What would the city of Cologne be like without its majestic cathedral?
Certainly not the tourist magnet it is as home to the world’s third largest Gothic church. With all the visitors, though, comes a lot of dirt. Cologne’s magnificent cathedral is eye candy for Goth fans. On a sunny day, its blackish spires contrast starkly against a bright blue sky. The clouds on an overcast day, on the other hand, seem to swallow the steeples as they shoot up to the heavens. All that beauty costs time and money, however. While the some 100 million tourists who travel to the city on the Rhine River – nearly 6.5 million of whom visit the cathedral – help fill the municipal coffers each year, millions of Euros must be spent on the church’s maintenance. Along with their money, visitors to the cathedral (known as the Koelner Dom in German) drag in substantial quantities of dirt, which doesn’t just cover the floor, but also the church’s countless statues, mosaics and other artworks. No ordinary cleaning personnel would do for sweeping away all the dust. “My daily equipment c
