St. Andrew's Church (Tomb of St. Albert the Great)

The Story

St. Andrew's Church (St. Andreas) in Cologne, Germany, is one of the city's twelve great Romanesque churches, consecrated in 974 and standing a short walk from Cologne Cathedral. In its crypt, a third-century Roman sarcophagus holds the remains of St. Albert the Great, the Dominican bishop, philosopher, and scientist known to his own age as the Universal Doctor. Albert was born in Bavaria around 1200 and joined the young Dominican Order. A master of theology at Paris, where St. Thomas Aquinas was his student, he wrote on virtually every field of knowledge, from Scripture and theology to botany, zoology, astronomy, and mineralogy, insisting that faith and reason are allies in the search for truth. He taught for many years at the Dominican studium in Cologne, served briefly as bishop of Regensburg, and died in Cologne in 1280. His remains were kept at the city's Dominican church until its closure in the era of secularization, and in 1802 they were transferred to St. Andrew's. Since 1954 they have rested in the Roman sarcophagus in the crypt, which was rebuilt as a tomb chapel; the Dominican Order has served the church since 1947. Pope St. John Paul II prayed at the tomb on the 700th anniversary of Albert's death in 1980. Pilgrims and visitors today find in St. Andrew's both a treasury of medieval art and a place of quiet prayer at the tomb of a Doctor of the Church whose witness speaks directly to the modern conversation between science and faith.

Church Recognition

Albert the Great was beatified in 1622 and canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1931; Pope Pius XII later named him patron of the natural sciences, and his tomb in St. Andrew's crypt is an approved place of veneration served by the Dominican Order.

Catholic Teaching

St. Albert's tomb invites the veneration the Church gives to the relics of the saints (CCC 1674) and recalls her teaching that faith and reason cannot contradict one another, since both come from God (CCC 159), a truth the Universal Doctor spent his life demonstrating.

Plan Your Visit

Open only what you need. Expand all

Practical

1 Additional Information ▾

Visitors may pray at the tomb of St. Albert the Great in the crypt, venerate the church's medieval shrines and relics, and admire the celebrated modern windows by Markus Luepertz; his feast on November 15 is marked with special observance.

Go Deeper

The Dominican community's official website, https://dominikaner-koeln.de, provides information on the church and the tomb; readers may also explore the Catechism on faith and science (CCC 159) and Pope Pius XI's decree naming Albert a Doctor of the Church, In Thesauris Sapientiae.