Our first OUT-meeting of the season, Oct. 12, 2016, took us to the heart of Cologne, the famous historical Rathaus, town hall. Once again, we had the pleasure of a lively, informative guided tour (in very fluent English!) by Claudia Lupri.
Our tour began in the piazetta, under the hanging sculpture by Cologne artist, Hann Trier. Ms. Lupri explained how the town hall as we know it today is a reconstruction, after the original dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries, was almost completely destroyed in World War II. The piazetta , originally an open Italian-style courtyard, is now an enclosed area open to the public, primarily used for social events.
Then our tour took us to areas not open to the public, most notably the Hansasaal and the Senatssaal, where we could see wonderful treasures of art and architecture. Many areas of City Hall are reminiscent of a cathedral. This emphasizes the rivalry between church and state in the Middle Ages. The rebellious Cologne people were sick and tired of the archbishop being so powerful. Thus, they constructed the town hall to rival the cathedral. It is the oldest city hall in Europe, dating back to around 1330. The Gothic style which we see in the Hansasaal was, up till that time, only seen in churches.
Leaving the Hansasaal we pass thru an elaborate beautifully- carved wooden door and continue up to the Senatssaal. Entering this chamber, still used for special meetings, we were overwhelmed by beautiful woodwork with intricate inlays. From this room you can look out onto the tower of the town hall with its hundreds of stone statues representing Cologne historical figures. Ms. Lupri had taken us on a walking tour of Cologne several years ago, where she gave us a lot of historical background on some of these figures.
This is just a brief glimpse of the whole tour which took about an hour and a half. All of us (17 members and one guest) agreed that this was a great way to begin the Cosmo season 2016/17!