Kolumba is the museum of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne, designed by Peter Zumthor, whose Atelier Zumthor won the 1997 competition. The archdiocese took over the museum in 1989. The cornerstone was laid on October 1, 2003, and Cardinal Joachim Meisner consecrated it on September 15, 2007. The article calls it a living museum and a museum of spiritual verticality.
The walls use light grey brick, with clay plaster, Jura limestone and terrazzo floors, and poured mortar shell ceilings. Daylight alone lights the 16 exhibition rooms of varying size.
An excavation site on the ground floor has a walkway over ancient foundations. It also includes the 1950 chapel Madonna of the Ruins by Gottfried Böhm. Exhibitions are reinstalled each year on September 14.
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