MYSTERY PHOTO: What spire is this, and in what city?

Today’s mystery ought to be a gimme, especially in the season we’re in. Disregard who this person is, but can you pinpoint and identify the spire in the background? Send your answer to ebrack2@gmail.com, to include  your hometown.

The last mystery confused some, thinking that since the Olympic games were going on, perhaps it was Notre Dame in Paris. It isn’t. The photo came from M.J. Jordan of Duluth. 

As Allan Peel of San Antonio, Tex. wrote: “Today’s mystery photo features the flying buttresses of the Cologne Cathedral, officially known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter, located in the heart of Cologne, Germany, less than 1,000-feet from the Rhine River. The internet is awash in all kinds of interesting facts and details about this historic site, including the fact that it took over 600 years to complete construction, as work started in 1248, halted in 1560, and then restarted in 1814, essentially being completed by 1880. 

While the Cologne Cathedral is the most visited site in Cologne, here are a few ‘lesser-known’ facts about the cathedral that I found particularly interesting:

• It is home to the oldest stained glass window (dating back from the 13th century) as well as the earliest representation of the Crucifixion in Western Art (dating back to the 970s).
•  It is home to the largest freely swinging church bell in the world. Affectionately called “The Fat Peter Bell,” you do have to climb more than 500 steps to enter the bell chamber.  
•  During World War II, the cathedral was bombarded 84 times by highly explosive bombs. However, it was able to survive total destruction due to its physical size and reinforced flying buttress design.”

Others recognizing the mystery include Jay Altman, Columbia, S.C.; Steve Ogilvie, Lawrenceville; George Graf, Palmyra, Va.; and Susan McBrayer, Sugar Hill. 

• SHARE A MYSTERY PHOTO:  If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but  make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!)  Send to:  ebrack2@gmail.com and mark it as a photo submission.  Thanks.