Aachen Germany Aachen Cathedral, frequently referred to as the "Imperial Cathedral" (in German: Kaiserdom), is a Roman Catholic church in Aachen, Germany. The church is the oldest cathedral in northern Europe and was known as the "Royal Church of St. Mary at Aachen" during the Middle Ages. For 595 years, from 936 to 1531, the Aachen chapel was the church of coronation for 30 German kings and 12 queens. The church is the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Aachen. Charles the Great (Charlemagne) began the construction of the Palatine Chapel around 796, along with the building of the rest of the palace structures The construction is credited to Odo of Metz. It suffered a large amount of damage around 881, by the Northmen and was restored in 983. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Gothic additions were added, including the choir in 1355. It was restored again in 1881. The core of the cathedral is the Carolingian Palatine Chapel, which is notably small in comparison to the later additions. When he died in 814, Charlemagne's remains were placed in a vault in the cathedral. In 1000, Otto III had Charlemagne's vault opened. Otto of Lomello, one of the courtiers who accompanied him, recorded the event, which is reported in the Chronicle of Novalesia, written about 1026. The account reads: "So we went in to Charles. He did not lie, as the dead otherwise do, but sat as if he were living. He was crowned with a golden crown and held in his gloved hands a sceptre; the fingernails had penetrated through the gloves and stuck out. Above him was a canopy of limestone and marble. Entering, we broke through this. Upon our entrance, a strong smell struck us. Kneeling, we gave Emperor Charles our homage, and put in order the damage that had been done. Emperor Charles had not lost any of his members to decay, except only the tip of his nose. Emperor Otto replaced this with gold, took a tooth from Charles’s mouth, walled up the entrance to the chamber, and withdrew again."[5] A large picture representing Otto and his nobles gazing on the dead Emperor was painted on the wall of the great room in the Town Hall. In 1165, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa again opened the vault and placed the remains in a sculptured sarcophagus made of Parian marble, said to have been the one in which Augustus Caesar was buried.[by whom?] He also installed a bronze chandelier. The bones lay in this until 1215, when Frederick II had them put in a casket of gold and silver. A vellum codex found interred with him was removed (from wiki) thanks for viewing and comments zoom recommended