Editing Cologne Cathedral (section)

=== World War II and post-war history ===

The twin spires of the cathedral were an easily recognizable navigational landmark for Allied aircraft bombing during [[World War II]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 March 2020 |title=In the Ruins of Cologne |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/ruins-cologne |access-date=28 December 2023 |website=The National WWII Museum {{!}} New Orleans |language=en |archive-date=7 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240307172628/https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/ruins-cologne |url-status=live }}</ref> The cathedral suffered fourteen hits by [[Bombing of Cologne in World War II|aerial bombs]] during the war. Badly damaged, it nevertheless remained standing in an otherwise completely flattened city.

On 6 March 1945, an area west of the cathedral (Marzellenstrasse/Trankgasse) was the site of intense combat between American tanks of the [[3rd Armored Division (United States)|3rd Armored Division]] and a [[Panther Tank|Panther Ausf. A]] of [[Panzer brigade]] 106 Feldherrnhalle. A nearby Panther, a German medium tank, was sitting by a pile of rubble near a train station right by the twin spires of the Cologne Cathedral. The Panther successfully knocked out two [[M4 Sherman|Sherman]] tanks, killing three men, before it was destroyed by a [[M26 Pershing|T26E3 Pershing]], nicknamed Eagle 7, minutes later. Film footage of that battle survives.<ref>{{cite web | title=Clash of Heavy Tanks at Cologne | url=https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/clash-of-heavy-tanks-at-cologne/ | work=Warfare History Network | author=Christopher Miskimon | date=November 2019 | access-date=28 October 2024 | archive-date=15 November 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241115100540/https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/article/clash-of-heavy-tanks-at-cologne/ | url-status=live }}</ref>

Repairs of the war damage were completed in 1956. A [[Cologne Cathedral Seal|repair to part of the northwest tower]], carried out in 1944 using poor-quality brick taken from a nearby ruined building, remained visible as a reminder of the war until 2005, when it was restored to its original appearance.

To investigate whether the bombings had damaged the foundations of the Dom, archaeological excavations began in 1946 under the leadership of [[:de:Otto Doppelfeld|Otto Doppelfeld]] and were concluded in 1997. One of the most meaningful excavations of churches, they revealed previously unknown details of earlier buildings on the site.<ref>Klaus Gereon Beuckers: Der Kölner Dom, Darmstadt 2004, S. 113.</ref>

Repair and maintenance work is constantly being carried out in the building, which is rarely free of scaffolding, as wind, rain, and pollution slowly eat away at the stones. The ''Dombauhütte'', established to build the cathedral and keep it in repair, employs skilled stonemasons for the purpose. Half the costs of repair and maintenance are still borne by the [[Dombauverein]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2017}}

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200" widths="200">
File:Hasak - Der Dom zu Köln - Bild 02 Westseite.jpg|The west front of the completed cathedral in 1911
File:Warning sign in cologne.jpg|US soldier and destroyed [[Panther tank]], 4 April 1945
File:KAS-Verteidigungsbeitrag-Bild-14612-1.jpg|alt=Anti-Soviet propaganda poster featuring a Soviet soldier in front of the Cologne Cathedral to encourage West German public opinion in favor of rearmament|Anti-Soviet propaganda poster, early 1950s
</gallery>