Overview
- The Domkapitel introduced a €12 sightseeing fee and reduced public visiting hours to 10:00–18:00, a policy that took effect on Wednesday, July 1 and remains in force.
- Former Dombaumeisterin Barbara Schock-Werner has publicly criticised the change, saying locked main doors and shorter hours make the cathedral feel unwelcoming and rule out quick visits by locals and commuters.
- The cathedral administration defends the measure as part of a financing concept to pay rising maintenance and operating bills and has said it will not grant special exemptions or free-entry days.
- Worshippers retain free access but only to a segregated area, and a long-term construction site on the Domplatte has made the designated entrance harder to reach and reduced numbers at services.
- Before the fee the Dom drew about six million visitors a year and faced roughly €16 million in annual running costs, a gap that officials say the new revenue is intended to help close and that could change who uses the site and when.