The Saint Peter's of the North

The Cologne Cathedral is both young and old.  Begun in the early 13^th Century, the money ran out in 1510. Over 350 years later the building was still without towers as seen in this 1853 picture.  Only in 1880 were the world famous twin towers finally completed, in conformity with the original 1248 building plans of the Gothic structure.  It must be the greatest Church in Christendom (in many essential ways) after Saint Peter’s in Rome.  Hence, Saint Peter’s of the North!

(This is my translation [with some help from Google] of a Deutsche Welle article today on present restoration work on the towers entitled: "The Eternal Construction of the Cologne Cathedral")

Consider the irony that work on the grand Saint Peter's of Michelangelo was begun just four years before this project stopped. The building of Saint Peter's with German cash was actually one of the gripes of the reformers of the North. This, perhaps, helps understand why. Anyway, they were always both Catholic and we have had a German Pope again who continues our beloved Pope Emeritus.  May the lands of the North again glory in their Catholic Christian heritage so well represented by their glorious temples!