Cologne Cathedral Installs Fully Automated COPTR Thunderstorm Warning System

Effective Protection for Visitor Platform and Cathedral Workshop Staff

Cologne Cathedral is one of Germany’s most iconic landmarks, attracting millions of visitors from around the world each year. To protect the elevated visitor platform and ensure the safety of the cathedral workshop staff, the cathedral chapter has now chosen the fully automated COPTR® thunderstorm warning system.

The unique challenge at Cologne Cathedral: not all exterior areas — especially exposed platforms — can be fully secured using traditional external lightning protection systems. To nonetheless reliably protect visitors and staff, the COPTR® system was installed — a technologically advanced warning system that uses real-time data and automatically triggers both alert and all-clear signals.

The decision to implement the COPTR® thunderstorm warning system came after careful evaluation. It enables the early evacuation of the visitor platform when thunderstorms approach and significantly enhances occupational safety for the skilled workers of the cathedral workshop, who frequently operate at great heights.

Through coordinated warning mechanisms — including visual and acoustic signals as well as mobile notifications — responsible personnel and staff are instantly informed. The alerting process is fully automated, requiring no manual intervention. It is based on the DIN EN IEC 62793 standard, which defines the state-of-the-art for thunderstorm warning systems.

The system was already activated several times during the summer of 2025 — most recently during multiple thunderstorm events in June — and has reliably contributed to the timely evacuation of visitors from the platform and the rapid securing of work areas during hazardous conditions.

With this initiative, Cologne Cathedral takes a major step toward proactive safety management in the face of weather-related hazards — protecting both people and cultural heritage. It is also the first structure of its kind in Europe to deploy a fully automated thunderstorm warning system based on this technological standard.