Editing Cologne Cathedral (section)

=== 19th-century completion ===
[[File:Kolner Dom kurz vor der Fertigstellung 1880.jpg|thumb|left|The cathedral in 1880, nearing the end of its construction.]]
With the 19th-century [[German Romanticism|Romantic enthusiasm]] for the [[Middle Ages]], and spurred by the discovery of the original plan for the façade, the Protestant [[Prussia]]n Court working with the church, committed to complete the cathedral. It was achieved by civic effort; the ''[[Central-Dombauverein]]'', founded in 1842, raised two-thirds of the enormous costs, while the Prussian state supplied the remaining third.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}<!--The actual cost in the contemporary local currency needs to be referenced.--> The state saw this as a way to improve its relations with the large number of Catholic subjects it had gained in 1815, but especially after 1871, it was regarded as a project to symbolize German nationhood.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Gilley |first1=Sheridan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LvvzlLf9dFEC&q=prussia+rebuilding+cologne+cathedral&pg=PA114 |title=The Cambridge History of Christianity |volume=8, ''World Christianities c. 1815–c. 1914'' |last2=Stanley |first2=Brian |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-81456-0 |page=114 |language=en}}</ref>

Work resumed in 1842 to the original design of the surviving medieval plans and drawings, but using more modern construction techniques, including iron roof [[girder]]s. The nave was completed and the towers were added. The bells were installed in the 1870s. The largest bell is ''[[St. Petersglocke]]''.{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

The completion of Germany's largest cathedral was celebrated as a national event on 15&nbsp;October 1880, 632 years after construction had begun.<ref name="London1881">{{cite book |editor=Godwin, George |editor-link=George Godwin |title=The Builder |url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125007023357/page/n4/mode/1up |access-date=18 January 2024 |year=1881 |publisher=[s.n.] |page=419}}</ref> The celebration was attended by Emperor [[Wilhelm I of Germany|Wilhelm&nbsp;I]]. With a height of {{cvt|157.38|m}}, it was the tallest building in the world for four years until the completion of the [[Washington Monument]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cologne-Cathedral |first=Robert |last=Lewis |title=Cologne Cathedral |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=13 September 2017 |access-date=20 September 2021 |archive-date=16 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190816005027/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Cologne-Cathedral |url-status=live }}</ref>