The church is named after Saint Ursula - here
the legend: Saint Ursula was the daughter of an English king who wanted to
visit the English settlers in France, probably Normandy. In her company were
11,000 virgins. The picture shows the king saying fare well to them. In
the following picture you see an altar with 11 female sculptures symbolizing
the number of 11 times 1,000. Crossing the Canal to France, the ships got
into a storm, lost their course and ended in the mouth of the river Rhine.
Ursula appreciated this and navigated up the river to Cologne, where they were
warmly welcomed. One night Ursula dreamt that she was obliged to go on a
pilgrimage to the Pope in Rome. Consequently, she decided to do so
and she sailed up the river Rhine to the Alps. They crossed the Alps and paid a
visit to the Pope. He had the vision that she and her party would encounter
difficulties and so he blessed them. Indeed, going back to Cologne they
were involved in a battle with the Huns and were captured. They refused to
share their vicious way of life and preferred death instead. In one of the
following photos you see a sculpture of Ursula holding a golden arrow in her
hand. She was killed by a shot with bow and arrow.
About 400 AD
Clematius, a citizen of Cologne, rebuilt a chapel, which stood at the place
where Ursula and her virgins had died. The Western part of the church was
finished at 1135 , the tower in the 13th century (renewed in the 15th century
in Romanesque style). In the Golden Chamber (Southern transept) all walls
and niches for relics are covered by human bones. They are ornamentally
assembled to inscriptions and symbols. The most important piece in the Golden
Chamber is the Aetherius-shrine. According the legend Aetherius was bridegroom of St. Ursula.
