The Tomb of St Albert in Cologne

One of the twelve Romanesque basilicas of Cologne, Germany, is dedicated to the Apostle St Andrew, and I will add this church to the ongoing series which I have been doing about them on his feast day, which is two weeks from tomorrow. Today I am doing just the crypt, since it contains the tomb of St Albert the Great, whose feast it is.

St Albert Preaching, by the German painter Friedrich Walter (1440-93) 

Cologne was the very first city where the Dominicans established a presence in Germany, not long after St Dominic’s death in August of 1221, and they were first received there by the secular canons who had charge of the basilica of St Andrew. In 1248, St Albert was sent to this house by a general chapter of the order to establish a “studium generale”, which under his leadership became one of the Dominicans’ chief centers of learning in all fields. Albert’s remarkable career, including a brief stint (1260-62) as bishop of Regensburg, took him to a great many places in Germany, France and Italy, but he spent much of his time at Cologne, and died there in the Dominican house in 1280, at the age of about 80.

This chasuble, which now is kept in the sacristy of the church of St Andrew in Cologne, was found in the tomb of St Albert on one of the occasions when it was opened, and was still used until fairly recently. Our thanks to Fr Innocent Smith OP for sharing this photo with us. 

In 1802, when the left bank of the Rhine was under the rule of France and God’s enemy Napoleon, Cologne suffered the effects of the “secularization”, as it is called, by which religious orders were suppressed, and their property stolen by the government. The Dominican’s church was first confiscated and used as a military barracks, then later destroyed. St Albert was therefore moved across the street to the crypt of the church of St Andrew, and his remains placed in an unfinished Roman of the 3rd century sarcophagus, where they remain to this day. Well has it been said that the wheels of God’s justice grind slowly, but to powder, for the powers of this world that once expelled the Dominicans from Cologne are no more. The friars, on the other hand, returned to the city in 1947, and were given custody of the church of St Andrew, and of their brother and teacher St Albert. (The following images are from Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0; first by Raimond Spekking, the rest by © 1971markus.)

An inscription in the crypt: “Here lies Saint Albert the Great, doctor of the Church, born ca. 1200 AD in Lauingen (in the southern German region of Swabia); entered the Order of Preacher in 1223; Professor of Theology at Paris and Cologne, 1248; bishop of Regensburg, 1260-62; on November 15, 1280, he passed to heaven; on December 16, 1931, he was canonized by Pope Pius XI. Rejoice, o happy and holy Cologne, who alone above all others hast merited to possess the splendor and glory of all Germany.”

Another which commemorates the visit of Pope St John Paul II to Cologne in 1980, for the 700th anniversary of St Albert’s death.