Cologne Cathedral during the Plague

Mercy in times of pandemic

I agree that external content from the external platform YouTube are displayed. Personal data can be sent to third-party platforms be transmitted. More about this in our general Data protection or in the Provider's privacy policy.


Content may vary due to your current are not displayed for this website. Please change your settings to view content display with third-party cookies. For more information please read our Data protection.

Epidemics and pandemics aren’t unfamiliar concepts to us nowadays. The Middle Ages also had their own experience, namely the Black Death. It’s estimated that one third of the European population died from the plague between 1347 and 1353 alone. This terrible illness did not show Cologne any mercy, and only a small, brave group dared to defy death and tend to the sick and dying…