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The church belonged to the local charterhouse (a monastery of the Carthusian order) until 1794, when the monastery was closed and the church was used variously as a warehouse or a military hospital until the 1920s, when it was restored to its religious function by a local Protestant community, whom it serves as a church until today. After reconstruction, it features an impressive pipe organ array with glockenspiel.
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St. Severin' is the second tallest of Cologne's Romanesque churches (79 m), dedicated to the patron saint of rain who is said to protect the city from drought. Visitors can walk beneath the elevated 19th-century shrine to receive a "blessing from above." The church is a treasure trove for history buffs, housing the largest preserved medieval silk fabric in the world (4th–10th century) and a crypt built over ancient Roman burial sites.
This Catholic church is one of the oldest in Cologne, predating even the famous romanesque churches, as it was founded in 948. It has seen many additions and reconstructions throughout the centuries, and was almost totally destroyed during the Second World War. Its current form is an eclectic reconstruction finished in the early 1960s.