When the Relics of the Three Wise Men Came to Cologne

The Beginning of the Great Pilgrimage to Medieval Cologne

Flavius Schmitter, the young blacksmith, walked through the port of Cologne in high spirits that morning. For days, hardly anything else had been discussed there but a message that stirred people’s minds and set their hearts racing.

Born as the fourth son of a farrier in a small town on the River Erft, not far from Cologne, Flavius had learned the blacksmith’s trade from the ground up in his father’s workshop. Yet his ambitions extended far beyond the forge of his hometown. He felt drawn to the great trading city of Cologne, for he had heard that work and a better livelihood awaited him there.

Countless horses were needed along the Rhine. They pulled heavily laden barges upstream against the powerful current. Increasingly, the ships had to be unloaded or pass with only a light cargo through the dangerous stretch near the Wertchen, a small island in the Rhine. There, a mighty rock rose from the riverbed, against which many a ship’s keel had already been shattered. Beyond this narrow passage, the goods were loaded once more—a laborious task requiring many hands and just as many horses.

Flavius thought to himself, “Where many horses need to be shod, a skilled blacksmith will also be able to earn his bread.” In his mind, he could already see the day when honest work would earn him enough to marry Margarete, the daughter of a neighboring farmer from his hometown, and start a family with her.

And so, he spent almost every day at the port, listening to the conversations of boatmen, merchants, and dockworkers, while observing the bustling activity. Everywhere, heavy sacks were carried, barrels rolled, crates stacked, and goods weighed. Between Salzgasse and Hafengasse, business continued from the first light of morning until nightfall. In front of the imposing building at the Salzgasse Gate, merchants, shipowners, day laborers, and messengers from near and far gathered to exchange news.

But on this particular day, there was something special in the air.

A report was spreading unlike anything Cologne had ever heard before.

Archbishop Rainald von Dassel was returning home from Italy. He had faithfully accompanied Emperor Frederick Barbarossa on his military campaigns and was now expected to return to Cologne with a precious treasure. People whispered that, hidden deep within the archbishop’s entourage, were the sacred remains of the Three Wise Men from the East, who had once followed the star to Bethlehem to present the newborn Christ Child with gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The news spread like wildfire.

It was also said that Empress Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, had once discovered the relics of the Three Wise Men and arranged for them to be taken to Milan. After Emperor Frederick Barbarossa conquered the city of Milan, he entrusted them to his loyal chancellor and archbishop, Rainald von Dassel, who was now bringing them to Cologne as the most precious of gifts.

Thus, it was on 23 July 1164, in the Year of Our Lord, that the relics of the Three Wise Men ceremoniously arrived in Cologne.

From that day onward, Cologne became one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in Christendom. The news spread across countries and seas. From every direction, pilgrims began the arduous journey to the Rhine. Noblemen and peasants, clergy and craftsmen, rich and poor alike wished to see the sacred relics with their own eyes. Many even hoped to touch them in prayer and thereby receive the blessing of God.

Along with the pilgrims came merchants, innkeepers, craftsmen, and carters. The city flourished as never before. Inns were established, markets expanded, and new workshops opened their doors. Cologne gained prestige, prosperity, and power—the beginning of an economic rise that would shape the city for centuries.

Flavius Schmitter looked upon the bustling activity with great confidence. He knew that he had come to the right place at the right time. In the city that preserved the most precious relics of the Christian West, his own hopes for a happy future now rested as well.

And at the very place where Flavius first heard this story, the first beer was brewed only one generation later: at the “Brauhaus zum verlorenen Sohn”, the present-day “Haxenhaus.”