The 2.88 m high “Gero Cross” shines in the Cross Chapel of Cologne Cathedral.
It already had its place in the “Old Cathedral” and is dedicated to its patron, Archbishop Gero, who had it created towards the end of the 10th century.
As a monumental cross, it is the first to show Christ suffering at the time and not, as was usual until then, Jesus as a hero and victor.
Did you know that Archbishop Gero was also the one who “paired up” Theophanu (her grave is in St. Pantaleon in Cologne), the niece of the Byzantine emperor, with Otto II, the son of Otto I, and thus ultimately arranged for the two to marry.
The “Old Cathedral”, built in the Romanesque style, was roughly on the spot where Cologne Cathedral stands today and was also known at the time as the “Hildebold Cathedral”; its builder was supposedly named after Archbishop Hildebold.
From 1248 onwards, the “Old Cathedral” had to make way for today’s Cologne Cathedral, as in the Middle Ages a stately place of worship was needed to house the Shrine of the Three Kings.
But that’s another story…
So, now we’ll leave the Cologne Cathedral again and have a Cologne fairy tale told to us at the Heinzelmännchen fountain. You can easily get there on foot.
