Cologne Cathedral is temporarily off-limits to tourists due to a terrorist threat, the building’s security services said on Tuesday.
The German security authorities have received information indicating that an Islamist group is planning a New Year’s Eve attack on the cathedral. “All masses will continue as scheduled, but tourist visits are no longer permitted,” Oliver Gassen, the cathedral’s head of security, told German press agency DPA. The building will be closed outside of service times.
Cologne Cathedral, an imposing Gothic monument reaching 157 metres in height, typically draws over 100,000 visitors between Christmas and New Year.
Large crowds attended this year's Christmas mass, according to the cathedral's dean, Guido Assmann. “The faithful came, there were more people at the Christmas mass than last year,” Assmann said.
Security checks at the cathedral’s entrance prior to mass were conducted without incident, police said.
Meanwhile, three individuals suspected of involvement in an Islamist network were detained in Austria over the weekend, authorities there announced.
However, “there is no immediate threat of an attack in Vienna,” a spokesman for that city's police said.
