Cologne
When we left Basle, we went to Hamburg by the way of Frankfort,
down the right bank of the Rhine. In returning, we came up the left
bank of the river, passing through Cologne, Bingen, and Mayence.
About 8 p.m. we reached Cologne, or “Koln,” as the Germans spell
it and pronounce it. Here we spent the night. Our hotel was but a short
distance from the celebrated cathedral, and we had a good view of it
by moonlight. This is said to be the most magnificent Gothic edifice in
the world. It is built, as cathedrals usually are, in the form of a cross,
is 444 feet long, and has two towers each 512 feet high, the loftiest in
Europe. The building is covered with turrets and statuary, and presents
a most imposing appearance. It was more than six hundred years in
building, and the names of the first architects have long since been
forgotten. In 1848 was celebrated the six-hundredth anniversary of the
laying of the corner-stone. The cathedral was completed in 1880, at
an estimated cost of $10,000,000.
Cologne is one of the oldest cities of Northern Europe. It is said
that a colony was planted here by the mother of Nero in 51 A.D., and
even this occupied the site of a still more ancient city. Many ruins of
this early period are still in existence. The old streets are exceedingly
narrow, and there are no sidewalks, or scarcely any. A few years
ago there was one street in which a man standing in the center and
extending both arms at the same time could touch the buildings on
each side. But most of the narrowest streets have now been swept
away.
This city possesses an interest for us far greater than that excited
by its grand cathedral. Hither came Tyndale from Hamburg, to com-
plete the printing of the New Testament, hoping to find here better
opportunities for sending the work, when finished, to England. He
had not, however, proceeded far in his labors, when his secret was
betrayed, and he escaped from the city only in time to save his printed
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sheets from falling into the hands of the papists. A little boat conveyed
him and his precious wares up the Rhine—along the very route which
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