Cologne Cathedral starts charging €12 entry fee from 1 July, but worshippers and children go free

New entry fee

For the first time in its history, Cologne Cathedral will charge an entrance fee for the interior. Starting Wednesday 1 July 2026, visitors must pay €12 to enter the UNESCO World Heritage site. The cathedral chapter announced the change after running deficits every year since 2019, depleting its reserves.

Exceptions and free access

Several groups are exempt. Children up to age 13 and people with severe disabilities enter free. Worshippers, those coming to pray, and members of the Zentral-Dombau-Verein (Central Cathedral Building Association) can use the north portal without a ticket. The west entrance will be for paying tourists. Reduced tickets at €6 are available for schoolchildren and their accompanying adults, students, trainees, and holders of social passes in North Rhine-Westphalia.

“The freely accessible prayer area is an important part of the new visitor concept. Cologne Cathedral will remain a house of God, open to people for prayer and personal reflection.”

Additionally, the cathedral will be free for everyone on certain days: from 6 January (Epiphany) to the following Sunday, on 1 May (Labour Day), 3 October (German Unity Day), and during the Dreikönigswallfahrt pilgrimage at the end of September.

Reason for the change

The cathedral chapter said that since 2019 the cathedral has posted losses for six consecutive years. Reserves that had covered shortfalls for many years are now exhausted. Dompropst Guido Assmann noted that tourists make up about 99% of visitors, and the fee is intended to secure the long-term preservation of the building and reinforce its spiritual character.

“The sightseeing fee can help make the cathedral more tangible again as a house of God and sacred space. I am confident that in a few years we will see that both the long-term preservation of the cathedral and its spiritual character have benefited from this step.”

Expected impact and reactions

Officials do not anticipate chaos on the first day. Markus Frädrich described the launch as a "phase of reorientation" and said staff have been trained and visitor flows adjusted. An online ticket portal has been available since 15 June. The cathedral chapter expects the new rules to noticeably calm the daily atmosphere inside the cathedral.

“We are not expecting chaos, but a phase of reorientation. We assume that the new processes will need to settle in first – both for our staff and for visitors.”

There is no formal check of intentions at the north portal. Assmann acknowledged the risk that some tourists might claim to be worshippers to avoid paying, but said the supervision staff would ensure respectful behaviour without conducting a "test of conviction".