Breakdown of Der Kölner Dom ist gestern besichtigt worden.
sein
to be
gestern
yesterday
besichtigen
to visit (sights), sightsee
der
who, which, that (relative pronoun; die, das)
werden
to be (passive auxiliary + past participle)
Kölner
of Cologne
der Dom
the cathedral
Questions & Answers about Der Kölner Dom ist gestern besichtigt worden.
Why does the adjective Kölner end in "-er" here instead of "-e" like a normal adjective after der?
Kölner is a special type of geographic adjective formed by adding -er to a city name (Köln). These adjectives are indeclinable, meaning their ending never changes, regardless of the gender, case, or number of the noun they describe. That is why it is der Kölner Dom and not der Kölne Dom.
Why is the sentence using ist ... worden instead of ist ... geworden?
This is the Perfekt (present perfect) tense of the passive voice. When the verb werden is used to form the passive voice alongside another past participle (here, besichtigt), its own past participle drops the ge- prefix and simply becomes worden. You only use geworden when werden is the main verb meaning "to become" (for example, Er ist alt geworden).
Could I use besucht instead of besichtigt to say the cathedral was "visited"?
It is much better to use besichtigen here. Besichtigen specifically means to go sightseeing or to comprehensively view a place or building. Besuchen is generally used when visiting people, or for attending something like a school, a class, or a concert.
What is the difference between saying Der Kölner Dom wurde gestern besichtigt and the version used in this sentence?
Wurde besichtigt is the Präteritum (simple past) passive, while ist besichtigt worden is the Perfekt (present perfect) passive. While spoken German usually prefers the Perfekt tense for normal verbs, the Präteritum passive (wurde) is actually very common even in everyday speech because it is shorter and easier to say. Both are perfectly correct here.
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