, martyrs in Old Saxony about 692. Both bore the same name, but were distinguished by the difference in the colour of their hair and complexions. They began thei ...

were buried in the church as well. The church was originally dedicated to Saint Clement, but Cunibert has been venerated alongside him since at least the ninth century, and a monastery called ''Saint Kunibert'' appears in records as far back as 866. Around the middle of the eleventh century, the direct predecessor of the current church was built. Later, a parish with the

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

as parson was allocated to the monastery. The church became a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

site after the

Canonization Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon ca ...

of the Two Ewalds in 1074 and of Cunibert in 1168. Between 1210 and 1215 the erection of the current building started. The choir was finished 1226 and the church consecrated in 1247. Until 1261, a transept and a tower were added to the west. The monastery ceased to exist in 1802 as a result of the

secularization In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

under Napoleonic reign and the monastery buildings were eventually torn down in 1821. However, the church remained in use by the local parish. The western spire collapsed during a storm in 1830 for static reasons, as this tower was not part of the original plan and the structure of the building was not designed for it. Tower and westwork were newly erected until 1860. The church suffered severe damage during the Second World War. The roof was destroyed by fire, the western tower was hit by a bomb, collapsed, causing significant damage to the large parts of the westwork. The reconstruction of choir and nave was finished in 1955; however, the rebuilding of the transept and western tower did not begin until the late 1970s. Reconstruction work was finished in 1985.

Furnishing

The original shrines of Cunibert and The Ewalds were destroyed during secularization and only the wooden cores with the relics remained. Today's shrines are from the second half of the 19th century. The eight medieval glass windows in the apse area were made between 1220 and 1230. The upper three windows show Saint Clement, the original patron of the site, the

Tree of Jesse The Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree which rises from Jesse (biblical figure), Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. It is the original use of the family tree as a schemati ...

and Saint Cunibert. The windows of the lower band show

Saint Ursula Ursula (Latin for 'little she-bear') was a Romano-British virgin and martyr possibly of royal origin. She is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Anglican Communion. Her feast day in the pre-1970 G ...

Saint Cordula Cordula of Cologne, also known as Saint Cordula, is an apocryphal saint. She was venerated in the Catholic Church as a companion of St. Ursula and her feast day was on 22 October, but she has not been listed in the ''Roman Martyrology'' since 19 ...

, Saint Catherine,

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia (), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman Christian virgin martyr, who is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the ...

and

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

Literature

* Hiltrud Kier: ''Via Sacra zu Fuß, Kölns Städtebau und die Romanischen Kirchen''. Bachem Verlag, Köln 2003 (²/2005) . * Ulrich Krings, Otmar Schwab: ''Köln: Die Romanischen Kirchen – Zerstörung und Wiederherstellung''. Reihe Stadtspuren Bd. 2, Köln, Bachem Verlag, 2007 (712 S. mit CD Chronologie des Wiederaufbaus). * Sybille Fraquelli: ''Zwölf Tore zum Himmel. Kinder entdecken: Die Romanischen Kirchen in Köln''. J.P. Bachem Verlag, Köln 2007. * Hiltrud Kier und Ulrich Krings: ''Die Romanischen Kirchen in Köln'', Köln, 3.Auflage 1986. * Sabine Czymmek: ''Die Kölner Romanischen Kirchen'', Schatzkunst, Bd. 1, Köln 2008, Bd. 2, Köln 2009 (= Colonia Romanica, Jahrbuch des Fördervereins Romanische Kirchen Köln e. V. Bd. 22, 2007 und 23, 2008)

References

{{Authority control Tourist attractions in Cologne Innenstadt, Cologne Roman Catholic churches in Cologne Romanesque architecture in Germany Basilica churches in Germany

History

Furnishing

See also

Literature

References