Whimsical Windows - Divinely dwarfed

At a time of year where faith is showcased, I present for Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors a divine setting. The year is 1982, I was walking back then, in the (then West) German city of Köln standing in front of the impressive and imposing Cologne Cathedral. Completed in 1880, the twin spires soar toward the heavens reaching a height of 157 M /516 feet. I was absolutely dwarfed by this huge house of worship...I hope to see your windows and doors links!

Whimsical Windows - Cathedral of St. Paul

Toby hosts the fun architectural meme, Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors - we look for interesting portals and such. Today, I found this subject in a (big) bunch of photos I scanned last November. I was, however unaware of just what it was. Given the degradation of the color print, I deduced it was from the1980s...with some luck, I found this to be from 1983 and is the Cathedral of St. Paul, in the Minnesota city of the same name. Built in 1904, the architect was Louis Masqueray, the style referred to as Classical Revival. It is imposing even with the softer sepia edit. The mystery of what it was is now solved in this impressve structure...

Whimsical Windows - Köln eatery

Across from the cathedral along the Trankgasse in Köln, August 1982

Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors is back, and again I am transported back to 1982 and this seen before building was outside the Cathedral in the German city of Köln / Cologne. I love the craftsmanship in this European building, typical of the past and not like the modern computer designed angular buildings in the North America of today. I assume a restaurant sits under the red awning; If you look two floors above the gentleman on the balcony, you see the characters that put on a 'show' that is performed for those passing by. I don't know the story, although watching these mechanical 'actors' brought a smile to me. See doors and windows at Toby's meme!

Whimsical Windows - Dwarfed

A favorite meme of mine, Whimsical Windows/Delirious Doors, is back for the week. Our intrepid host Toby allows us the freedom to find interesting architectural items to post, and windows, doors and perspectives. A fun pursuit as we all run into such, and hope to have photographic devices with some charge remaining.

Of course, pictures were once taken without digital modernity, such as this one taken by a relative with my manual Pentax K1000 in 1982, an SLR with nothing automatic, and heavy with its steel body and K-mount lenses. It would be a challenge to use for me these days...

The place is the famous Cologne (Köln) cathedral - I found this original print another original and scanned it this afternoon. The sense of proportion is what I see - for instance, the twin spires are 157M (515 ft) tall and I, even in my walking days, am dwarfed by comparison. A landmark that could not be constructed these days due to cost, so it remains an original!