Shrine of the Three Kings, Medieval reliquary in Cologne Cathedral, Germany

The Shrine of the Three Kings is a gilded reliquary shaped like a basilica, with a wooden core overlaid in gold and silver, adorned with more than 1,000 gems and pearls and 74 silver-gilt relief figures. It stands on a carved stone base behind the high altar of Cologne Cathedral, sheltered by a glass canopy.

Archbishop Rainald of Dassel brought the relics to Cologne on 23 July 1164, after Frederick Barbarossa gave them to him following the destruction of Milan. Philip of Heinsberg commissioned the shrine from Nicholas of Verdun, who led the workshop after 1181; it was completed in 1225, after Philip's death. The shrine first stood in the old Carolingian cathedral and has occupied its present place behind the high altar since 1948.

The shrine's surfaces narrate the Three Magi, the Virgin Mary and the life of Christ in gold-plated silver figures. Around 1199 King Otto IV gave three golden crowns for the Magi, and Cologne's coat of arms still shows three crowns. On the shrine Otto is shown in the procession behind the Magi, labelled "Otto Rex" and wearing no crown.

The reliquary is positioned above the high altar of the cathedral and can be viewed clearly from the nave when visiting the church. The best vantage point is from the center aisle, where you can see all the details.

The shrine is not one casket but three joined together, as its rear side shows; it only appears to be a single basilica-shaped house. Since 1948 it has stood behind the high altar, after earlier positions elsewhere in the Gothic cathedral. Among the figures is Emperor Otto IV, labelled "Otto Rex", placed in the Magi's procession without a crown.