Overview
- The Kölner Dom started charging up to €12 for interior tourist visits on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, with reduced tickets at €6.
- The Domkapitel paired the paid scheme with free access through the north entrance for worshippers and prayer and identified exemptions for children under 14, people with severe disabilities, ZDV members, and specified free days.
- Church officials put the move down to years of budget shortfalls and rising bills, noting deficits since 2019 and projected annual expenses near €16 million, about €44,000 per day.
- The decision prompted public debate over the cathedral’s sacral role and commercialization and produced a rapid surge in membership applications to the Zentral-Dombau-Verein, which reported roughly 1,200 new applications in days.
- Cathedral leaders say the fee will fund long, costly conservation work carried out by the Dombauhütte, with individual sculpture restorations costing tens of thousands of euros and major projects stretching toward 2070.