Cologne Cathedral is number 1
COLOGNE. Cologne Cathedral is still Germany’s most popular tourist attraction. This has been the case for many years, and the result for 2010 was confirmed by a recent online survey of 1600 Internet users carried out by the German Tourism Association (DTV) and the city Internet portal, meinestadt.de.
Compared to 2009, the cathedral has actually grown in popularity: In 2009 it received 8% of votes, whereas in 2010, 15% of those surveyed gave their vote to the Cologne landmark.
The Dresden Frauenkirche church came in second with 7.1%, followed by the Brandenburg Gate in third place with 6.6% of votes.
Some 90% of participants have already visited their favourite attraction.
Not only is Cologne Cathedral a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most popular landmark in Germany, it is also the most visited attraction in Germany, with more than 6.5 million visitors each year. The cathedral treasury can be pleased with its performance too, having sold over 100,000 tickets in 2010.
In light of this success, it is quite fitting that the gothic cathedral will enjoy a special honour in 2011: Its image will adorn the back of 30 million 2-euro coins. The coins will be in circulation from 28 January.
Cologne, 17 January 2011