Leaning Tower of Cologne (St. Johann Baptist)

On 29 September 2004, the church tower tilted 77 centimetres westward after a utility tunnel for the under-construction North–South City Railway had been driven through 14 metres below the church the previous day. To prevent collapse, the tower was braced externally with six steel beams and the cavities beneath filled with concrete. An expert report concluded the tower could have remained in its tilted state, but the church council decided to have it straightened. Originally planned before World Youth Day and the papal visit in August 2005, the restoration was finally completed on 26 October 2005: the west side was raised 13.5 centimetres using hydraulic presses in controlled 10-millimetre increments. The work cost around one million euros, covered by the insurer of Cologne's public transport operator KVB.

The furnishings include a seated Madonna from around 1320, a reliquary shrine of Saint Antonina from the late 14th century, a brass baptismal font from 1566, and bronze eagle lecterns (1629/1723). The ornamental stained glass was created by Willi Strauß in 1963. Of the four pre-war bells, only the large bell "Antonina" — cast in 1400 by Johannes Duisterwalt and now in private ownership — survived. Since 1962, six new bells cast by the foundry Feldmann & Marschel in Münster have hung in the tower, tuned to match the peal of St. Severin.