The Rest of Cologne

I have to say that after seeing the spectacular Cathedral of Cologne everything else in the city was a bit anticlimactic.

I wandered around the "Altstadt".  As is the case with most German cities, Cologne suffered heavy damage during World War II.  Most the "old" buildings in the Old Town are reconstructions.

The medieval tower of the old "Rathaus" (City Hall) is surrounded by the modern city government building.

A row of "old" buildings with the tower of the Church of St. Martin in the background.

The Benedictine abbey church of St. Martin was begun in 1150 and completed in the mid-thirteenth century.  The spire was added in the mid-fifteenth century.  It was heavily damaged in World War II, and was not reopened until 1985.

A view of the Rhine River from the Old Town

One of Cologne's top art museums is the Wallraf-Richartz Museum which is located in the "Altstadt".  Unfortunately, the top floor, which includes their collection of Impressionists, is closed for renovation.  Only the floors with medieval art and baroque art were open.  So that was a disappointment.

Of course, the medieval art is almost entirely religious art, which is not my favorite genre.  Among the patron saints of Cologne are the Three Wise Men, so it is fitting that the collection includes this painting by an anonymous Cologne artist of the Adoration of the Magi.

Some of the paintings are frighteningly grotesque warnings of the wages of sin.  This detail of "The Last Judgement" shows the nightmarish fate of the damned.  It is interesting that among them are a number of prelates of the church.  (Is that a papal tiara worn by one of them?)

The Baroque collection included several canvasses by Peter Paul Rubens which include this bloodthirsty depiction of the myth of June and Argos.

When Argos was beheaded, Juno used his one hundred eyes to decorate the peacock's plumage.

A Rembrandt self portrait done late in his life.

I still had time before I had to catch my train back to Frankfurt, so I went to the Museum Ludwig which is next to the Cathedral and the train station.

I should have known that I would not find it that interesting since the collection is entirely modern art.  It supposedly has the third largest collection of works by Picasso in the world.  However it is certainly not a comprehensive look at his career since there is nothing from the Blue or the Rose Periods.

Weary after walking around the city all day, I returned to the train station only to find out that the train was going to be about 20 minutes late.  However, on the trip back to Frankfurt, the engineer went full speed ahead, at over 180 miles per hour.  We ended up arriving in Frankfurt on schedule.