September 2, 2024, 3:55 pm | Read time: 4 minutes
Cologne’s St. Ursula Basilica is home to the largest ossuary north of the Alps. The mortal remains of more than 10,000 people have been on display here, arranged into a unique work of art in the so-called “Golden Chamber” for almost 400 years. The cult goes back to the legend of the city’s patron saint and is, presumably, also a momentous translation error.
Just 700 meters from the legendary Cologne Cathedral lies another famous place of worship in the German city on the Rhine: the Basilica of St. Ursula. It is the most visited church in the city after the world-famous cathedral. Moreover, it houses a truly unique and, for some, certainly gruesome sight. This is the so-called “Golden Chamber,” the largest ossuary north of the Alps. The Basilica of St. Ursula was built almost 400 years ago. It is said to contain the mortal remains of St. Ursula, the patron saint of Cologne. But there are always doubts about the legend.
According to the “Süddeutsche Zeitung,” the bones of more than 10,000 people rest in the “Golden Chamber.” They are arranged on the walls, sometimes stacked several meters high. They form a macabre work of art that is second to none. In addition to the bones, which form patterns and sometimes even lettering, there are also 600 human skulls in the catacomb. It is also known that a place of worship stood on the site of today’s Basilica of St. Ursula as early as the 4th century. The cult of the early Christian martyr arose later, thanks to a Hollywood story.
Huge burial ground
According to this story, Saint Ursula was a Breton or English princess who sought a life of faith in God during her life in the 4th century. She agreed to marry a pagan king’s son on condition that she could undertake a three-year pilgrimage beforehand. On her return, death awaited her and her companions in Cologne. She and a total of eleven friends are said to have been massacred by the Huns. The cult of St. Ursula, which venerates the saint, has existed since the 6th century. The mortal remains of her and her fellow sufferers are said to lie in the “Golden Chamber” in Cologne.
These helped to make Cologne one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in the Christian world in the Middle Ages. When the city walls had to be moved in 1106 for the metropolis to grow, a huge burial ground was discovered during excavations. Today, it is clear that the bones are those of people who died 2000 years ago, long before the legendary St. Ursula. At the time, however, the discovery was all too readily interpreted as a sensational find of the final resting place of the saint and her followers.
Legendary translation error
A bizarre translation error in ancient writings probably also helped. Because somehow, over the course of time, Ursula’s eleven disciples became a whopping 11,000. The discovery of the huge burial ground was seen as confirmation of the legend of St. Ursula. This is a legend from which great profit was subsequently made. Naturally, the countless bones were then advertised as the remains of the saint herself and her followers. In 1643, the cult of St. Ursula reached a new peak with the construction of the “Golden Chamber.”
This led to the flourishing of a truly macabre branch of business. Cologne craftsmen subsequently produced more and more very special St. Ursula souvenirs. These took the form of wooden busts with real human skulls or bones supposedly of the saint and her disciples carved into them. For a certain period, acquiring such a relic was considered absolutely en vogue when visiting Cologne. More than 100 of these special busts are still on display in the “Golden Chamber” today.
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Visit the “Golden Chamber”
The fact that the “Golden Chamber” survived the heavy attacks on Cologne during the Second World War unscathed could be interpreted as another miracle. This is also despite the fact that bombs badly damaged the Basilica of St. Ursula itself. According to the website “Katholisch in Köln,” the reconstruction lasted from 1949 to 1972. The special room was also restored in 1978. Today, it is considered one of the world’s most important collections of baroque relics.
If you want to visit the Basilica of St. Ursula, you can do so daily from 10 am to 5 pm. However, the “Golden Chamber” is only open to visitors from Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 12 noon and 3 pm to 5 pm, and on Sundays from 3 pm to 5 pm. However, the church does not guarantee these opening times. Admission to this special room is two euros per person. You can book guided church tours via “Katholisch in Köln” or the city’s official tourism website.