It also took place at the summit of German military achievement, coming shortly after the Franco-Prussian war when the Germans unexpectedly defeated arch-enemy France. Perhaps the only thing that saved the Cathedral was that it was made of stone, and thus did not burn down, as well as the large clear spaces separating it from buildings that did burn.The cathedral's completion was an event of national significance, symbolizing as much the unification of Germany out of squabbling individual kingdoms as a work of architecture. The cathedral is a Roman Catholic church that was built over an 800-year time frame, with work starting in 1248 and, after a long interruption, work finally was completed only in 1880. The old part of town was on the western side, crowned by the famous Cologne Cathedral. However, by the time of the shootout, that bridge had been bombed into ruins as seen in this picture, and its use would have been removed by demolition before the Allies approached.Cologne goes back to the Roman days and straddles the Rhine, with roughly half on either side. Reaching the Rhine, though, was a lot different than crossing the Rhine.Īs can be seen, behind the cathedral is a railroad bridge, which ostensibly needed to be kept out of Allied hands because river lines typically formed German defensive perimeters. The British and the Americans then closed up upon the Rhine River. This had led to a delaying action by the Germans along the German border throughout January and February 1945, during which they were slowly pried out of the Rhineland with great difficulty.
To understand what was really going on there, it is necessary to take a look at the strategic situation and Cologne Cathedral itself.Ī view from the east side of the river, showing the blown bridges.The Germans had been chased out of France and had expended their reserves in the Battle of the Bulge aka the Ardennes Offensive aka the Von Rundstedt Offensive. Cologne 1945.The brief tank battle at Cologne Cathedral is perhaps the single most famous tank duel of all time.
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