Köln Cathedral - Germany

Last April was a big month! Some Postcrossers managed to meet in Köln (German) or Cologne (English), Germany. During 4 days we saw the city center and visited Koblenz and Braubach. This card was sent by me (I know, I'm crazy...).

" Construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 and took, with interruptions, until 1880 to complete. It is 144.5 metres long, 86.5 m wide and its towers are approximately 157 m tall. [...] The cathedral suffered seventy hits by aerial bombs during World War II. It did not collapse, but stood tall in an otherwise flattened city. The great twin spires are said to have been used as an easily recognizable navigational landmark by Allied aircraft raiding deeper into Germany in the later years of the war, which may be a reason that the cathedral was not destroyed. [...] In 1996, the cathedral was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List of culturally important sites. [...] Visitors can climb 509 stone steps of the spiral staircase to a viewing platform about 98 metres above the ground. The platform gives a lovely top view of the Rhine." In: Wikipedia