For those readers who do not live in the orbit of the Cologne regional press, here are some notes.
The Cathedral has a book value of 27 Euro's!!! (Twenty-seven).
How so, when experts estimate the costs of constructing the Cathedral anew at 3 billion Euro's?
The actual value of the Cathedral, as it stands before us as a Gesamtkunstwerk, can not be estimated and is not necessary to know. The Cathedral - what a surprise - is not for sale.
Nevertheless, there needs to be an entry in the books of the Archdiocese, as a memorandum, so to speak. As if it would be possible to forget that there is a cathedral. Yet the rules are the rules.
Why 27 Euro's? The Cathedral is built on 26 plots of land, each valued at 1 Euro - plus 1 Euro for the Cathedral itself.
I propose we don't leave the Cathedral merely in Cologne - as the song proposes - but aquire the full and wide admiration of this great achievement by Gothic builders, even if it's been entered in the books for only 1 Euro.
Translation: Erik Eising, (MA)