Starting in July, visitors to Cologne Cathedral will be required to pay an admission fee of twelve euros. The Cathedral Chapter in Cologne announced on Tuesday that, going forward, tourists will only be able to access the interior of the cathedral with a ticket. The move is reportedly due to rising maintenance costs for the cathedral. Admission to church services will remain free.
Cathedral administrator Clemens van de Ven explained that the new admission fee is intended “not for profit, but for the essential preservation of the cathedral.” The Cathedral Chapter faces the task of covering the ongoing costs of maintaining and operating the cathedral while also making provisions for future needs and building up reserves.
Cathedral Provost Guido Assmann had justified the move in March by citing the steadily rising costs of maintaining Cologne Cathedral. Expenses of 16 million euros are expected for this year. The reserves have now been depleted. A reduced fee of six euros will apply to, among others, students aged 14 and older, apprentices, and college students. Children up to and including age 13 will continue to have free admission.
People with severe disabilities and their companions will also remain exempt from the fee. In addition, specific free admission times are planned for church holidays and selected special days, including May 1 and October 3.
Cologne Cathedral is visited by approximately six million people each year. It is one of the world’s most famous Catholic churches, where the relics of the Three Kings are venerated. In Germany, admission fees for tourist visits to churches remain the exception. They are charged, for example, at the Protestant Berlin Cathedral in the capital, where the fee is 15 euros, and at some smaller churches.
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