Cologne Cathedral Coloring Pages

The Cathedral by the Rhine River

Cologne Cathedral is a big Christian church in the town of Cologne, Germany.
It stands right next to a big river called the Rhine River.
At the front, two towers that are about 157 meters tall reach high up into the sky.
It is built in a style called Gothic architecture, with pointed roofs and lots of neat stone decorations all over it.
It became a World Heritage site in 1996.

It took 632 years to finish!

Work on Cologne Cathedral started way back in 1248.
But they ran out of money along the way, so building stopped for a very long time.
People say a construction crane sat on top of the unfinished tower for hundreds of years!
In the 19th century, building started again, and it was finally finished in 1880.
Counting from the very start, it took 632 years!

Two towers seen across the bridge

The first coloring page shows Cologne Cathedral as seen from across the Rhine River.
The iron bridge on the right is the Hohenzollern Bridge.
It actually has three big arches, and you can see two of them in the picture.
Trains run across the bridge.
You can see how the two towers can be spotted from anywhere in town!

Looking up, it looks like stone lace

The second picture shows the front of Cologne Cathedral looking up from below.
Windows with pointed arches and thin, pointy decorative pillars line up all the way to the top.
The stone patterns inside the windows look just like lace.
There are three entrances at the bottom.
Try coloring each little decoration carefully!

The town of Cologne and the cathedral

Cologne is an old town in western Germany with a history of almost 2,000 years.
Cologne Cathedral stands right next to Cologne Central Station. When you walk out of the station, the huge towers appear right in front of you!
You can climb more than 500 steps to reach the top of the cathedral's tower.
From up there, you can look out over the Rhine River and the town of Cologne.
Inside Cologne Cathedral, it is very quiet, filled with high ceilings and beautiful light from colorful stained glass.

For the Dark Stones, Layer Your Grays

The stones of Cologne Cathedral have turned a dark gray over many long years.
First, color the whole thing gray. Then, layer dark gray inside the hollow spots and around the windows.
If you make everything black, you won't be able to see the decorations! The trick is to leave the sticking-out parts light.
If you add a little bit of light brown here and there, it will give the stones a nice, warm feel.

For the Windows, Use Stained Glass Colors

The cathedral windows are filled with colorful stained glass.
On the second page, if you color the inside of the windows with blue, red, and yellow, it will look super pretty!
Color the stone frame lines gray, and fill the spaces inside with your colors.

The Iron Bridge and the Rhine River

On the first page, try coloring the bridge greenish-gray.
It looks great if you mix blue and gray to make a calm color for the river.
If you make the sky light blue or cream-colored, the shape of the towers will stand out clearly.
Put it next to the Neuschwanstein Castle coloring page and compare these cool buildings in Germany!

On the 2nd Page, Go Lighter as You Go Up

For the picture looking up at the front, make the bottom dark and use a lighter gray as you go higher up.
This makes the towers look super tall, stretching all the way up into the sky!
Color the entrance door dark brown so it stands out from the stone walls.

Change the Mood with Sky Colors

If you color the sky a sunset orange, the dark towers will stand out like cool silhouettes!
If you use a light gray like a cloudy sky, it creates a quiet and calm mood.
On the first page, if you match the sky color with the river color, your picture will look nicely put together.

It Was Once the Tallest Building in the World

When Cologne Cathedral was finished in 1880, it was the tallest building in the world.
But just four years later, in 1884, the Washington Monument was built in the United States and broke the record.
Then in 1889, the Eiffel Tower was completed in Paris, too.
Even today, Cologne Cathedral is still one of the tallest church buildings in the whole world!

The Treasure of the Three Wise Men

Inside Cologne Cathedral, there is a golden box that is said to hold the bones of the Three Wise Men who came to celebrate the birth of Jesus.
This huge cathedral was built to safely hold this special treasure.
Even today, many people visit from all over the world to see it.

It Survived the War

During World War II, the city of Cologne was badly damaged by attacks from the air.
Bombs hit Cologne Cathedral, too, but its two tall towers stayed standing and did not fall.
People are still fixing the damaged parts little by little today.

A Bridge Full of Padlocks

On the fence of the Hohenzollern Bridge in the first picture, you can see lots of padlocks.
Couples have a tradition of writing their names on padlocks and locking them there, so the bridge fence is completely covered with locks!