Köln: Dom St. Peter

The first traces of a christian church in Köln go back to the early 4th century. It is connected with St Maternus, the first bishop of Köln known.

From the 7th century (?) the Dom had a west (main) choir devoted to Peter, and an east choir (for the parish) devoted to Mary. In the 9th century the church was destroyed by a fire and a new large basilica was built ('der alte Dom').
Building of the gothic church started in the 13th century.
Both the old and the gothic Dom were consecrated on 27 September; the old Dom in 870, the gothic church in 1322.

In 1164 the Dom acquired the relics of the three Magi.

The Dom was the centre of an archdiocese until the late 18th century; then the bishop's see moved to Aachen and it became a parish church. In 1821 Köln was restored as an archdiocese and in that time the towers of the Dom were finally finished.

Manuscripts

* D-KNd 263, summer antiphoner, ca 1310
* D-KNd 149, summer antiphoner, ca 1310; resembling Dombibl. 263
* D-KNd 267, week psalter / summer antiphoner, mid 14th century

and many others (see literature)

Literature

On the Dom: A. Wolff: Der Kölner Dom

The manuscripts of the Dombibliothek are listed in: Heusgen: Gesamtkatalog.

Some of them are extensively described in: Glaube und Wissen im Mittelalter.


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Last change: Tue 01 January 2002