Overall, I thought that worshiping at high mass in the Koln Cathedral was very interesting and definitely an experience worth having. Because I attend a Christian Reformed Church at home it was obviously very different in many ways. Not unexpectedly though, I have attended catholic masses a couple other times before. What I liked about it compared to other masses I’ve gone to was the grand scale of everything. The cathedral itself is an amazing work of architecture and art both inside and out. I don’t know the names of all the things that happen during the service, but it was cool when they walked around swinging the incense. Everything was in German though, so it was disappointing that I couldn’t really understand any of it.
I personally don’t mind that the cathedral is open to tourists, otherwise we wouldn’t get to go up the cathedral and see all of the amazing architecture. The religious purpose of the building is still there, it’s just also a tourist attraction afterwards.