Attending the Köln Cathedral for church on the 29th was simultaneously beautiful and bizarre. The atmosphere of the whole cathedral was undeniably grand. Every sound echoed throughout the halls, and you had to crane your neck upward to see the ceiling. The details in the stone and stained glass windows genuinely felt like they were to amazing to be made by human hands.
At the same time however, the church service itself felt lacking. It was hard to be engaged with the service because I’m not Catholic and not fluent in German, but that wasn’t the only problem. While sitting in my pew, I didn’t feel like I was there to worship God, but rather that I was there for the building itself. Perhaps this feeling was amplified by the various tourists who stood at the back of the sanctuary while we worshiped. I would have much rather enjoyed going to church in a smaller location like I do at home.