The front end of the shrine, the only one to be fashioned out of pure gold, was donated by King Otto IV around the year 1200. It features the largest and most precious of the antique intaglios and cameos. The trapezoidal panel between the upper and the lower sections of the shrine can be removed to reveal a grille through which the skulls of the Magi can be seen. This structure allowed the relics to be shown to pilgrims. Tongs were also used to touch the relics with small pieces of paper or material, on which prayers were written and which were often decorated with an image of the Magi. These third-class relics would then be given to the pilgrims as proof that they had made the pilgrimage to Cologne.
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