1842 Year of Foundation

January 15th. Conference of Cologne Cathedral Building Society’s provisional commission. It was decided to lay out ready a list, in which Cologne Cathedral building friends could enrol. Those names registered until February 9th, were printed in order to serve as a list of eligible candidates.

February 14th. Day of foundation of Cologne Cathedral Building Society. The society’s first General Assembly and at the same time election meeting in the Gürzenich. Over 3000 Cologne Cathedral building friends stood in the hall. During the ballot, where 3327 votes were cast, the enrolment in membership lists continued. Every member was eligible. The most votes were polled by von Wittgenstein, von Fürstenberg-Stammheim, Blömer, Farina, DeNoel, Essingh, Mülhens, Camphausen and Rolshausen.

March 16th. Third session of Cologne Cathedral Building Society’s management board. The managing committee elected von Wittgenstein president. On behalf of publisher and bookseller M. DuMont- Schauberg von Wittgenstein communicated to the management board that he, DuMont-Schauberg was willing to print a society’s paper free of charge for the Cologne Cathedral Building Society and to enclose it in his Cologne paper “Kölnische Zeitung”.

March 31st. During session of the management board the issuance of Cologne Cathedral Paper was agreed upon. Sulpiz Boisserée and Franz Liszt were appointed honorary members of Cologne Cathedral Building Society’s management board.

April 10th. Count of Fürstenberg-Stammheim proposed the admittance of all 500 orphans in Cologne to Cologne Cathedral Building Society and consented to pay the membership-fee of one Thaler for each child himself.

July 3rd. Issue number one of “Cologne Cathedral Paper” (“Kölner Domblatt”) came out. The paper was published every Sunday enclosed as a free supplement in “Cologne Paper” (“Kölnische Zeitung”) published by DuMont-Schauberg, but could also be ordered as a single subscription. Since 1845 it was only issued once a month.

September. Just in time for the Cologne Cathedral building feast the restoration of the Cathedral’s inner choir was completed.

September 4th. First Cologne Cathedral building feast – laying of the foundation stone for continuation of building. Cologne Cathedral Building Society’s members met on the market square “Neumarkt” to then walk over to the Cathedral with musical accompaniment. It was a solemn High Mass, a ceremony also His Majesty, King Friedrich Wilhem IV participated in. Afterwards one moved on celebrating the laying of the foundation stone to the frontage of the transept. His Majesty delivered a commemorable and an oft-cited speech and made three hammer blows on the corner stone.Finally the first stone for continuing construction of the Cathedral was hoisted by an old crane and relocated.

September 30. Cathedral building employed 188 workers, 100 of which solely were stonemasons journeymen. Construction costs amounted to 76.059 Thaler in the year 1842.