Dombauhütte Aachen
(Aachen Cathedral Workshop)
Administrative body: Domkapitel Aachen
(Aachen Cathedral Chapter)
The nucleus of Aachen Cathedral is Emperor Charlemagne's palatine chapel, which was built between 793 and 813. Construction of the cathedral's Gothic choir began in 1355 and was completed in 1414. A ring of radiating chapels was added between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries. Aachen Cathedral was the first German structure to be added to the World Heritage List in 1978. A cathedral workshop was founded in the middle of the nineteenth century and continued its work until 1893. It was revived in 1952 in order to repair damage caused during the Second World War, but closed down once again in 1969. The Aachen Cathedral Workshop in its present form was set up in the year 2000 and is responsible for the structural maintenance and conservation of Aachen Cathedral and all the buildings in the cathedral close.