The Cologne Cathedral took how many years to complete?

Cologne Cathedral took 632 years to complete, from 1248 to 1880.

Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden laid the foundation stone on 15 August 1248. The project was intended to create a grand Gothic shrine for the relics traditionally associated with the Three Kings, brought to Cologne in 1164. Medieval builders completed the eastern choir, which was consecrated in 1322, but progress later slowed and stopped.

Work was interrupted for several centuries, largely because of financial difficulties and changing religious and political circumstances. Construction resumed in 1842, when renewed interest in medieval Gothic architecture and support from Prussia made completion possible. Nineteenth-century builders followed the surviving medieval plans, creating the cathedral’s famous twin towers.

The 632-year figure counts the time from the foundation stone to the completion ceremony; it does not mean that masons worked continuously for 632 years. Cologne Cathedral was completed in 1880 and was briefly the world’s tallest building. It remains one of Germany’s best-known landmarks and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.