St. Cäcilien – Museum Schnütgen

The site began as a women's collegiate foundation in the late 9th century, named after Saint Cecilia of Rome. For many years it was believed to be the location of Cologne's first cathedral, but excavations disproved this theory and instead uncovered the foundations of a rectangular church likely belonging to the foundation. In 965, Archbishop Bruno bequeathed 50 pounds of silver to the foundation in his will to complete the building. The second Christmas Mass of the Cologne archbishop was celebrated here, after St. Maria im Kapitol. In the 12th century a new Hohenstaufen structure replaced the Ottonian complex, and in 1474 the building passed to the Augustinian nuns of the dissolved convent of Maria zum Weiher.

When the neighbouring monastic buildings were demolished in the 19th century, Cologne's first hospital was built in their place, with St. Cäcilien serving as its church for many years. In 1980 the street artist Harald Naegeli painted his "Dance of Death" on the neo-Romanesque west façade — a work now protected as a listed monument in its own right. Masses are held in the church at Christmas and on the feast day of Saint Cecilia.