COLOGNE CATHEDRAL INTRODUCES ENTRY FEE BEGINNING JULY 1

COLOGNE, JUNE 2 /SRNA/ - Cologne Cathedral will begin charging tourists an admission fee of EUR 12 starting July 1, Deutsche Welle reported.

Church officials said the fee is necessary to help cover the costs of maintenance, security and day-to-day operations.

Visitors attending services, praying or lighting candles will still be able to enter free of charge through specially designated access areas.

The cost of maintaining the cathedral is estimated at EUR 16 million annually or about EUR 44,000 per day.

"The cathedral is expensive to maintain and requires a great deal of money. Naturally, a 12-euro admission fee is more than welcome", cathedral administrator Clemens van de Ven said.

Vice-Rector Guido Assmann said the fee had been set at a socially acceptable level, with exemptions for certain groups, including children, as well as discounts and free admission on selected holidays.

Cathedral officials had announced plans to introduce an entrance fee in March. At the time, architect Barbara Schock-Werner, head of the Central Cathedral Construction Association, said a fee higher than EUR 10 would be excessive.

The Central Cathedral Construction Association has been raising funds for the cathedral since 1842, initially to complete its construction and, since 1880, to support its upkeep.

At 157 meters tall, Cologne Cathedral is the world's tallest twin-spired church. When it was completed, 632 years after construction began, it briefly became the tallest building in the world.

Construction started in 1248 and was completed in 1880.

Admission to most churches in Germany remains free, although exceptions include Berlin Cathedral, where visitors already pay an entrance fee of EUR 15.