Geographical situation and climate

The city area covers 405.17 km² (230.25 km² on the left and 174.87 km² on the right). In Germany, only the city states of Berlin and Hamburg and four small and medium-sized towns in Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg have a larger urban area.

The topographical reference point of the town, the tip of the northern Domturm, is situated at latitude 50° 56′ 33″ N and longitude 6° 57′ 32″ E. The highest point is 118,04 meters (Monte Troodelöh in the Royal Forest); the lowest 37.5 meters above sea level (in the Vorringer rupture).

The city is located in the Cologne bay, a triangular river landscape characterized by the Rhine, between the steep slopes of the Bergisch Land and the Eifel, immediately after the Rhine leaves the Rhine from the Rhine Shale Mountains. This protected and favorable location creates a mild climate for Cologne, which is characterized by several special features:

Cologne lies in the greater area of the transition zone from temperate sea climate to continental climate with mild winters (mean of January: 2.4 °C) and moderately warm summers (average: 18.3 °C). The average annual rainfall is 798 millimeters, which is in the middle of Germany and much higher than in the western-bordering Rhine-Erft-Kreis (Erftstadt-Bliesheim: 631 mm) or the Jülich-Zülpicher Börde (Zülpich: 582 mm), which gives commuters the impression of a "rain hole".

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Cologne panorama seen from Severin bridge to the north, October 2019

Air quality and environmental protection

Energy production, industry and transport are the main causes of human-induced air pollution. In the framework of the previous air pollution planning, considerable success has been achieved for almost all pollutants, in particular for the fine particles still critical at the beginning of the 2000s. In order to protect human health, the annual limit value of 40 µg/m³ was set for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) throughout Europe in 2010, and a critical value of 30 µg/m³ of NOx is used as an annual average to protect vegetation. In Cologne these limits are still being exceeded significantly.

Nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter can cause lasting damage to human health. Long-term increases in NO2 outdoor concentrations lead to worsening pulmonary function and an increase in the incidence of infections-related respiratory diseases such as cough or bronchitis. Particularly affected are those suffering from respiratory diseases and children and adolescents. Cardiovascular disease and mortality are also increasing in the population with increasing NO2 levels. For some time now, the focus has been on the so-called ultra-fine dust particles, especially near airports.

In order to permanently reduce air pollution, the district government of Cologne first established an air pollution control plan in accordance with § 47 Abs. 1 Federal Immission Protection Act (BImSchG) in 2006. Such an air pollution control plan shall cover the description of the exceedance situation, the polluter-pays analysis, consideration of the likely evolution of the load situation and the development of measures which should lead to a reduction in air pollutants. On 1 January 2008, the first environmental zone of North Rhine-Westphalia was therefore established in Cologne and covered the inner area of the urban area. As compliance with the limit values for nitrogen dioxide could not yet be achieved, the air pollution control plan was updated and the environmental zone extended to the entire urban area by 1 April 2012. Following a gradual introduction, only cars with a green label may enter the environmental zone as of 1 July 2014.

As the current limit value for nitrogen dioxide is still exceeded at nine measuring stations in Cologne in 2016, the district government had to continue the current air pollution control plan for the city area of Cologne. Overall, at all measuring points affected by exceedances, the share of emissions from road transport is the highest in the existing load situation. A large proportion of this is due to nitrogen dioxide emissions from diesel vehicles. The annual average fine dust limit has been respected at all measuring points in Cologne since 2009. The location of areas under increased pressure covers a wider area around the city center and individual areas in the outer neighborhoods. The five biggest problem areas are the Clevische Ring (Cologne-Mülheim), the Justinianstraße (Deutz), Neumarkt (City), Aachener Straße (Weiden) and Luxembourger Straße (Sülz). There is therefore an urgent need for action to further reduce the pollution of air pollution in the planned area.

Since mid-August 2019, trucks over 7.5 tons have been banned from passing through Cologne's city center as part of the air pollution control plan. The ban does not affect the supply of goods and their suppliers.

geology

Cologne lies on the southern edge of the Bay of Lower Rhine, mostly in the area of low terraces, which rise slightly from the Rhine on terraces. The geological substructure is formed in the urban area from up to 35 meters of powerful deposits of the Ice Age (Quartet). They are made of gravel and sand of the Rhine-Meuse system. The foothills of the Rhine lignite region reach the limestone: In 1860 the brown coal mine union Neu-Deutz was founded there. The brewery of the Sünner brothers, which used the groundwater entering the stollen, is now located on the site. In the deeper underground, layers of the Tertiary and Devon follow.

The soil is characterized by the fertile soil of the Schwemmland plain on the Rhine. In the western neighborhoods, they are covered by loess, which is weathered to yield-rich, arable clay floors (parabradirt). They are often associated with fertile colluvias, which are formed in sinks from peeled soil material. At the end of the last ice age, the Rhine deposited sandy to sandy sediments in the eastern plain of the Rhine, which is divided by landed old arms. This resulted in high yields parabrasive and brown soil, which are also used for agricultural purposes. In the Rheinaue, the periodic flooding of flooded soil materials caused fertile brown floors. The extreme east of the city area is already part of the base of the Rhine Shale Mountains. This is where geologically older terraces and canals of the river are spread, most of them producing poorer browns, acidic powder-browns and astonishingly pseudogleye in dense terrain. These rather poor soils are used as pagans or forests. Gleye, influenced by groundwater, was formed in the streams and in the rivers as well as in the Rheinaue.

Tectonic movements of the Rhineland-Palatinate resulted in extensive terrain edges around Cologne, such as the Ville at Frecht. Directly west of it is Germany's most active earthquake zone, whose epicenter lies in the district of Düren. In 2006, the earthquake geology department of the University of Cologne installed a measuring network with 19 "Strong-motion stations" between Aachen, Bensberg, Meckenheim and Viersen and expanded it to 24 stations by 2018. Several times a month in the Cologne bay, microearthquakes are taking place which are not perceptible.

Cologne and the Rhine

floods, April 1983; level: 9.65 meters above 0 level

The Rhine runs along the old town of Cologne, March 2017

After leaving the shale mountains south of Cologne, the Rhine, called Niederrhein, reaches the city at Godorf and leaves it at Worringen. The slope of the river is about 0.2 per thousand. Its current water level can be read at the clock of Pegel Cologne. Normal displays this 3.48 meters, which represents a depth of water in the channel of about 4.48 meters.

The floods affected Cologne several times. The worst recorded flooding occurred in February 1784, when a temperature jump began in 1783/84 after the extremely long and cold winter. The Rhine had frozen tightly and the melting of snow and the breaking ice caused a record level of 13.55 meters. The floods on which heavy ice floes ran ravaged large parts of the shore and all ships. The plaster gang destroyed individual buildings, including fortifications; There were 65 dead. The flood of water and ice completely destroyed the right - wing Rhine district of Mülheim am Rhein, now a district in Cologne.

In the 20th century, the three high water levels of the centuries from 1926, 1993 and 1995 reached levels of up to 10.69 meters. Since 2005, a flood protection concept has been implemented that protects the city up to a level of 11.90 meters by means of fixed or mobile walls. Several times the Rhine led low water. On 20 September 2003 at 8 a.m. the Rhine reached 0.8 meters at the water level in Cologne. This is below the lowest recorded figure in 1947. This negative record was broken in October 2018. First, the record was reached on October 18. On 23 October, the water level was only 0.67 meters. However, the water level means that the 150 meter wide navigable channel in the middle of the river still has one meter of water. Inland waterway transport has suffered restrictions and has not been completely discontinued, as on the Elbe.

The amount of water flowing through the city, depending on the level of water level, is shown below: 0,80 m (lowest water level): 630 cubic meters/second; 3,48 m (normal water level): 2000 m³/s; 6,20 m (flood mark I): 4,700 m³/s; 8,30 m (flood mark II): 7200 m³/s; 10,0 m (flood protection in the old town, Rodenkirchen and Zündorf): 9700 m³/s; 10,69 m (floods in January 1995): 11,500 m³/s.

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panorama of the old town. In the middle of the "Groß St. Martin", right Cologne Philharmonie and Museum Ludwig, far outside Hohenzollernbrücke with entrance to the Cologne Central Station, July 2006

neighboring communities

Cologne is the center of a conurbation with about two million inhabitants. In a closed settlement area, the following cities are clockwise, starting in the north-east, adjacent to the urban area: Leverkusen (district-free city), Bergisch Gladbach and Rösrath (Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis), Troisdorf and Niederkassel (Rhein-Sieg-Kreis), Wesseling, Brühl, Hürth, Frecht and Pulheim (all Rhein-Erft-Kreis), Dormagen (Rhein-Kreis Neuss) and Monheim (Mettmann district).

The town of Wesseling had been consigned to Cologne on 1 January 1975, and after a court ruling on 1 July 1976 it was given back its independence.

city

Municipalities and districts of Cologne

The city of Cologne is divided into 86 districts, which are grouped into 9 districts. The city of Cologne numbers the districts of 1-9 and the districts of 101-105, 201-213, 301-309, 401-406, 501-507, 601-612, 701-1 716, 801-809 and 901-909, with the percentage corresponding to the number of the district. However, the district number has nothing to do with the zip code.

Within the neighborhoods of Cologne, the Cologne people still distinguish between different "vedels" (Cologne for neighborhoods), whose inhabitants often maintain social ties and contacts reminiscent of village communities. However, the limits and names of the Vedel vary considerably depending on the view of the inhabitants. The Office for Urban Development and Statistics has defined 371 neighborhoods for statistical evaluations - in fact, parts of districts including the districts themselves - which include both residential and commercial districts.

Cologne

No.	district	coat	resident 31st Dec. 2017 with main or by-pass	surface in km²	resident per km²	district
3	city	-	129,108	16.37	7,887	South Old Town, South New Town, North Old Town, North New Town, Deutz
2	Rodenkirchen		109,751	54.55	2,012	Bayenthal, Marienburg, Raderberg, Raderthal, Zollstock, Rondorf, Hahnwald, Rodenkirchen, Weiss, Sürth, Godorf, Immendorf, Meschenich
3	lindenthal	-	152,117	41.80	3,640	Klettenberg, Sülz, Lindenthal, Braunsfeld, Müngersdorf, Junkersdorf, Weiden, Lövenich, Widdersdorf
4	field of honor		108,256	23.98	4,515	Ehrenfeld, Neuehrenfeld, Bickendorf, Vogelsang, Bocklemünd/Quantiich, Ossendorf
5	nippes	-	117,921	31.75	3,714	Nippes, Mauenheim, Riehl, Niehl, Weidenpesch, Longerich, Picture Stacks
6	choir	-	83,036	67.16	1,236	Merkenich, Fühlingen, Seeberg, Heimersdorf, Lindweiler, Pesch, Esch/Auweiler, Volkhoven/Weiler, Chorweiler, Blumenberg, Roggendorf/Thenhoven, Worringen
7	porz		113,670	78.92	1,440	Poll, Westhoven, Ensen, Gremberghoven, Eil, Porz, Urbach, Elsdorf, Grengel, Wahnheil, Wahn, Lind, Libur, Zündorf, Langel, Finkenberg
8	lime		121,372	38.16	3,180	Humboldt/Gremberg, Kalk, Vingst, Höhenberg, Ostheim, Merheim, Brück, Rath/Heumar, Neubrück
9	sleeve		149,564	52.20	2,865	Mülheim, Buchforst, Buchheim, Holweide, Dellbrück, Höhenhaus, thin forest, stem, Flittard
total	City of Cologne		1,084,795	404.9	2,679

63 percent of the population of Cologne live in the left Rhine area (as of 2016). Since the historic city center is located on the left Rhine side, the right side of the Rhine is called "Schael Sick".

flora and fauna

Worringer Bruch in late summer

Cologne has extensive green areas, which in the urban area are designed as parks, in the outlying counties are mostly managed forests. There are also 22 nature reserves, such as the "Vorringer Bruch" in the extreme left-Rhine north of Cologne, a former branch of the Rhine, which is now being landed. It offers a home for rare species of animals and plants and a characteristic landscape of the meadows and woods. On the right hand side, there are mainly open forest and heath landscapes such as the Wahner Heide, the Königsforst nature reserve and the Thin Forest. According to the 2016 survey, Cologne has 5406 hectares of forest, which is equivalent to 13.3% of the urban area.

The fauna has a very high number of cultural folklore. In addition to pigeons, mice and rats, which are ubiquitous and often perceived as plague, red foxes have entered the urban area in significant numbers. They are now located in the city center, where they use small gardens and parks as a residential area. As a result of the improvement in water quality, the Rhine, which flows through Cologne, has once again become the home of many former and newly immigrant species.

In the green areas of Cologne several non-native animals have settled, favored by the mild climate. Larger populations of necklaces and the Great Alexandersitch live in the Melaten cemetery and the grounds of the Riehler homes. Originally introduced to Germany from Asian mountainous regions (India, Afghanistan) for the zoo and housing, these parrots have established themselves as Neozos. The population size ranges from a few hundred to more than 1000.

development of the city name

The name of the city of Cologne derives from its Latin name Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. The name of Colonia developed through Coellen, Cöllen, Cölln and Cologne (see section "Prussian rule" and Cologne). In the Cologne dialect Cologne the city is called Kole. In the Romanesque and a greater number of other languages, the Latin origin of the name is still recognizable (for example Italian and Spanish Colonia, Colonia, Portuguese Colónia, Catalan Colònia,Catalan Colònia, French Cólonia, Polonyan Polonya, Polonya, DM).

antique

Reconstruction of the Roman Cologne, 3rd century

The ancient name of the city, Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (CCAA), dates back to the Roman Empress Agrippina: The wife of Claudius was born on the Rhine and left the urbanization Oppidum Ubiorum in 50 AD. c. to the city; The city's rights were officially granted on July 8, 50. In the Roman period, Cologne was the seat of the state of Germania inferior.

In January 69, Aulus Vitellius was declared emperor by the local Roman-Germanic legions, and he received the sword Gaius Iulius Caesar, which was kept in the local temple of Mars, as a symbol of his claim to power. He also laid his leg name Germanicus. Along with the vexillations of the British Legions, parts of the troops stationed on the Rhine marched to Italy: This withdrawal of significant troops was expected to bring about a very dangerous situation in Germania for the Romans in the Batauprising of the same year.

Roman found coins suggest that the water supply of the city from the foothills since about 30 n. c. existed. Probably about 80 n. c. The city was given one of the longest Roman aqueducts ever with the Eifel Water Pipeline.

early Middle

View of Cologne from Die Cronica van der hilliger Stat van Coellen, printed in 1499 by Johann Koelhoff d. J.

In the early Middle Ages, Cologne was an important city. Against the background of the gradual decline of the Roman Empire, it was conquered by the franc in the year 455. Until the beginning of the 6th century, Cologne was the capital of a separate Franconian sub-kingdom, then went to the kingdom of Chlodwig I. and maintained a strong autonomy in the territory of the Ripuera. The Romanesque population lived in the city for a long time in parallel with the Franconian conquers. During the 6th to 8th centuries a complete acculturation took place between the two sections of the population. The interaction of Franconian and Latin dialects is demonstrated by sources. The Swiss franc quickly adopted cultural achievements of the Roman city population, for example in the field of construction technology or glass production. Towards the end of the Merano era, Cologne was a residence town. From the Carolingian period at the latest, the bishop or archbishop of Cologne was one of the most important persons in the empire.

In 1862, the first Vikings attacked Cologne were on ships. Devastation and looting occurred. The Vikings settled permanently in Waal and Lek, and there was a great trade between the Normen and the Rhine states. In the winter of 881 the peaceful period ended. The Vikings invaded the Maasgebiet and looted numerous towns and cities. At the end of December, at least three of their ships appeared in front of Cologne, and the Nordic warriors demanded money for the way. In January 1882, after tough negotiations, Cologne paid Normandy a high amount of money in silver. The city was therefore spared. The Vikings went up the Rhine in February, looted and raided Bonn, Andernach and Trier.

On their return or during their summer campaign in 882, the robbery horde demanded a new Danegeld from the Cologne people, which the exiled Cologne people could not find. Her city was subsequently also branded. After the devastation, the Cologne authorities reinforced the rugged walls of the Roman period, which proved very useful in the next Viking visit in 883. This year, Cologne, unlike the cities of Bonn and Andernach, which have just been rebuilt, did not go on fire.

Among the Ottons, Cologne played an important role in the rapprochement of the East Franco-German Empire with the Byzantine Empire, since the Empress Theophanu, a native of Greece and Gattin Ottos II, resided there as a deputy. From the 10th century onwards, a series of founding monasteries was established, producing Romanesque churches. As a result, Cologne, under the leadership of major and politically savvy Archbishops, gained an undisputed rank as a spiritual center. The Archbishop of Cologne was the prince of the middle of the 10th century, founded Archstiftes and Kurfürstentum Cologne. In 1164, the transfer of the monuments of the three kings from Milan to Cologne by Archbishop Rainald von Dassel made the city an important destination for pilgrims.

Largest town in medieval Germany

A plan of 1800 shows the still intact city wall and in the legend names 16 gates (No. 36-51), e.g. B. 47: Egelsteintor, 43: Hahnentor, 39: Severinstor

Cologne became the largest city in the German-speaking region in the High Middle Ages with about 40,000 inhabitants, and its fortifications had to be expanded several times. From the year 1180 (documents of 27 July and 18 August 1180) the longest city wall at that time was built with 12 castles and 52 military towers in the ring wall, 22 gates and small gates in the Rheinauer and about 1250 completed. It was more powerful than the wall of King Philipps II, built almost at the same time. Augustus in Paris and 7.5 km long. The 12 gates - seven huge double tower castles (including the Eigelsteintor and Hahnentor), three huge tower castles (of which the Severinstor) and two smaller double tower gates (see Ulrepforte) - integrated into the semi-circular city wall - should remind of heavenly Jerusalem.

rest of the high medieval city wall at today's Hansaring, March 2005

Since the 12th century, Cologne has been known as Sancta in the city name alongside Jerusalem, Constantinople and Rome: Sancta Colonia Dei Gratia Romanae Ecclesiae Fidelis Filia - Holy Cologne of God's grace, daughter loyal to the Roman Church. The name Dat hillige Coellen or the hilarious Stat van Coellen was a term of this time. Cologne is still called "et hillije Kahl". It has been decided to build an unrivaled and impressive church to provide the relics with an appropriate setting. The foundation stone of the Cologne Cathedral was erected in 1248.

late medieval Cologne

On May 7, 1259, Cologne was granted the right to stack, which guaranteed the citizens of Cologne a the right to pre-empt all goods transported on the Rhine, thus contributing to the prosperity of the city. In 1288, the years of fighting between the archbishops of Cologne and the patricians temporarily ended with the Battle of Worringen, in which the army of Archbishop Siegfried of Westerburg (1275-1297) against that of Count Adolf V. of Berg and the Cologne citizen. From then on, the city no longer belonged to the archbishop, and the Archbishop was only allowed to enter it for religious acts. However, the official survey of the Free Reichsstadt continued until 1475. On 20 November 1371, the clashes between the patrician council and the guilds not represented in the council led to the bloody Cologne Weber uprising.

Gothic Seal of the City of Cologne (1396)

In 1396, a bloodless revolution finally brought the reign of patriarchy to an end in Cologne. They were replaced by a permanent constitution based on the organization of the gaffes. This followed a dispute within the Cologne patriciat, in which the party of the Gates with its leader, Hilger Quattermart, was removed from the fair by the party of friends of the Konstantin of Lyskirchen. Hilger Quattermart's relative Heinrich von Stave was executed on the Neumarkt on January 11, 1396, and many of the seizures were sentenced to life imprisonment.

On June 18 , 1396 , Constantine von Lyskirchen attempted to restore old patrician rights. The artisans and merchants who protested were sent home "from the high horse" by him. Then the guilds captured the friends in their meeting room. The grasps were liberated. On June 24, 1396, a 48-member provisional council of merchants, landowners, and craftsmen met. Gerlach von Hauwe wrote the so-called "Verbbrief", which was signed and put into effect on 14 September 1396 by the 22 so-called gaffes. The gaffes are heterogeneous. They summarize the deposed patricians, offices, guilds and individuals, but not the very high number of clergy; Every Cologne citizen had to join a squadron. The association letter constituted a 49-member council, with 36 councilors from the fireplaces and 13 commanders appointed. The association letter remained in force until the end of the Free Reich City in 1794.

early modern

Cologne 1531 Anton Woensam Snippet from the washing gate to the Frankenturm

From 1500 onwards, Cologne belonged to the newly created district of Niederrheinisch-Westphalia, whereas the surrounding area (Kurköln) belonged to the newly created Kurrheinische Reichskreis (Kurrheinische Reichskreis). In 1582 the Archbishop of Cologne, Gebhard Truchsess of Waldburg, renounced the Catholic Church, proclaimed the equality of Catholicism and Protestantism in his area of domination and later married the Protestant parish lady Agnes of Mansfeld. However, since he refused to apply to himself the "clerical reservation" clause enshrined in the 1555 Augsburg Peace of Religion (an exception to the otherwise applicable principle of "Cuius regio, eius religio" laid down in the Treaty, and thus, in accordance with the clause, to the Cologne Archbishop's seat conferred on him, one of the three princely bishops endowed with Kurdish dignity In 1931, he was appointed a member of the German Parliament of the German People's Party (Christian Democratic Union). and the reliable Catholic Ernst von Bayern, who had been inferior to the Cologne Archbishop in the election of Gebhard, has been appointed his successor. If Gebhard Truchsess of Waldburg had been able to realize his plan, the Catholic majority of the Kurfürstenkollegium would have been broken. He continued to occupy his position in contravention of the Reichstag resolutions, leading to the Cologne War (Cologne War), which lasted from 1583 to 1588 and during which Deutz, Bonn and Neuss were devastated. The war, in its destructive power, gave a foretaste of the coming sectarian struggles in the Holy Roman Empire.

Cathedral incomplete, around 1665

Cologne and surroundings in 1692: Copper stitch by the cartographer Nikolaus

The Thirty Years War left the city intact. This was partly because the city bought itself from siege and conquest by paying cash to the troops that it was bringing. Cologne earned a great deal in the war by producing and trading weapons. Cologne is becoming a center of escape for high Catholics trying to reclaim areas lost to Sweden or other Protestant powers from Cologne. Moreover, rich Cologne businessmen are involved in the Thirty Years' War as high lenders to the Catholic powers - in the Vatican's sense.

Until 1802, the district of Cologne in the right-wing Rhine was part of the duchy of Berg. The area within the Bishop's Way, which corresponds to today's four districts to Old and New Town, formed the Free Reich City of Cologne. The other districts of the city were part of the Kurfürstenstift in Cologne.

Cologne was the only large free imperial city in the old empire that did not go beyond the evangelical commitment. Humanism, too, could not take root in Cologne at first, and the anti-humanist attitude of the Cologne clergy was parodied in the Darkman Letters in 1515. In the 18th century, Cologne also largely closed itself to the Enlightenment. Especially for Protestant travelers from home and abroad, the city has become increasingly reputed as a hoard of intolerant, obscurantist and anti-progressive Catholicism. Georg Forster gave an example after a visit in 1791:

53 years later, Heinrich Heine was not very advantageous

French rule

Maid decisions of the French administration, 1808, here on the ruinous state of St. Jakob

With the arrival of French troops on October 6, 1794 during the coalition wars, the history of the free city ended. The city, which had tried to remain neutral, was handed over without a fight to the command of the left wing of the Rhine Army, Jean-Étienne Championnet. Like the whole of the left Rhine region, the city was incorporated into the French Republic and in 1798 into the Département de la Roer, whose capital was not Cologne but Aachen. Cologne became the seat of a sub-prefect of the arrondissement of Cologne. Many Cologne citizens welcomed the French revolutionary forces as liberators, and a liberation tree was built on the Neumarkt. Jews and Protestant Christians who were previously disadvantaged were treated equally. Despite the often-depressing attributes, citizens remained loyal to Napoleon's empire. During his visit to the city on September 13, 1804, he was received enthusiastically. In 1812, the city was awarded the title of a Bonne ville de l’Empire français.

Prussian rule, writing "Cöln"

From 1857 to 1919:

In 1815 the Rhineland became part of the Kingdom of Prussia with the city of Cologne after the wars of liberation following the Congress of Vienna. With the integration of Prussia, nationalist thinking became increasingly important. However, French liberal laws such as the Civil Code remained in force. The name of the city was immediately "germanized". In 1900, the Prussian Minister of the Interior appointed a decree to replace the King and German Emperor Wilhelm II. It was said that the city was written only with C. But liberal newspapers like the Cologne newspaper did not follow suit. After the end of the Empire in 1918, the Municipal Intelligence Agency under Mayor Konrad Adenauer announced on 1 February 1919:

The fortification development of the city of Cologne to the Prussian fortress ring

Cologne became the most important city in Prussia to Berlin, not least because of the commitment of the Cologne bank houses over the next few decades. In 1880, after 632 years at the instigation of the King of Prussia and the German Emperor, the construction of the Cologne Cathedral was completed - at least to a large extent, because at that time, repairs were necessary because of the centuries-long deadlock, as is the case today, especially as a result of the damage caused in World War II and environmental influences. Because these works will probably never be completed, the cathedral is called the "eternal construction site", which Heinrich Heine already carried out in 1844:

At the end of the 19th century the city was expanded by the purchase and grinding of the city walls, walls and bastions in the rayon. The city was limited by the Cologne fortress ring. The settlement of the Neustadt (Cologne-Neustadt-Nord, Cologne-Neustadt-Süd) established contact with fast growing surrounding communities and created the conditions for their incorporation. The demolition of the old city wall has spared only a few exemplary structures due to an intervention by the Prussian Ministry of Culture.

20th century

In October 1914, the United Kingdom launched an air-ship attack on Cologne for the first time. On 18 May 1918 (Pentecost Saturday) British planes bombed the city; 41 people died, including 19 children, 47 were injured.

10 Pfennig emergency money banknote from 1918, signed by Mayor Konrad Adenauer, on the back the historic town hall of Cologne

Konrad Adenauer dedication card

Cologne's destroyed city center, 1945

destroyed buildings after a bombing in December 1943; in the background of the cathedral

A US soldier is standing at the Cologne Cathedral just a few weeks before fighting the 6th. On 23 March 1945, the German Panther tanks were destroyed,
April 4, 1945

High street at night, 1968

In 1915 a so - called nail image was created in Cologne on the occasion of the First World War, Kölsche Boor en Iser. The figure is considered to be one of the most artistically valuable in Germany and is now located in the Cologne City Museum. On September 28, 1917 Konrad Adenauer was first elected Cologne Mayor. His term of office includes the recognition of Germany's largest music college on 5 October 1925 and the establishment of the then largest employer in Cologne, the Ford-Werke, on 18 October 1929.

Like the entire Weimar Republic, Cologne suffered from inflation from the years until 1923. After hyperinflation in 1922-23, a currency reform occurred: In 1924, after the death of his father, he became a member of the German parliament. As in many places, there was local emergency money in Cologne. Cologne also suffered from the Great Depression since autumn 1929. The German banking crisis also began in May 1931. From August 1932, Cologne was connected to Bonn by the expressway, today the A 555, which was designed by the Mayor Konrad Adenauer as a job creation measure and built between 1929 and 1932.

Cologne in the Time of National Socialism

In the Reichstag election on 5 March 1933, the NSDAP achieved 30 % in the Cologne-Aachen constituency (center 35,9 %); On 6 November 1932, it was only 17,4 % (center 39,3 %).

Adenauer was on leave after the Nazi seizure of power on March 13, 1933, and was finally released from office on July 17, 1933. In the Second World War, the first bombs fell on the 18th. Cologne on 22 June 1940. The British RAF Bomber Command intensified the air war in 1942. At the end of May 1942, Cologne was the target of the first attack with more than 1000 bombers, "Operation Millennium". 29. The city was severely hit by bombers of the USAAF during the night of the Royal Air Force and during the daytime, and the area bombardments now destroyed the city by more than 90 per cent; The Cologne Cathedral was severely damaged.

2. March 1945, just days before the US Army invaded, there were the last of 262 air strikes on the city. The population of Cologne fell from more than 772,000 (May 1939) until the end of the war to around 104,000 inhabitants registered after the invasion of the US troops (42,000 left-Rhine on the 4th of March). April 1945, 62.000 in Jorge on 5. May 1945; 491,380 at the first post-war census on 29 March 2006. 1 October 1946). In the course of the final phase crimes, 1800 domestic and foreign resistance fighters and some 8000 Jewish Cologne were murdered by the Nazis in Cologne from January to March 1945.

1. In the course of Operation Lumberjack, the U.S. Army finally reached the city on the 5th of June. March 1945. On the same day the occupation of the left - Rhine part of the city began. The occupation of right - Rhine Cologne took place only a few weeks later. The war that continued elsewhere in Germany ended on May 8 with the unconditional surrender of the Wehrmacht.

Cologne after the War

It was not until the course of 1959 that the population of Cologne returned to its May 1939 level. With the territorial reform implemented by the Cologne Act in 1975, the population exceeded the million mark and Cologne became the fourth city in Germany, along with West Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. However, after the reintegration of Wesseling on 1 July 1976, the population was again below one million by May 2010.

St. Gereon

St. Andreas

St. Kunibert

apostles

St. Maria in Capitol

St. Cäcilien

St. Maria in Lyskirchen

St. Georg

Grand St. Martin

St. Pantaleon

St. Severin

St. Ursula

religions

Secularization and immigration of non-Christian groups have reduced the Christian population.

religious statistics

At the end of 2019, 32.8% of the population of Cologne were members of the Roman Catholic Church and 14.4% of the Protestant Church; 52.8% belonged to other denominations or religious communities or were non-religious. In the previous year, 33.6% of Cologne's inhabitants were Catholic, 14.7% were Protestant and 51.7% belonged to other confessions or religious communities or were non-confessional.

Christianity

Historically, Cologne is as Catholic as the whole of the Rhineland, apart from parts of the Bergisches Land and some towns on the Lower Rhine. Since 313 at the latest Cologne has been the seat of bishop (Archbishop of Cologne). The cathedral of Cologne has been considered the city's defining landmark since the Gothic period. The Romanesque church of the Benedictine monastery of Great St. Martin and the Town Hall Tower dominated the city's silhouette until the cathedral was completed in the German Empire.

Cologne was quickly ranked as one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation on July 23, 1164 after the transfer of the presumed entities of the Three Kings. The first journey of the newly crowned emperors and kings led from Aachen to the Triangle Shrine, Archbishop Philipp I. by Heinsberg for the legs. The pilgrims brought a lot of money into the city, which led to an increase in settlements and a jump in the population of the city.

The successor, Philipp I. From 1248 on, Heinsberg had built a new cathedral, whose construction was slow and finally completely stalled due to disputes with the city council and the subsequent expulsion of the prince bishop from Cologne.

In the Middle Ages, Cologne became a center of the trade of relics, as medieval people hoped to come closer to one or the saint of salvation by possessing a sacred object or bone. This meaning of the city gave it the name "holy Cologne". The meaning of religion is reflected in the coat of arms of the city, which depicts the three crowns of the Three Kings and the eleven flames of the holy Ursula of Cologne and its companions, who are said to have suffered martyr death in Cologne.

current

Pilger before the welcome poster for Benedict XVI. at the cathedral

One of the highlights of Cologne’s Christian history was the 20th. World Youth Day in August 2005. Some 26,000 volunteers from 160 countries welcomed guests from 196 countries in the cities of Cologne, Bonn and Düsseldorf. 400,000 visitors were accredited to this major event of the "Young Catholic Church". At the closing trade fair on the Marienfeld, a closed open-cast mining near the suburb of Frecht, more than a million people in the greater Cologne area. Pope Benedict XVI also. visited the city of Cologne on the occasion of its first Pontifical trip after its inauguration in April 2005.

In 2007, Cologne hosted the 31st edition for the second time after 1965. German Protestant Church Congress with approximately 155,000 participants.

pilgrimage

For the city of Cologne, besides the saints three kings and the holy Ursula and their companions, the sacred Albertus Magnus in St. Andreas and the sacred Edith Stein (Theresia Benedicta a Cruce), a philosopher and orchestra murdered by the Nazis, have a significance for pilgrimages. In addition:

• the Selige Adolph Kolping, "Father of the Gesellenes", in the Minorite Church
• The Blessed Johannes Duns Scotus, an important philosopher, also in the Minorite Church
• the Black Mother of God in the church of St. Maria in the copper alley
• the faithful to the joy-rich mother in the Church of St. Mary
• the Ewaldi martyr brothers in the Basilica of St. Kunibert
• St. Maternus in the St. Maternus Chapel in Rodenkirchen
• Painful mother in St. Marien in limestone
• St. Servatius in St. Servatius in Immendorf
• Saint Wendelin in Sankt Vitalis in Muengersdorf

Judaism

Cologne synagogue in the Roonstraße, October 2006

The Jewish community in Cologne is the oldest north of the Alps. It existed as early as 321 at the time of Emperor Konstantin. There must therefore have been an older Cologne synagogue.

In 1183, the Archbishop assigned the Jews a territory of their own, in which they could reasonably live in peace. This neighborhood in the Old Town, which could be closed with its own gates, was outlined by the Portalgasse, the Jewish Gasse, Unter Goldschmied and Obenmarspforten. It was exclusively for the Jews. This was the first ghetto in Cologne. The Mikwe, located below the town hall square, can be visited via a separate entrance.

In 1349, Bartholomew's night, a pogrom appeared, which entered the city's history as a "Battle of Jews." A mob burst into the Jewish quarter and killed most of the inhabitants. That night, a family buried their belongings here. The treasure was discovered during excavations in 1954 and is exhibited in the City Museum. In 1424, the Jews were exiled from the city "in all eternity". Between 1424 and the end of the 18th century, no Jews were allowed to stay in the city without the permission of the Cologne Council. After the arrival of the French Revolutionary Army, Jewish and Protestant citizens were placed on an equal footing with Catholic citizens. It was only in 1801 that a new Jewish community was created under French administration.

Until 1933, around 18,000 Jews lived in Cologne again. They had been allowed to resettle under Prussian rule. During the Novemberpogrome in 1938, the synagogues Synagogue Glockengasse (Glockengasse), the Roonstraße, the Mühlheim Freedom and the Körnerstrasse were set on fire as well as a beta-room in Deutz. The Jewish faith, which remained in Cologne until 1941, was imprisoned in the collective camps of Fort IX (one of the former Prussian fortresses in the Cologne fortress ring in the Green Belt of Cologne) and on the Cologne exhibition grounds and later deported. 8000 Jewish Cologne people were murdered during the Nazi era.

Today's synagogue community again has over 4850 members. It has a cemetery, elementary school, kindergarten, library, sports club (Makkabi), kosher restaurant, youth center and retirement home with meeting place for the elderly. The municipality is headed by two Orthodox rabbis. Its large synagogue, rebuilt in 1959, is located on the Roonstrasse at the Rathenauplatz. Since 1996 there is also the small Jewish liberal community Gescher Lamassoret ("Bridge to Tradition"), which belongs to the Union of progressive Jews in Germany. Their synagogue is located in the basement of the Protestant Kreuzkapelle in Cologne-Riehl.

Islam

DITIB Central Mosque in Cologne-Ehrenfeld

Due to the high proportion of immigrants from Turkey and their descendants in relation to the rest of Germany before 1990, as well as the central situation in the country at the time, the main Turkish religious Islamic and social organizations (e.g. B: Association of Turkish Workers in Cologne and the surrounding area).

Census in 2011 accounted for 11.9% of Cologne's total population.

At the headquarters of the Turkish Islamic Union of the Institute of Religion (DITIB) in the Ehrenfeld district of Cologne, the DITIB Central Mosque was built in Cologne with a 35-meter dome, two 55-meter-high minarets with an open patio and space for 1200 people. It replaces the former center - a former factory building. Following protests and discussions, the planning was modified: Inside, fewer shops and ancillary rooms were planned, while the exterior design of the building, designed by Cologne architect Paul Böhm, remained unchanged. 7. The foundation stone for the new building took place on 18 November 2009, but the opening date of 2012 was not met. In 2017, the opening was postponed once again due to legal disputes over building defects. Only the shopping center under the dome building could be put into operation.

The official opening took place on 29 September 2018 in the presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

development

population development of Cologne from 1871 to 2018

Cologne reached the threshold of 100,000 inhabitants in 1852 and became the first city in this way. In 1939, the population reached a provisional peak of around 770,000, before the number returned to below 100,000 at the end of World War II. In 1945, the return of forced evacuees and the arrival of displaced persons from the former eastern German territories led to a rapid increase in the population, reaching around 500,000 at the end of 1946.

In the 1970s, Cologne was a city of millions for a short time as a result of conscription under the Cologne Act: The population reached one million in 1975, following the last transfers on 1 January 1975. However, after the city of Wesseling had to be re-separated on 1 July 1976 by a decision of the Constitutional Court of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia, the population again fell below the million mark. Since 31 May 2010 Cologne has officially become the fourth city in Germany with a population of 1,000,298, according to the information and engineering department of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the model calculation commissioned by the State Chancellery of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia on 28 April 2015, the Land Information and Technology company of North Rhine-Westphalia expected a significantly higher population increase for the city of Cologne by up to 20 percent to around 1,243,000 by 2040.

Cologne is the largest German city, which is neither a federal state (like Berlin and Hamburg) nor the capital of a federal state.

In 2015, the city of Cologne had 198,819 foreigners (population without German nationality). In 2015, 393,793 people and 36.8% of them had a migrant background (population of foreign origin), of whom 88,321 were under 18, and 52.0% had a migrant background.

mouth species (Cologne)

Cologne is the mouthpiece spoken in the city of Cologne and in the surrounding area (in various variants and in different forms). It is part of the Ripuary within the central Franconian region, bordering on the Benrather line (maache-make-border) near Düsseldorf to the Niederfränken platt. In the south and east of Cologne there are other lines of the mouth, which are shown in the Rheinische subjects.

Cologne’s historic town hall with the 1414 completed, representative town hall tower and the 16th century Renaissance arcade, which is unique in this form north of the Alps (in October 2004 before the beginning of the extensive archeological excavations at the town hall square).

In Roman times, the respective Admiral of Classis Germanica led the municipal administration. Later, the Roman Munizial Constitution was introduced. Since the city was the seat of an archbishop, the Archbishop later obtained the full exercise of power in Cologne. But the city tried to separate itself from the Archbishop, which it eventually succeeded in the 13th century (from 1288 on, de facto, Free Reichsstadt). A council of the city can be established as early as 1180. From 1396 onwards, the 22 gaffles were the political backbone of the city administration. They elected the 36-member council, which in turn was able to select 13 people. The composition of the Council changed every six months by replacing half the members. The Council elected two mayors each year. During the French occupation from 1794 onwards, the Munizil Constitution was introduced in 1798, inspired by French models. The city administration was headed by a maire (mayor) appointed by the French government. After the transfer to Prussia in 1815, Cologne became a district-free city in 1816 and the seat of the district of Cologne, which was dissolved only after the territorial reform in 1975. Since 1815, the city has been headed by a mayor and a council. In 1856, the Prussian city order of the Rhine province was introduced. The city council elected the mayor as the formal head and head of the city administration.

In 1933 the then Mayor Konrad Adenauer was expelled by the Nazis. During the Nazi era, the mayor was appointed by the NSDAP. After World War II, the military government appointed a new mayor to the British occupation zone and introduced the British-style municipal constitution in 1946. After that, there was a People-elected Council of the City, which elected from its center the Lord Mayor as Council President and representative of the city, who was volunteering. The new post was the full-time Chief Executive, also elected by the Council, who served as Head of the City Council.

In 1999, the dual leadership of the city administration was abandoned. Since then, there has been only the full mayor. He is Chairman of the Council, Head of the City Council and representative of the City. Since then it has been directly elected by the inhabitants of Cologne. The mayor is assisted by other mayors, currently four (as of 2014), who are being provided by the strongest political groups in the Council.

traditions, mentality and politics

Cologne city head, Mayor Henriette Reker

The long tradition of a free imperial city, the long-exclusively Catholic population and the centuries-old contrast between church and bourgeoisie (and within that between patricians and craftsmen) has created a political climate in Cologne. Various interest groups often form themselves on the basis of social socialization and thus across party boundaries. The resulting interrelationship, which links politics, business and culture together in a system of mutual favors, obligations and dependencies, is called Kölner Klüngel. Heinrich Böll wrote in his essay What is Cologne of this historically shaped network. This stick has z. B. often leading to an unusual distribution of proportions in the city administration, sometimes leading to corruption: The "garbage scandal" about bribes and illegal party donations that was uncovered in 1999 not only imprisoned entrepreneur Hellmut Trienekens, but also caused almost all of the SPD's executive staff to fall.

When the city was firmly attached to the Center party due to its Catholic tradition in the Empire and Weimar Republic, the political majority changed from the CDU (where the center was founded) to the SPD soon after the war. It ruled for more than 40 years, partly with an absolute majority in the Council. Because of liberal traditions, Cologne was always a stronghold of the FDP, one of the Greens because of its tolerant social climate. Both parties are increasingly contending with the popular parties, with varying degrees of success.

Council of the City of Cologne

council room during the swearing in of Mayor Henriette Reker

The Council of the City of Cologne has 90 elected members. Representatives are the SPD (26 members), the CDU (25 members), Alliance 90/The Greens (18 members), the Left (6 members), the FDP (5 members), the AfD (3 members), the constituency GUT (former: Your friends [2 members]), the Pirate Party (2 members), the Civic Movement per Cologne (2 members) and the Free Voters Cologne (1 member).

Until 19 May 2015, the Socialist Group had one member and the seat was transferred to the CDU due to a miscounting.

In 1938, the Council of the Old Commercial and Inland Harbor City bought a council ship, the city of Cologne now listed as a historical monument.

mayor

The mayor of Cologne is Henriette Reker (non - partisan). On 18 October 2015, she received 52.66 percent of the votes cast in the municipal elections as a joint candidate of CDU, Greens and FDP. On September 13, 2020 she ran again with the support of CDU and Greens. She lost the absolute majority this time and then won the runoff on September 27, 2020, with 59.27 %. Their term of office shall be five years.

Since 1999, the mayors of North Rhine-Westphalia no longer represent their towns and municipalities exclusively politically, but they are also again managing the municipal administrations, which were run between 1945 and 1999 by an additional official, the director of the city in big cities.

town

The Cologne City Council consists of seven municipalities, each headed by a professional city council as a municipal electoral officer and the council of the mayor. The Cologne City Council employs about 17,000 people. Stephan Keller is the first representative of the mayor of the city. He also heads the General Administration, Order and Law Council.

district representations

In parallel to the Council elections, one county representative will be elected in each of the nine districts of the city in accordance with the rules of the North Rhine-Westphalia municipal code. These represent the interests of the districts and the surrounding districts vis-à-vis the city council. They shall have decision-making power in matters of minor importance which do not extend beyond the boundaries of the district. The districts are represented by the mayor.

symbols of the city of Cologne

Blowing: "Under red tortoise, in the bar-wise three gold three-leaf crowns, in silver 11 black flames (5:4:2)."

crest: The coat of arms of the city of Cologne shows the double-headed imperial eagle that holds sword and skepter. He recalls that since 1475 the city was officially part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation as a Free City. The eagle has two heads because the emperor was also the Roman-German king. The sign has the colors red and white, the colors of the Hanse. Cologne was not only a member of this association of merchants and cities as a major commercial metropolis, but - together with Lübeck - was a co-founder of the German Hanse and thus one of the oldest Hanseatic cities in Germany. Since the 12th century, the three crowns have been the emblem of the city; they remind of the Three Kings, whose relics were brought from Milan by the Archbishop of Cologne, Rainald of Dassel in 1164, and which are kept in a golden shrine behind the high altar of the Cathedral.

• small coat of arms

• 

  flag

• banner

• seal

• Cologne City Council logo

• emblem of the Cologne City Council

The 11 black "flames" that have appeared in the city coat of arms of Cologne since the 16th century remind of the very popular cult of the holy Ursula. According to legend, Ursula was a Brittany princess who was murdered by the dogs besieged by Cologne on her return from a pilgrimage to Rome and her companions. The eleven or 11,000 legendary virgins are symbolized in the city's coat of arms by the eleven drop-shaped hearttache, which in turn may be reminiscent of the coat of arms of Brittany, the home of Ursulas, which is made up of a heart attack. The dogs may have passed Cologne on their way to or from the battle on the Catalan fields 451, which could be the historical basis of the legend.

The flag of the city of Cologne is striped red and white lengthwise. It is often displayed with the city coat of arms.

town twinning

Cologne is one of the six European cities that first established a ring partnership in 1958. This act, which took place immediately after the establishment of the EEC, was intended to underline the European connection by concluding a town-twinning with all the others from each of the Member States at the time. In 1993 the partnership between the cities involved was reaffirmed: Cologne, Turin, Liège, Esch an der Alzette, Rotterdam and Lille.

Through the municipalities, Cologne assumed their partnership with the cities of Benfleet/Castle Point (UK), Igny (France), Diepenbeek (Belgium), Brive-la-Gaillarde (France), Dunstable (UK), Eygelshoven (Netherlands) and Hazebrouck (France). The latter case concerns Porz. the partnership association, however, has a curious feature: Walnuts are thrown instead of camels.

In Cologne Cathedral

In the Middle Ages Cologne became an important church and an important artistic and educational center. The cathedral of Cologne houses the Three Kings shrine, in which the relics of the Three Kings are allegedly kept, thus the three krones in the coat of arms. The Cologne Cathedral - declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 - is the city’s landmark and serves as an unofficial symbol. Cologne was badly destroyed in the Second World War, today it is a cultural metropolis with many important museums, galleries and art fairs as well as a vibrant music scene.

In 2012, the Academy of the Arts of the World was founded with urban funds after a long period of preparation, which for the time being is acting virtually and working together with local institutions and initiatives recruiting internationally acclaimed artists as members, who can then realize their projects in Cologne.

foreign cultural institutes

After World War II, Cologne was chosen as the location of a number of foreign cultural institutes. The House of the British Council in 1950 and the House of America in 1954 have now changed their functions. The Italian, French and Japanese Cultural Institutes continue to operate in and beyond Cologne. The smaller Belgian house acts as a cultural mediator.

town

tower

egg

Art Nouveau houses in the Belgian quarter

The Dishhaus

The old town of Cologne and adjacent areas were destroyed by air strikes in the Second World War to 80 percent. In the reconstruction, although the street patterns and historical street names were often maintained, construction was often done in the style of the 1950s. Thus, many parts of the city are characterized by post-war architecture and distinctive high-rise buildings; In between there are individual pre-war buildings that have been preserved or reconstructed due to their importance. Most of the historic churches in particular have been rebuilt to a great extent faithfully.

Roman Cologne

Cologne is one of the oldest cities in Germany. The Roman field lord Agrippa settled in 19/18 B.C. the Ubier tribe on the Rhine and provided an infrastructure similar to the Roman one. The ancient road network is still partly in existence today. From the Roman Cardo maximus became the high road and the Decumanus maximus is today the torrent. The remains of Roman buildings are found throughout the city. Partly underground they are accessible under the Cologne City Hall or in parking houses and cellars. Below is the so-called Ubiermonument, the oldest dated stone building in Germany. Upper-ground, you can visit the remains of the Roman city wall, for example the Roman Tower.

medieval Cologne

Significant medieval prophecies have been preserved or rebuilt: Examples are the town hall, the stack house, the Gürzenich and the Overstolzenhaus, the oldest preserved residential building in the city. Parts of the mighty medieval city walls have also been preserved, including several city gates such as the Eigelsteintor and the city wall at Hansaring (besides the former location of the city prison Klingelpütz), the Severinstor, the Hahnentor or Ulrepforte and the city wall at Sachsenring and the "Weckschnapp". The picturesque Martinsviertel is only partially medieval. Many buildings were more or less reconstructed in style after the Second World War.

Prussian Cologne

The Roman Tower 3 is home to the only classicist house still preserved. The first fortress ring in Cologne is located in the green-current Neustadt and was built at the beginning of the 19th century. However, due to the massive population growth of the city and the extended artillery range, the defense of Cologne was transferred in the second half of the 19th century to the left and right Rhine suburbs of the city, where a new modern fortification belt was built. The old fort in the new town, however, continued to exist and was only partially cleared after the First World War. To this day many of the fort can still be visited. These include Fort I in the Peace Park, Fort IV in the Volksgarten (Cologne) or Fort X in the northern Neustadt.

The new town is a ring-shaped extension around the historic old town, extending from the broken medieval city wall to the inner fortress ring. It was built from 1881 until about 1914 and was the largest of its time in Germany. It was once a closed ensemble with all styles from historian to art nouveau to expressionism; significant war damage and post-war rage diminished their charm. However, the original shape of the new town can still be seen in several quarters: These include the southern city (Ubierring, Alteburger Strasse - mostly Art Nouveau), the university district (Zülpicher Strasse, Rathenauplatz - mainly historic Wilhelminian houses), the patrician houses in the Belgian district (Aachener Strasse, Liège) and the Agnesviertel. The church of St. Agnes, after which the district was named, is an example of Rhineland-Palatinate. Nowadays, the new town is no longer a residential area, but a center of various cultural and business activities (media park, galleries, pubs, etc.).

In 1914, the city invested DM 5 million in the Cologne Workshop Exhibition, where leading architects of the German Workshop Association built exemplary and contemporary buildings.

Between the World Wars

Under the then mayor Konrad Adenauer some important buildings were built in Cologne in the 1920s. The exhibition center (now called "Koelnmesse") with its distinctive tower is built in the style of brick expressionism, with a steel concrete skeleton in the buildings and an ornamental facade made of pendulum nucleus. The Hansahochhaus was built in the same style on the inner city ring. At the time of the 1924 Jubilee, it was the highest house in Europe.

In 1926, Adenauer appointed Professor Richard Riemerschmid as founding director of the Cologne Academy of Fine Arts, a parallel foundation for the Bauhaus in Dessau.

The Disch-Haus is an example of the construction style of the Neue Sachliche, the university was built in the style of the workshop until 1929. In the 1920s, the settlement building in Cologne had a high point: Entire districts such as Zollstock and Höhenhaus were built by housing cooperatives mostly according to the urban-planning ideals of the time and often according to the principles of the garden city.

During the period of the Nazi dictatorship, Cologne, as the capital of the GDR., should be given a corresponding framework: The plan was to demolish parts of the old town and large parts of the district of Deutz to create space for highways and a gigantic Gauforum on the right side of the Rhine. The old town area around Groß St. Martin, which is considered to be worth conservation, was completely renovated until 1939. The demolition work for the generously planned West-East route could only be started because of the war.

Post-war period and new developments

museum

Cologne triangle at sunset

aerial view of Cologne's Old Town (Martinsviertel)

After the destruction of large parts of Cologne in 1945, the American military government, later the British military government, took the first steps to rebuild the city. The complete, car-friendly new construction of the city center was soon abandoned in favor of a compromise solution which maintained the road network with the traditional narrow section of the land and provided for wide paths through the city center. The construction of favorable living spaces was the main focus of the project, so the architecturally uninteresting, hastily constructed rented houses often represented the urban image of the post-war Cologne. Nevertheless, individual stylistic and pioneering projects stand out from this period, which in the 1950s made Cologne an important place for modern urban development. The design of the Cathedral Square with the Blue Gold House, the opera and theater complex designed by Wilhelm Riphahn, and the West-East axis, which was designed as early as the late 1940s with light pavilions and stone-clad floors. The Gerling insurance complex was very controversial due to its formal language of the 1930s.

In 1967 the Hohe Straße, a well-known shopping street in Cologne, was the first street in Cologne to be transformed into a pedestrian zone.

The 1960s and 1970s mainly brought architecture from functional concrete, causing damage to the city's image, some of which have not yet been remedied. It was only in the 1980s that the Cologne people began to focus more on quality: After the construction of the Colonius telecommunications tower, the city's value was increased. The Museum Ludwig, the Cologne Philharmonic and the Rhine River Tunnel have connected the city with the Rhine since 1986 through a beautifully framed waterfront promenade. At the same time, the partial laying of the city railway in Tunnel der Innenstadtring was relieved and inaugurated in 1987. In the 1990s, the Mediapark was built at the Freight Station and the Cologne Arena (now Lanxess Arena) in Deutz. The Rheinauhafen harbor with its distinctive crane structures (crane houses), the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, the World Town Hall or the exhibition-city in Deutz, under construction, are examples of the transformation of the city center.

In the first years of the new millennium, the Kölntriangle in the right-wing Rhine district of Deutz created a new tower with a viewing platform at 103 meters altitude.

Major sacred buildings

Great St. Martin is the largest and most prominent of the Romanesque churches. In the foreground is the Rhine front with a stack house.

The most outstanding landmark in Cologne is the Gothic cathedral of St. Peter, one of the largest church buildings in the Gothic era. It took about 600 years to complete; It was not finished until 1880. Here are the relics of the Three Kings, who made Cologne a pilgrimage destination of first rank. They are kept in the choral room of the cathedral in the splendid three-royal shrine (late 12th century / first half 13th century).

The 12 large Romanesque churches in the inner city area are no less significant in terms of cultural history: St. Severin, St. Maria in Lyskirchen, Basilica St. Andreas, St. Apostles, St. Gereon, St. Ursula, St. Pantaleon, St. Maria im Kapitol, Groß St. Martin, St. Georg, St. Kunibert and St. Cäcilien. Most of them were severely damaged during the war, and only in 1985 was the reconstruction completed.

In the city center you will also find the Gothic St. Peter's and Minorite churches as well as the St. Peter's Church and the Carthusian Church, the Baroque Church of St. Mary's Assumption, St. Maria in the Copper Gasse, St. Maria of Peace and the Ursuline Church of St. Corpus Christi. Protestants were not allowed to celebrate public services in Cologne until 1802. To this end, they were conscripted by the French into the Gothic Church of Antonios. The same is true of the Carthusian Church, which became a Protestant property in 1923. The Trinitatiskirche near the Heumarkt is the first evangelical church built as such in the left Rhine - Westphalia. In the district of Mülheim, which belonged to the duchy of Berg, the peace church was built in 1786. Two predecessors were destroyed. St. Engelbert in Cologne-Riehl is the first modern church building in Cologne.

Two church ruins are still present in the townscape: Old St. Alban near the town hall with a sculpture designed by Käthe Kollwitz in the former church ship and the remains of St. Columba. In the 1950s, the church of St. Maria was built in the rubble around a preserved Marienfigur, and the completely destroyed church kept only provisionally secured stumps of the walls. In 2005, the new Diocesan Museum of Peter Zumthor was built on these ruins. The new building emphasizes the integration of the remains.

There are many other sacred buildings in the new town and the suburbs, among them several small Romanesque and Gothic churches and examples of modern church construction. Particularly worth seeing buildings are described in the articles of the respective neighborhoods.

bridge

View from the south: Severinsbrücke, Deutzer Brücke, Hohenzollernbrücke

View from the Kölntriangle to the Hohenzollernrücke

Severinsbrücke from West, February 2005

Rodenkirchen Autobahn Bridge, Poller Wiesen near Low-Wasserburg in autumn 2018

district heating tunnel under the Rhine

The first bridge in the Rhine in Cologne, the Constantinople Bridge, was built by the Romans in 310 and destroyed by the francs two centuries later. The remains were probably removed around 960. In 1822 a pontoon bridge was built between Cologne and Deutz and in 1889 another bridge between Cologne-Riehl and Mülheim. In 1945, after the war-related destruction of all bridges, the first American bridge was built between Bayenthal and Poll. It was dismantled again in June 1945, after a temporary crossing of the Rhine between Cologne and Deutz was completed next to the collapsed Hindenburg Bridge. Another provisional Rhine crossing, a Bailey Bridge (Patton Bridge), was held by the English Army on the Rhine between 1946 and 1951 at the level of the Rhine Park. The bridge ran right on the south side of the bastery, going to Deutz a little north of today's dance fountain, passing a few meters past the old exhibition halls and entering the Auenweg. It was the first post-war bridge with free passage for shipping.

Eight bridges currently cross the Rhine in Cologne’s urban area on its eight-kilometer current, including two railway bridges and six road bridges:

• the Hohenzollern Bridge on the axis of the Cathedral is one of the most busy railway bridges in Europe,
• the southern bridge relieves the Hohenzollernbrücke bridge from freight traffic.

Two motorway bridges link the left and right-Rhine parts of the Cologne ring:

• the Rodenkirchen motorway bridge in the south; and
• the Rhine bridge at Leverkusen in the north between Cologne-Merkenich and Leverkusen.

Four urban road bridges, painted largely in Cologne's green, channel traffic in the inner city area across the Rhine:

• The Deutzer Bridge was the first bridge built in the post-war period after the American army built a stilt bridge over the Rhine in 1945 to 1946, alongside the Hindenburg Bridge, which collapsed in World War II.
• the Mülheimer Brücke is a suspension bridge to Mülheim, similar to its prewar model;
• The Severinsbrücke, an inclined bridge dating from 1959, offers the city center as well as
• the Zoobrücke further north a connection to the motorway system of right Rhine-Westphalia.

Characteristic for four of the eight bridges is the painting, which was then called Cologne Bridge Green. In 1929, this special color was enforced by the then mayor Konrad Adenauer during the construction of the Mülheim Bridge.

Another Rhine crossing is a 470 meter long, walk-in, 484-meter long district heat tunnel of the Rhine energy company, under the Rhine, north of the Hohenzollernbrücke bridge. This tunnel is not generally accessible, but occasionally dates are provided for visiting the tunnel.

In addition to the bridges, there are also individual ferry connections across the Rhine in Cologne:

• Cologne-Langel car ferry to Leverkusen
• Passenger ferry from Cologne-Altstadt to Messe/Rheinpark
• Passenger ferry from Cologne-Weiss to Porz-Zündorf

parks and green areas

Water terraces in the Botanical Garden of Cologne

Cologne has two green belts on the left - the interior and the exterior. The inner green belt is seven kilometers long, several 100 meters wide and has an area of 120 hectares. After World War I, the city's fortress belts had to be demolished under the Versailles Treaties, creating this large urban green area. The 25 meter high Herculesberg mountain was formed by the spills of the Second World War. The inner green belt houses 25 species of trees, meadows and several water surfaces.

The outer green belt was built on the site of the outer ring of the fortress. The largest green area in Cologne, partly tree-planted, was originally intended to cover almost the entire city, which was never realized for economic reasons. In the 1920s, however, 800 hectares of green space were created, including the Beethovenpark. The fortifications on the right side of the Rhine were converted into green areas where possible.

The five hectares (originally 11 hectares) of urban garden is the oldest park in Cologne. It was built in 1827/1828 as a landscaped park and has had a restaurant with a beer garden for over 100 years. There is a jazz club here today.

During the warm season, the South City's more than 100-year-old Volksgarten hosts nighttime barbecues, often attended by drummers and other instrumentalists. Small and street artists can be found here. The park is also a place for many cultural events, such as the Orangerie theater plays.

The green area on the Aachen Weiher, located on a hill, is a popular meeting place for students. The gentle hill was also formed by the spills of the Second World War. Since 7 August 2004, a new name reminds the victims of the war: Hiroshima-Nagasaki Park. Cologne has been a member of the international alliance of cities against nuclear weapons since 1985, the so-called "Hiroshima-Nagasaki alliance."

The Blücherpark in the Bilderstöchen district and the Vorgebirgspark in Raderthal were both built at the beginning of the 20th century according to the plans of the garden architect Fritz Encke, although they are very different. The Klettenbergpark in Cologne-Klettenberg was built as a park in altitude between 1905 and 1908 in a former gravel pit. The Fritz-Encke-Volkspark in Cologne-Raderthal is one of the most important investments of the 1920s despite the losses (partly built in the 1950s).

The ring road on the former Bollwerke in front of the medieval city wall, which was extended after 1881, was equipped with numerous park-like facilities, such as Sachsenring, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring, Hansaring and Hansaplatz, Ebertplatz and Theodor-Heuss-Ring. After World War II, the facilities were modified or largely removed, and only the western part of the park on the Theodor-Heuss-Ring with Weiher is still almost in its original state.

On the right side of the Rhine lies the Rheinpark, the extensive terrain of the Bundesgartenschau in 1957 and 1971 in Deutz, which is connected by the Rheinseilbahn to the zoo and flora on the left Rhine. The Groov in Zündorf and the Thurner Hof are a little further away.

In the north of Cologne there is the nearby recreation and sports area of Fuehlinger Lake. It consists of seven interconnected lakes and a regatta track. The area is ideal for swimming, swimming, diving, fishing, windsurfing, canoeing and rowing. The U-shaped road around the regatta route is often used by inline skaters.

The green areas near Cologne are accessible and connected by a round hiking trail, the Cologne Trail, whose stages can be reached by public transport.

The nearby Rhineland Nature Park beyond the Ville also serves as a recreational area for the urban population. The town is one of the promoters of the natural park.

Zoos and Botanical Gardens

Built in 1859, the Cologne Zoo covers about 20 hectares and houses 700 species of animals with about 7000 animals. He is particularly well known for the many elephants born in 2006 and 2007. The new elephant home, the elephant park, was built in 2005 with the help of private donations and cost around EUR 15 million.

Since 1908, there has been a facility in the Stadtwald in Cologne called Lindenthaler Tierpark.

The Botanical Garden of Cologne is called the Flora. He is part of the European Garden Heritage Network and was recognized in 2004/2005 as an outstanding figure in the street of gardening between the Rhine and the Meuse. In the outer green belt in the Rodenkirchen district lies the forest botanical garden with its landscape park extension, the peace forest.

theater

The history of the Cologne Theater has its roots in the Middle Ages. Cologne is home to numerous theaters. The city is the bearer of the "stages of the city of Cologne" with theater and opera house Cologne.

In the city of Cologne there are also about 60 professional free and private theaters as touring theaters or with their own playgrounds. The majority of the theater is in the "Cologne TheaterConference e. V.", including the city stages. A special feature of the Cologne theater landscape is the "JuPiTer" initiative (Young Audience to the Theater), in which children’s theater makers work together to strengthen the children’s and youth theater. The Cologne theater scene covers the entire spectrum from the theater of authors to experimental theater, cabaret, classical speech theater, figural theater, fairytale games, performance, dance theater to folk theater.

Known stages are:

music

The Cologne Gürzenich

Opera House at Offenbachplatz - closed until further notice

symphony and chamber orchestra

Several renowned symphony and chamber orchestras are at home in Cologne. The Gürzenich Orchestra was founded in 1857 on the occasion of the inauguration of the Cologne Concert Hall as a successor to the "Musical Society". Since 1888 the city has been the bearer of the orchestra. It plays in the opera Cologne and offers numerous concerts, for example in the Cologne Philharmonic. Well-known music directors of the orchestra were Conradin Kreutzer, Hermann Abendroth and Günter Wand. From 2003 to 2014, Markus Stenz was Director General of Gürzenich Orchestra. Since 2015, it has been run by François-Xavier Roth.

The second symphony orchestra is the WDR. symphony orchestra; since 2010 it has been run by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. This orchestra was founded in 1945 as a successor to the orchestra of the Reichssender Cologne, which was founded in 1926. In chamber orchestras, some with highly specialized repertoire and international renown (old music), we can mention: Camerata Köln (founded in 1979), the Cologne Chamber Orchestra (founded in 1923); From 1976 to 1986 as Capella Clementina), Cappella Coloniensis (sponsored by the WDR.), Collegium Aureum (founded in 1964, dissolved in the 1990s), Concerto Cologne (founded in 1985) and Musica Antiqua Cologne (founded 973, dissolved in 2006).

choir

Cologne has a rich choral scene. A dozen concert choirs are organized on the Cologne choir network, a nationally unique lobby organization.

• Bach-Verein Cologne, founded in 1931 by Heinrich Böll
• Gürzenich-Chor Cologne, the oldest concert choir in Cologne, founded in 1827 by Carl Leibl
• Kartäuserkantorei Cologne, founded in 1970 by Peter Neumann
• Cologne Cantorei, founded in 1968 by Volker Hupling
• Kölner Kurrende, founded in 1970 by Elke Mascha Blankenburg
• Oratorienchor Cologne, founded in 1957 by Gerhard Bork
• Philharmonic choir Cologne, founded in 1947 by Philipp Röhl
• Rheinischer Kammerchor, founded in 1962 by Hermann Schroeder
• Rodenkirchen Chamber Choir, founded in 1975 by Anselm Rogmans

The Cologne Dommusik consists of four choirs. The Cologne Cathedral Choir, the Girl Choir at the Cologne Cathedral, the Cathedral of Cologne and the Vocal ensemble of Cologne Cathedral.

The Cologne youth choir Sankt Stephan was founded in 1984 and is one of the largest and most successful youth choirs in Germany.

The Cologne Men's Singing Association with its 190 active singers is known beyond the city's boundaries.

In Cologne there is also a very diverse scene of "free" choirs, not organized as a classical concert choir or tied to church parishes, which have very different backgrounds and focus.

music schools

The Rheinische Musikschule offers music lessons at several locations in Cologne. In addition, the Cologne University of Music and Dance as Europe’s largest music college and the University of Cologne’s Music Science Institute contribute significantly to the city’s musical life.

play

An important venue for music is the Cologne Philharmonic with a wide range of classical music, contemporary music, jazz and popular music. The Lanxess Arena, the E-plant in Cologne-Mülheim, the Palladium and the Live Music Hall are also popular venues alongside the dance fountain in the Rheinpark (open-air stage).

Concerts are regularly held in the stations of West German Broadcasting and Deutschlandfunk. In addition to the above-mentioned symphony orchestra, WDR. also has a big band, which is considered one of the best big bands in Europe. The Jazzhaus in the Stadtgarten has a rich program of the current types of jazz and world music. in the loft, the improvised music is particularly cultivated. Music is also performed in the old ballroom of medieval Cologne, the Gürzenich.

Cologne music

The folk music of the carnival is a fixed figure in Cologne. However, popular music can only be seen to some extent in accordance with general popular music. She is sung almost all the time in a mouthpiece, i.e. in Cologne. The styles vary from pop and hip-hop to carnival songs. More recently, an A-cappella scene has emerged. A variant of the Cologne music is the Cologne skirt, which was mainly influenced by BAP and originated from groups such as Brings or Kasalla.

Some artists who have earned a living around the Cologne music scene were Willi Ostermann and Willy Schneider, for example, and are currently the Bläck Fööss, Höhner, Paveier or Wise Guys. Cologne is also the home of the Krautrock band Can, founded in 1968, which became one of the most influential German rock bands in the 1970s.

electronic music

Since the early 1950s Cologne has been a center of modern electronic music. In particular, the "electronic music studio", run by Herbert Eimert since its founding in 1951, was the first of its kind to have an international standing, alongside Karlheinz Stockhausen, who has been managing the studio since 1963, with Pierre Boulez, Mauricio Kagel, Pierre Henry and Pierre Schäffer working there.

In the 1990s electronic music reappeared in Cologne, but this time under less academic hallmarks. Based on Techno, Intelligent Dance Music and using popular music avant-garde genres such as Industrial, Noise, Ambient, Krautrock, Free Jazz and Free Improv, the Sound of Cologne established a wide range of modern electronic music that was internationally successful. Musicians and bands such as Wolfgang Voigt, Whirlpool Productions and Mouse on Mars were the most famous representatives of this movement, which was however stylistically uneven and more a social phenomenon. Significant labels of the Sound of Cologne are for example compact or A-music.

The boat house in Deutz is a club dedicated to electronic dance music. Founded as a techno club called Warehouse, it has been home to world-famous artists from all genres of EDM, including Hardwell, Tiësto and Armin van Buuren, since the beginning of the century.

From Goethe to Keun, Heine and Celan, well-known authors have been inspired by Cologne and its own species to create poetry and ballads. Numerous German-speaking novels play in Cologne. Hans Bender and Dieter Wellershoff as well as Nobel laureates Heinrich Böll and Rolf Dieter Brinkmann were among the well-known authors based in Cologne. The Cologne literary scene is still extremely diverse and is made possible by associations, private companies, universities as well as by urban funding. Many authors live and work in Cologne.

The Literaturhaus Köln at the Great Greek Market and the Lit.Cologne invite authors from Germany and abroad to take part in literary events. In addition, independent readers, which take place at monthly or semi-annual intervals and focus mainly on younger authors and poetry, have seen the literary club Cologne since 2010, Hellopoetry since 2012, and the Land in sight since 2014. The reading stage at Brussels Square has not existed since 2011. In addition to large publishers such as Kiepenheuer & Witsch and DuMont, specialist publishers such as the Musikverlag Dohr and small publishers such as Emons, edition fundamental, Krash Verlag, LUND, Parasitenpresse, Supposé Verlag and Table 7 animate the literary field. Literary groups such as the Cologne Authoring Workshop or the Literaturatelier Cologne set their own accents. In Cologne, too, the trend towards professionalization of literary writing is becoming apparent, with creative writing courses being set up in 2018 at both the University of Cologne and the Media Academy. The literary magazine Schliff is also being published in the vicinity of the Germanic Institute. The city awards two literary prizes, the Heinrich Böll Prize and the Rolf Dieter Brinkmann Fellowship, the winners will be presented at the Cologne Literaturhaus.

The Literaturhaus and the Cologne City Scoreboard organize every year the One Book for the City. With the project "Eselsohr", the Bürgerstiftung Cologne (Bürgerstiftung Köln) publishes public book cabinets in the city area and organizes open readers together with district citizens' foundations.

fine arts

The city is an important international center of art. Art Cologne is the oldest art fair in the world, one of the most important art fairs in the world today. The Wallraf-Richartz-Museum for Classical Art and the Ludwig Museum for Modern Art enjoy an international reputation. There are also museums of medieval art, East Asian art and arts (see section Museums). Founded in 1839, the Cologne Kunstverein offers contemporary art promotion and exhibition space. More than 100 galleries and art dealers are located on site, e.g. B. the Art House of Lempertz, the galleries of Karsten Greve, Boisserée and Jablonka. Some renowned artists live in Cologne, such as Gerhard Richter and Rosemarie Drel.

museums

Roman-Germanic Museum

The Chocolate Museum in the revitalized Rhine port, October 2004

The Cologne City Museum in the Zeughaus. The controversial wing car on the tower

fragrance museum in the Farina House, where the Eau de Cologne or Cologne Water was founded

Cologne has many museums. According to the city of Cologne, no other city in Germany runs as many museums of its own budget as it does. The most important museums of art are the Museum Ludwig, whose post-modern building complex, which is characterized by the Rhine front, houses the modern and contemporary art, and the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, which in the heart of the historic old town of 2001 has its own structure and displays art from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. One of the most recent museum buildings is the Archbishop's Diocesan Museum in Columba, which, built over the remains of a Romanesque church ruin, displays works from various eras. Contemporary art can be found in the Cologne Kunstverein and the Museum of Applied Arts, which also houses a large collection of designs. The Cologne artothek for young art, the Käthe Kollwitz museum, the Museum of East Asian Art and the Museum Schnütgen for medieval art are also leading in their direction. Since 2010, the new complex of buildings, which has been occupied with the Rautenstrauch-Joest museum, has been expanded. The latter is the only museum of international culture in North Rhine-Westphalia. The Cologne Sculpture Park presents contemporary external sculptures.

The flagship of Cologne’s historic museums is the Roman-Germanic Museum, which exhibits art, jewelry and everyday objects from the Roman and Merovinian periods. It is connected with the former Roman palace and the Mikwe, the medieval Jewish cult bath at the front square of the town hall. On this site, extensive excavations are being carried out, which reveal the foundations and basements of the medieval Cologne. After completion of the works, the house of Jewish history is to be built here.

The history of Cologne is presented in the Cologne City Museum in the Zeughaus, while the nearby EL-DE-Haus as the Nazi documentation center of the city of Cologne (NSDOK) documents the history of Cologne in National Socialism. The Agfa Photo-Historama for Historical Photography (part of the Museum Ludwig since 2005), the Jawne exhibition room on the former Jewish Gymnasium of Cologne, the Cologne Fortress Museum and the fragrance museum in the Farina House, the birthplace of the Cologne Water, are also worth mentioning.

The Rheinauhafen harbor houses the Schokoladenmuseum (chocolate museum), built in the 1980s, and the Deutsches Sport & Olympia Museum, which is located in a former customs hall dating from 1896, on more than 2000 m², directly on the Rhine. Other museums, mostly private and endowed, include the Monument History Museum, the Cologne Carnival Museum, the Artists Museum Beckers' Böll in the Kunsthaus Rhenania, the Odysseum, the Radio Museum, the Rheinische Industriebahn Museum, the Photographic Collection of the SK Stiftung Kultur, the Danzmuseum of the German Dance Archives in Cologne, the Theater Science Collection delusion and the wine museum.

archives

• Archives for the Rhineland Music History of the Music Institute of the University of Cologne
• German dance archive Cologne
• Heinrich-Böll-Archiv
• Historical archive of the city of Cologne, the most important urban archive, closed to the public after the collapse of 2009
• Historical Archive of the Cologne Archbishop
• Husserl Archive of the University of Cologne
• Max-Bruch-Archive of the Music Science Institute of the University of Cologne
• Rheinisches Image Archiv, 860,000 pictures mainly in the fields of art and architecture
• Rheinisch-Westphalia Economic Archives

libraries

• Library/Mediatheque of the Kunsthochschule für Medien (KHM)
• German Central Library for Medicine
• archbishop's library
• University Library of Cologne
• University Library of the Catholic University of Cologne
• library of art and museums of the city of Cologne
• Cologne City Library, public institution
• USB Cologne, University and City Library Cologne, central institution of the University
• Business Library of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cologne
• Central Library of Sports Sciences of the German Sporthochschule Cologne

sport

South side of the RhineEnergieStadions

Lanxess Arena (2005)

sports

The sport park with the Rheinenergiestadion and the Lanxess Arena in Deutz, one of Europe's largest multi-purpose halls, where ice hockey, handball and basketball games are played, are particularly well known throughout the region. The city also has a bike race track, a horse racing track, a regatta and many other sports facilities. Due to its infrastructure, Cologne regularly hosts international sporting events in Germany.

The German Sporthochschule Cologne is the only institution of its kind in Germany.

Associations and traditional events

In Cologne, some 600 sports clubs with around 200,000 members will receive financial support from the city, with club sports covering all major grassroots sports.

The most well-known football clubs in Germany are the 1. FC Cologne, which has become the German champion three times, SC Fortuna Cologne and FC Viktoria Cologne. The sharks in Cologne are also very successful in ice hockey, which became German champions eight times.

The RSV Cologne in Rugby, which runs an Olympic base at the Green Belt, and the TuS Cologne in Touch-Rugby, which has become the German Champion twice, also enjoy national fame. With the Cologne Crocodiles and the Cologne Falcons, the city once again has two teams in American football in the upper leagues, with the Cologne Centurions there was also a branch of the NFL in Cologne from 2003 to 2007. The baseball club Cologne Cardinals is playing in the 1st. Baseball Bundesliga and was German Champion in 1990.

In basketball the city had a very successful time with the BSC Saturn Cologne. From 1999 until the bankruptcy of 2009 the city with the Cologne 99 was in the 1st century. basketball Bundesliga. The amateur club continues to be the German basketball club with most members and joined the MTV Cologne 1850 on 12 June 2013 at the Rheinstars Köln club.

SC Colonia 06 is the oldest active amateur boxer club in Germany. Boxers of the club won the first European championship title in the 1920s. In total, the club has among other things four European champions. Cologne's AC 1882, the oldest active weightlifting club in the world, is also significant.

Since the end of the 19th century Cologne has also been an important location for German rowing sport. A modern regatta railway and the Rhine offer optimum conditions to traditional rowing clubs such as the Cologne RG 1891 and the Cologne RV 1877, a founding member of the German Rowing Association founded in Cologne. A further nine rowing clubs are based in Cologne, making the city one of the wide-ranging sporting strongholds of the German rowing sport alongside Berlin and Hamburg.

Since 1984 the Cologne Triathlon has been organized and since 1997 the Cologne Marathon has been held every year in autumn. The classic cycling tour around Cologne has been carried out annually since 1908. The largest cycling club in the city is the Cologne Cycling Club.

The section Rheinland-Cologne of the German Alpine Association is the largest Alpine association section in the Rhineland.

nightlife

Especially at the weekend, locals and tourists, teenagers and students will find themselves in the city center in numerous discotheques , clubs, bars and pubs. The main points of interest are the Old Town, the Student Quarter "Kwartier Latäng" around Zülpicher Strasse, the Friesenviertel near Friesenplatz, the Belgian quarter and the rings between Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring and Rudolfplatz, as well as the Southern City between Chlodwigplatz and Alteburger Strasse. In Ehrenfeld, many clubs and live stages have established themselves in former factories - among the most famous are the former underground, the workshop, the Sensor Club, the Live Music Hall and the Herbrand’s in the former car factory in Herbrand.

carnival

The Cologne Trio 2005 (v. 1. Virgo, Prince, Bauer)

Carnival meeting February 2006 in Gürzenich

The Cologne Carnival - the "fifth season" - begins on the 11th of June each year. November 11:11 at the age market. After a short, intense start, the carnival starts a break until New Year. Then the actual "session" begins, which lasts until Ash Wednesday with the traditional fish meal. This farewell to the colorful carnival activity is kicked off by the so-called Nubian burn at midnight of Carnival Tuesday on Ash Wednesday.

During the carnival session, numerous meetings and balls are held. The "official" carnival, controlled by the Festkomitee Cologne Carnival, attracts mostly the elderly and more conservative public. Local political and monetary celebrations are particularly important at the Prunk meetings.

In recent decades, the "alternative" carnival has established itself as a counter-movement, the flagship of which is the stunning meeting in the E-Werk. With over 40 days of events, it is the most profitable carnival event in the world. The gay-lesbian pink session, its various jumping noses and the "Loss mer sing" pub movement, which brings together thousands of people every year before Carnival to sing in the new songs of the session.

The session culminates in the street and bar carnival. This begins on Wieverfastelovend (Christmas), that is, the Thursday before the Monday of Rosenmontag, and places the city on the Rhine in a kind of state of emergency for the next six days, in which public life (authorities, schools, shops) is largely brought to a halt. During this time, the numerous carnival trains take place in the various neighborhoods, the largest of which is the Rose Mondays train in the city center.

A special feature is the move of the mind: In 1991, when the official street carnival and Rosenmontag train broke down because of the Second Gulf War, the old tradition of the ghost train revived. So non-organized groups follow the archeologist who is supposed to drive the cold season. Since then, almost every year, on Carnival Saturday, the Cologne Ghost Train takes place, passing through various neighborhoods of the city at night.

Regular events and festivals

CSD Parade, 2006

The largest public event in Cologne is the Carnival, which attracts around 2 million guests each year during the Carnival Week. The second place is the largest lesbian and gay parade in Germany, with more than a million visitors regularly attending the first weekend of July. In July, the Cologne lights, a music and fireworks spectacle on the Rhine, will attract hundreds of thousands of spectators.

Since the exit of the Musikmesse Popkomm from Berlin, a major event in Cologne has been dropped. With the c/o pop (Cologne On Pop), a festival for electronic pop culture, the city tries to establish a small and special-sized music festival. Other musical events include the Music Triennale Cologne, a festival with 20th and 21st century music, the Cologne Summer Festival for dance, show and musical, the Summerjam, the largest reggae festival in Europe on the first weekend of July, as well as the organ classes, international organ concerts at the Cologne Cathedral.

Other events include the 11th Literary Festival Lit.Cologne, the International Cologne Comedy Festival, the reading stage at Brussels Square and the Jewish Cultural Days in the Rhineland, in which the city regularly participates, as well as the Children's Film Festival Cinepänz. There are two big markets, the spring and autumn churches on the banks of the Rhine. The beer exchange, an international beer festival, takes place every year as well as the "Day of the Forts", during which the military installations of the Cologne town fortifications are made available to the public free of charge with numerous events.

In Cologne, e-sports competitions are held regularly, such as the ESL One Cologne.

kitchen

bivalve molluscs of the Rhine species

Rievkooche

Cologne

Cologne is characterized by a long culinary tradition, enriched with imported exotic elements. Due to the outstanding position in international trade, herring, shells and many spices were used in the kitchen in the past. In the Middle Ages, when salmon, in Cologne called salm mostly, and the Maifisch was still abundant in the Rhine, these fish were considered to be poor people food, while the herring was very popular in bourgeois cuisine. The Rhineland herring stipple with apples, onions and cream still bears witness to this. Shells of the Rhineland type are now part of the gastronomy.

As usual in the Rhineland, sweets and hearts are often combined. The good soil and climate also make vegetables a major part of the Cologne cuisine. A sweet-sour dish of Cologne cuisine is the Rheinische Sauerbraten (Rheinische Sauerbraten), originally cooked with horse meat, the simpler heaven and oak, mixed potato and apple sauce with fried blood sausage ("fluce"). Wirsing and asparagus are often offered as seasonal vegetables. Breweries play a special role in Cologne. Originally used for the beer edition of the breweries in Cologne, they have become the main supplier of bourgeois cuisine in Cologne. In addition to the dishes mentioned above, you can enjoy a hearty meal here, such as crustaceans, ice cream ("chicken"), salmon and rice cakes ("Rievkooche"). Due to the production costs, the latter often only exist on certain days. The most popular thing to do in the brewery houses is Tatar, Flönz or Halver Hahn.

Viennese pastries include plaster, mouths and doughnuts, as well as a variety of covered and uncovered pies, mainly made with apples and plums. Sweetening is sometimes carried out with sugar beet syrup ("beet herb"), which is used as a spread.

The Cologne economy is characterized by a long-lasting and profound structural transformation. Since the Middle Ages, trade and transport have been a stable and supporting pillar of the local economy, while many of the traditional manufacturing industries have now disappeared from the city. However, the progressive de-polarization has created new employment impulses in the services sector. Cologne is generally regarded as an auto, mechanical engineering, chemical, insurance and media city. This is partly due to the fact that in vehicle construction, mechanical engineering, insurance and film and television production a large number of company headquarters have settled in Cologne. The reputation of a media city is strongly promoted by Cologne politics, with music production, computer games and e-commerce becoming increasingly popular in addition to publishing and film studios.

In 2016, Cologne achieved a gross domestic product (GDP) of 63.463 billion euros within city limits, ranking fifth in Germany's cities according to economic performance. GDP per capita in the same year was €59,407 (NRW: €37,416, Germany: €38,180). Nominal GDP growth was 2.2% in 2016. In 2019, the city had about 591,600 people in employment. The unemployment rate was 7.4% in December 2018, slightly above the average of 6.4% in North Rhine-Westphalia.

In 2015, Cologne was named "the most digital city in Germany" by the management consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the Geographical Institute of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. In the Future Atlas 2016, the city occupied 38 of 402 districts and urban areas in Germany and is thus one of the places with "very high prospects for the future".

economic structure

Headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Cologne

Ford Development Center and European Parts Distribution Center in Cologne-Merkenich (August 2012)

Cologne has a very diversified economic structure that includes declining industries as well as growth sectors. The banking system in Cologne, which was important around 1800, made the city one of the most important banking centers in Germany (Sal. Oppenheim, Bankhaus J. H. Stone or A. Schaaffhausen’scher Bankverein). On March 2, 1705, the Banco di gyro d’affranatione, founded by Kurfürst Johann Wilhelm II, issued Germany's first banknotes, the Bancozettel. The street Unter Sachsenhausen developed into the "Cologne Banking Mile". The contribution of all sectors of the Cologne economy to total turnover in the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia makes the city one of the German economic metropolises. Traditionally, car manufacturing and energy and water supply have a special position. The chemical industry, the food industry and the publishing sector are among the main sectors. In particular, the insurance industry opposed the federal trend, strengthening Cologne's position as Germany's "insurance capital". In the financial and insurance services sector, 6% of all employees worked, while 5.5% were employed in the information/communication sector (2010).

In 2017, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Cologne (IHK) reported that 553,442 employees were covered by social security. The services sector dominates, with 85.4%, the rest coming from manufacturing. Gross value added was €55.9 billion (2017). In 2017, 83,282 companies were registered with the CCI and 10,472 companies were registered with the Cologne Chamber of Commerce. The economic metropolis is well above the average of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia of 44%, with an export rate of 54%.

In Cologne, the services sector is the number one sector in terms of gross value added in 2008, accounting for just under 52%, followed by finance and rental (23%) and trade/hospitality/transport (13%). Even the smallest sector, the manufacturing industry, achieved 8.8% of the total turnover of this sector in North Rhine-Westphalia at EUR 26.5 billion (2010) in Cologne. The automotive industry is strongly represented with a 56% share of turnover in Cologne.

Cologne had a capacity of 32,500 hotel beds in 2017. In 2017, Cologne had 124 million daily guests, with a turnover of around EUR 4.77 billion in the city and a tax revenue of around EUR 130 million for the city. 3.6 million hotel guests were added, with 6.24 million overnight stays. German visitors make up the largest share of the hotel's clientele with 4.1 million overnight stays, followed by British (217,000), US (201,000) and Dutch (171,000) travelers. Cologne ranks fifth with 2.1 million foreign guests in Germany.

The fairs and other events in Cologne were attended by 3.3 million participants in 2011. Out of 28,900 exhibitors, 57.6 % came from abroad and 30.7 % of visitors came from abroad. As a result, Cologne's tourism growth was 8.1% higher than in North Rhine-Westphalia (5.1%) and total Germany (4%) compared to 2010.

The history of the Cologne economy and the region is documented and prepared in the Rheinisch-Westphalia Economic Archives (RWWA).

measurement

Koelnmesse logo

The most famous exhibitions at the Koelnmesse are:

• Anuga, trade fair for the food industry
• ISM, the world's largest confectionery fair
• Art Cologne, Exhibition of Modern Art
• Gamescom, Interactive Consumer Electronics Fair
• imm cologne, exhibition for furniture and furnishings
• intermot, International Motorcycle and Roller Fair
• Photokina, trade fair for the photo industry
• spoga+gafa, trade fair for sports goods, camping and garden furniture

retail

Schildergasse is Cologne's most visited shopping street

According to an investigation carried out by Engel & Völkers in 2019, the shopping streets of Schildergasse and Hohe Strasse in Cologne are among the most frequented in Germany. There are also several shopping centers, such as the Rhine Center in Weiden, the Cologne Arcaden in Kalk and the City Center in Chorweiler and Porz. The Hürth Park and the City Hall Gallery Leverkusen are located in the immediate vicinity of the Cologne city border.

traffic

Cologne has always been a city with good transport connections, with an important harbor at the Roman times and a road network in the Roman Empire. Road and rail transport is one of the highest in the whole of Germany in both passenger and freight transport.

road

Cologne motorway ring and major traffic arteries

The road system in Cologne developed according to the Ring-Radial principle, especially on the left side of the Rhine, following the expansion of the city, and in this way partly followed military requirements. The roads are crossed by a total of five concentric road rings, some of which are tracing the old fortifications. From the inside to the outside: the rings (following the course of the medieval city wall); the road train Innere Channel Street/University Street, which connected the inner Prussian fortress belt; the belts; the military ring road, which connected the outer fortress belt of Prussia, and the Cologne ring, closed in 1965, formed in the west and north by the A 1 motorway, in the east by the A 3 and in the south by the A 4.

A number of radial roads, named after the places in which they lead from Cologne (Neusser Strasse, Venloer Straße, Aachener Strasse, Luxemburg Strasse, Bonn Strasse and others), begin at the rings. In connection with the planning of the Cologne City Motorway, two motorway-access and downside roads were built with the federal highway B 55a and the A 559. Other major routes are the A 555 in the south, the A 59 in the south-east (part of the "airport highway" connecting Cologne/Bonn airport with Cologne and Bonn) and the A 57 in the north-west, which runs from the city center of Cologne via Neuss to Krefeld.

Despite the good connections, the Cologne motorway ring is often affected by traffic jams due to the high traffic. As a countermeasure, parts of the A 3 were extended to up to ten tracks. The necessary refurbishment and the new construction of the Leverkusen motorway bridge, which will close the Cologne motorway ring in the north, planned for 2017, will create another tube of needle. According to a decision of the Cologne Administrative Court (November 2018), diesel driving bans should be introduced from April 2019. However, the state government has obtained an appeal to the Higher Administrative Court in NRW in Muenster, which still prevents the implementation of the diesel driving bans. Since the late 1980s, 354 tempo 30 zones have been set up to calm traffic.

rail

reception hall of Cologne Central Station

Cologne's main railway station is the western hub of German long-distance rail transport. From here, train

• Euskirchen-Trier (Eifel line)
• Düren-Aachen (Cologne-Aachen extension), Paris
• Mönchengladbach (Rheydt-Köln-Ehrenfeld railway line)
• Neuss over Bergheim (Erftbahn)
• Neuss-Krefeld on Dormagen (left Rheinisch)
• Düsseldorf-Duisburg-Ruhrgebiet (right-Rheinland)
• Opladen-Gruiten-Wuppertal
• Bergisch Gladbach
• Gummersbach-Lüdenscheid (Aggertalbahn)
• Siegburg victory
• Frankfurt am Main (Köln-Rhine/Main fast)
• Troisdorf-Neuwied-Koblenz (right-hand Rhine section)
• Bonn-Koblenz (Linke Rhine
• Cologne/Bonn Airport (airport loop Cologne)

air

Cologne/Bonn airport, Terminal 1, July 2018

The first event in Cologne’s history seems to have occurred in 1785. On 21 October 1785, the traveling French Jean-Pierre Blanchard asked the Council of the City of Cologne to be allowed to climb with his balloon. This was construed as blasphemy for him and was therefore prohibited. He was allowed to show his balloon in public.

In 1788, Georg Haffner raised a balloon in the Deutz, which was not yet part of Cologne. He was one of the few professional aircraft who called themselves Aeronauts and who had to finance their art by performing in amusement centers or fairmarkets. Such performances by mostly foreign aeronauts are documented for 1808, 1847 and 1878. The Cologne Maximilian Wolff was co-founder of the Ballon-Sport-Club Cöln, founded in 1888 and 1890 founder of the Association for the Promotion of Air Navigation, Cologne. During this time he offered balloon trips with passengers as a permanent attraction at the excursion restaurant Goldenes Eck in Cologne-Riehl.

Mainzer Paul Haenlein, working as a mechanical engineer at Cologne Maschinenbau AG in Bayenthal until 1861, patented the idea of a steerable airship on April 1, 1865. In October 1871, he demonstrated a number of flight tests with an airship model in Mainz. In 1872 he built a steerable airship.

Since about 1900 in Cologne-Ossendorf the farm Butzweiler Hof landed individual balloons and airplanes. Starts and landings also took place at the exerting sites in the Rhine in the Heide region of Merheimer and in the Heide region of Müller. However, these facilities could only be used on a temporary basis and only be made available on request.

Foreign planes like Blériot and the first looping plane Adolphe Pegoud showed their flying performance on the racetrack in the Merheimer Heide. In 1902, Arthur Delfosse, a pioneer in flight and automotive engineering from Cologne, made his first glide flight tests with a self-built plane on the Heide in Müller.

In 1912, the foundation stone was laid to an airport in Cologne-Ossendorf on the site of the former farm Butzweiler Hof. It was put into operation in 1913 and developed into a traffic cross of the West until the Second World War. After World War II, it was used by the British and later the Belgian Army as a military airbase until 1993. There was also an easy landing and take-off place in Porz-Westhoven at the Mannesmann aircrafts in Cologne.

From 1937 to 1945, a military airfield was located in Cologne-Ostheim.

In the south-east of the city, in the district of Porz, you can find the Cologne/Bonn airport. He developed out of an artillery firing field. In 1904, Berlin airships with dragon balloons participated in shooting exercises as artillery observers. On April 5, 1913, Lieutenant August Joly of Flieger Battalion 3, Cologne Butzweilerhof, was the first to arrive with his Rumpler pigeon in a small square between the commander and a munitions shed on the Wahner Heide firing range. Today it is one of the most hugely expensive German cargo airports (over 650,000 tons in 2005), the European hub of UPS Airlines and an important base for low-cost airlines (9.85 million passengers in 2010). The airplanes and the flight readiness management of the Federal Ministry of Defense are stationed on the military part. Since 1994 he has been named Konrad-Adenauer-Flughafen. Cologne/Bonn Airport is one of the German airports close to the city with no night flight restrictions, with the airports Leipzig/Halle, Münster/Osnabrück, Nuremberg and Hanover. There are 139 destinations in 38 countries.

In 1907 the first airship hall had the rubber goods factory Clouth built on its site at Niehler Strasse. In 1909 the Ministry of War in Berlin began the construction and foundation of the airship hall in Cologne-Bickendorf between Venloer Straße and Ossendorfer Weg. This was the origin of the Cologne Airship Harbor and the hall received the title of Reichsairship Harbor.

Since 1927, water airports at the Rhine in Niehl and at the Kunibertbank were established.

shipping

On the Rhine excursion ships operate mostly from the Cologne-Düsseldorf. There are also several Rhine ferries in Cologne.

For freight traffic on the Rhine, Cologne was the hub between the "Niederlanden" and the higher Germany throughout the Middle Ages, due to the right to stack. In 1848, three merchant ships were based in Cologne. Cologne has many ports. It was only after World War II that the importance of inner city ports gradually decreased, while the expansion of the city was accompanied by new port facilities in the north. Freight transport increased from 1990 to 15 948 000 tons of freight by 2007, with 10 054 000 tons of freight by 2007 and fell to 12 009 000 tons by 2009. In 2017, it was 12,102,000 tons. This makes Cologne the second largest German inland port after Duisburg.

local traffic

Cologne subway network

A 420-series railcar of the Cologne S-Bahn as S12 at the Cologne Messe/Deutz station (May 2016).

Cologne City Railway

Public transport (local public transport) is served by S-Bahn lines, the city railway and bus lines of the Cologne transport companies (KVB), as well as by bus lines of other transport companies. All means of transport in Cologne can be used at uniform prices within the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS). This is connected to the neighboring Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) transport network. The completion of the North-South metro, scheduled for 2011, may be delayed until 2023.

cycling

Cycling in Cologne accounts for 14% of modal split and is growing steadily.

other transport

There are about 1200 licensed taxis in Cologne (status: 2015).

A special feature is the Rhine cable car, which until 2010, before the construction of the Rhine cable car to the Bundesgartenschau 2011 in Koblenz, was the only cable car in operation to cross a river in Germany. It was created at the Federal Garden Show in 1957.

Public bodies

Cologne was and is the seat of many public institutions. In addition to a large number of federal and state authorities, church organizations, associations and associations have their headquarters in Cologne. The large number of federal institutions was also due to the proximity of Cologne to the then capital Bonn. In addition to the size of Cologne, the proximity to the state capital of Düsseldorf is a criterion for the establishment of state authorities.

A European authority is represented by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).

Two of the three federal intelligence services are based in Cologne: the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the Military Intelligence Service (MAD), which is part of the German Armed Forces. In addition, the city has several customs authorities: the Customs Criminal Office, the Central Support Group, the Cologne Customs Office, the Cologne/Bonn Customs Office, the Cologne-West Customs Office, the Wahn Customs Office and the Cologne-Messe office. Other federal institutions and federal companies based in Cologne are the Federal Office for Family Affairs and Civil Society Tasks, the Federal Office for Freight Transport, the Federal Administration Office, the Federal Center for Health Education, the Water and Shipping Office in Cologne, the DIMDI and the Agency for Labor in Cologne. Locations of federal institutions which are not headquartered in Cologne include the General Customs Directorate, the family fund of North Rhine-Westphalia West, the German Pension Insurance (Service Center) and the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. The Job Center Cologne is a joint organization of the Cologne City Council and the Federal Employment Agency.

The regional authorities and enterprises in Cologne are the district government of Cologne, the Landschaftsverband Rheinland, the Landesbetriebe Information und Technik Nordrhein-Westfalen, the Landesbetriebe Mess- und Eichwesen Nordrhein-Westfalen, the Landesbetriebe Straße bau NRW (headquarters Gelsenkirchen); in Cologne, offices of the regional branch of Rhein-Berg and the "Stadtmeisterei Köln", the construction and real estate company of North Rhine-Westphalia (special assets of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia with office in Cologne and headquarters in Düsseldorf), the Police Bureau of Cologne and the National Center for Distance Learning. In the financial sector there is a branch of the Deutsche Bundesbank (formerly called the Landescentral bank), on the state level there are the Oberfinanzdirektion Nordrhein-Westfalen (head office both in Münster and in Cologne), the tax offices Cologne-Altstadt, Cologne-Mitte, Cologne-Nord, Cologne-East, Cologne-Porz, Cologne-South, Cologne-Süd. West, for large and corporate audit in Cologne and for tax criminal and tax investigation in Cologne. In the field of education, the University of Cologne (including university hospital), TH Cologne, the Sportholat School of Cologne (all three public law bodies supported by the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia), the Cologne Student Fund (Institute of Public Law) and the University Library Center of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia are should be mentioned.

The Cologne Higher Regional Court, the Cologne Regional Court, the Cologne District Court, the Cologne District Court, the Cologne Regional Labor Court, the Cologne Labor Court, the Cologne Financial Court, the Cologne Social Court, the Cologne Administrative Court, the Cologne Prosecutor General Office, the Cologne Public Prosecutor's Office and the Köln prison .

The ARD ZDF Deutschlandradio Contribution Service (formerly GEZ) as a public law, non-legal joint-organization of the LandesRundfunkanstalt is based in Cologne, as is the Deutschlandradio as a non-profit legal body of public law (supported by ARD and ZDF) and WDR.

At the municipal level, the Cologne City Council is also the largest public institution with about 17,000 employees. It's also owned by the fire department of Cologne. The clinics of the city of Cologne as one of the largest municipal clinics are organized as gGmbH, but are wholly owned by the city of Cologne.

The Cologne Chamber of Commerce, the Cologne Chamber of Craftsmen, the Köln Bar Association, the Rheinische Notarkammer, the Cologne Chamber of Tax Advisers and the district office of the North Rhine Chamber of Doctors exist as professional bodies under public law.

The professional association Energie Textil Elektro Medienerproducht is located in Cologne.

Associations

Key associations, associations and church organizations based in Cologne include:

• Deutscher Bühnenverein, the Federal Association of German Theaters
• The Healing Army in Germany
• Church supplementary pension fund of the Association of Dioceses of Germany
• Kolpingwerk Germany, Kolpingwerk Europa and Kolpingwerk International
• e. V.
• Private Health Insurance Association (PKV Association)

Parishes such as the German Council of Cities, the Federal Association of Local Associations and the German section of the Council of European Municipalities and Regions are also based in Cologne.

Associations with former headquarters in Cologne (until 1999 due to the transfer of the capital from Bonn to Berlin):

• Federal Association of German Industry (BDI)
• Bundesverband deutscher Banken (BdB)
• Federal Association of German Employers' Confederations (BDA)

universities

In 2018, Cologne had 24 universities and 4 higher education institutions, including 6 state-owned, 19 private and 1 church with a wide variety of disciplines; 14 of these institutions have their headquarters there. With about 100,000 students, Cologne is one of Germany's four largest university cities, along with Berlin, Munich and Hamburg.

zoom in and display image information

 

Panorama of the main building of the University of Cologne at Albertus-Magnus-Platz in Cologne-Lindenthal from 2009

In addition to Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, Cologne is one of the largest and most important mass media sites in Germany, employing between 30,000 and 40,000 people. The media landscape is varied; In addition to the large television and radio production companies and the large publishing houses, a very differentiated supplier industry has developed in Cologne, which covers a wide range of products from agencies to production companies to technical equipment manufacturers.

Radio, television and music

Westdeutscher Rundfunk Köln (WDR.), the public service broadcaster, is the largest ARD broadcaster and the largest German broadcaster and employs 3500 staff at its headquarters in Cologne. In addition to the TV channels WDR. Television and ONE, it also operates WDR. radio programs, such as 1LIVE and COSMO. The national radio station "Deutschlandradio" broadcasts the radio stations "Deutschlandfunk" (Dlf)" and "Deutschlandfunk Nova" from its headquarters in Cologne. In Cologne, the contribution service (formerly GEZ) is also based.

RTL center at the tower

Europe’s largest private TV group, RTL Deutschland, with the TV channels RTL Television, VOX, Super RTL, Nitro and other specialty channels, has its headquarters in the Rheinhallen. The first German news channel n-tv is also part of the media group and operates its main broadcasting center in Cologne.

Other radio stations based in Cologne are the Domradio and the local radio station Radio Cologne, as part of Radio NRW. The bigFM and RPR1 private broadcasters operate studios in Capitol. With Cologne campus, the city also has its own university channel.

VIVA was founded in 1993 as VIVA Media in Cologne and broadcast the main program until 2005 and VIVA Two from the Domstadt. Following the acquisition by MTV's parent company Viacom, VIVA was transferred to MTV in Berlin and hired there. From October 2005 until December 2014, center.tv broadcasted daily only on events in and around Cologne. From January 2015 to March 2016, the broadcaster continued to broadcast contributions from Cologne and the surrounding area under the new name Cologne.tv. Deutsche Welle was also based in Cologne until it moved to Bonn in 2003. The British military station BFBS was located in the district of Marienburg between January 1954 and October 1990.

EMI Music Germany, which moved its headquarters from Cologne-Braunsfeld to MediaPark in August 2000 and then to Cologne-Bickendorf, was bought by Universal Music in 2011, leaving only the local Cologne label Rhingtön in Cologne. In addition, other smaller record labels and music publishers are based in the city.

print media

With the publishing house M. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne has a newspaper house of German significance: The Cologne City Scoreboard and the Cologne Rundschau, whose common distribution area extends far into the Eifel and the Bergisches Land next to Cologne and the immediate surrounding area, appear here. The Boulevard Express produced in the same house is distributed in addition to Cologne in the Düsseldorf area. The business magazines Capital and Impulse are also to be mentioned as print media published in Cologne. Local significance are the monthly city-screened cityRevue and Cologne as well as the Cologne weekly mirror published by the Kölner Anzeigen-blatt GmbH & Co. KG.

The publishing house of the Walther König and the publishing house of the bookstore Walther Koenig are known as internationally operating book publishers with thematic focus on art, architecture and eroticism. With Kiepenheuer & Witsch and the DuMont Buchverlag, the city houses important literary publishers. Schawe, founded in 1918, has its headquarters in Cologne since its foundation. The publishing group Lübbe, one of the largest book publishers in Germany, moved from Bergisch Gladbach to Köln-Mülheim in 2010.

Institutions and sites

Cologne Tower in the Mediapark, January 2005

Important media facilities in Cologne include the Cologne Art Academy for Media, the Cologne International Film School and the GAG Academy for Young Comedians. Cologne is the seat of the film office of North Rhine-Westphalia. In the Belgian quarter, in particular, many small film production companies are located, mostly not making their own films, but supporting larger film production companies with individual services and technical equipment.

Media locations are spread throughout the city in Cologne. Located in the city center, next to the headquarters of the major channels of the Mediapark am Hansaring (20 ha, 174,000 m² office space), which was built from 1992 to 2003 on the site of the former Gereon marshaling yard. The modern buildings in the Mediapark, including the 148-meter high Cologne Tower, are home to some 250 companies employing some 5000 people, of which about 60% are active in the media and communications sector.

By contrast, large-scale studios and film production facilities are located on the periphery, such as the WDR. studio grounds in Bocklemünd or the Media Center in Mülheim. There are many artists and agencies located on parts of a former factory site around the large event hall E-Werk. Some TV studios are located in which among others Sat.1 and ProSieben are produced.

In the north-west of the city, on the site of the former military airbase of Butzweilerhof, lies the Coloneum, one of the largest studio complexes in Europe with a usable area of 157,000 m². In the southwest of the city between Cologne and Hürth, large studio complexes for Nobeo and MMC were built, in which many shows for Sat.1 and RTL are produced, among others by the production company action concept.

Cologne has been the starting point, the destination and the point of attack for military-military action over the centuries, not least because of its strategic position.

history

The proven history of armed forces in Cologne begins with the first occupation by the Romans around 57 B.C. who had driven the Eburons. They then moved the Ubians from the eastern banks of the Rhine to Cologne. At 68, the Bataver were in Cologne. From 260 to 274, rebellious Roman border troops took power in Cologne, 274 attacked Germanen Cologne, 355 the franc, which eventually took power in 454. In 557 Saxony entered the Deutz, which was later incorporated in 1888. In the winter of 881/882 the Normen climbed up the Rhine. In 1096 the Crusaders of the Lower Rhine gathered in Cologne. In 1583, fighting broke out between Kurpfälzische and Bavarian-Spanish troops in Cologne and Deutz. In 1587 Dutch troops came to Cologne.

The first standing force after the Roman period appears to have been documented only in 1681. Cologne built a mercenary group with 383 men in three companies after the imperial matrimonial rule of 1681. They got the popular name Red sparks.

French troops occupied Cologne on October 6, 1794, followed by Prussia in 1814, which turned Cologne into a fortress. From 1871 onwards, the German army was called the German Army, which further expanded Cologne.

Due to the Treaty of Versailles, the Rhineland and thus Cologne became demilitarized after the First World War, and thus no German troops could be stationed in Cologne until the Wehrmacht invaded Cologne in 1936 as part of the Rhineland occupation.

World War I to World War II

As a result of the defeat in World War I and the Compiegne ceasefire agreement, Cologne became a British bridge head with a 30-kilometer occupation zone in the French-occupied Rhineland. The first British unit to march was the 1st. Cavalry Division, Cologne, December 6, 1918. It was there that the headquarters of the British crew came into being on 19 December, which only withdrew on 20 February 1920. In Riehl, the British Armed Forces purchased the Barbara barracks. The barracks Arnoldshhöhe was built in 1911 on the corner of Gaedestraße in Bonn. On December 10, 1918 the cavalry reached the 1st and 2nd centuries. Canadian Division Cologne. In Cologne, the headquarters of the 1st division was established until the complete withdrawal on January 28, 1919. On December 23, 1918, New Zealand units built their headquarters in Holweide. 2. Brigade lay in Mülheim and, from December 26, an artillery unit followed Mülheim and Deutz. The 3rd and 4th Bataillon were quartered in Dellbrück and Thin Forest. As of March 9, 1919, further units were transferred to the Mülheim factory - with 700 men from Germany until the withdrawal on March 25, 1919. In 1918, the Wahner Heide troop training area was initially taken over by Canadian and British units, which transferred it to French units from 1920 to 1926.

Armed units of the state police were established, which were militarily organized after Hitler came to power in 1933 and later became the Wehrmacht. Units of the state police were located in Westhoven, Wahn and Longerich. In 1936 German troops invaded the demilitarized Cologne. Units of the Wehrmacht were stationed at the airports of Butzweilerhof, Ostheim and Porz-Wahn, as well as in the barracks Arnoldshhöhe, Etzel, Mudra, Unrenounced and Hacketäuer in Mülheim.

occupation after World War II

1945 war damage still visible in 1984

Cologne was founded on March 6, 1945 by troops of the Third World. US tank division conquered. On April 11, 1945, American tanks, which first crossed the Rhine in Remagen, reached Porz. On April 14, 1945, the districts of the Rhine were completely occupied. The U.S. Army crossed the Rhine with the help of a pontoon bridge between the districts of Poll and Bayenthal. On March 9, 1945, the US military government was established in Cologne. Within 100 days, the American occupiers promoted the rehabilitation of Cologne's infrastructure, advanced denazification, and laid the foundations for the reconstruction of Cologne. They also created Displaced Persons collection points: in Junkersdorf, Etzelkaserne for Poland, in Ossendorf for Soviet citizens and in Brauweiler for French and Italian citizens. On June 21, 1945, a British military government replaced the Americans in Cologne. In January 1954, the radio station of the British Armed Forces BFN, later BFBS, was transferred from Hamburg to Cologne-Marienburg to Villa Tietz. On June 15, 1945, the American armed forces handed over Wahn airport and Camp Wahn to British forces (RAF and Army). From 1950 to 1955, the British High Commissioner resided in the Wahner barracks with 560 officials. In 1955, the British High Commissioner moved to Bonn and became the cornerstone of the British embassy. A Royal Navy seaplane was allegedly stationed in the port of Niehler. After the withdrawal of the units on 18 July 1957, only one Detachement is said to have remained in Cologne.

Belgian garrison from 1946

Shortly after the end of World War II, the first units of the Belgian armed forces began to be stationed in Cologne and its surroundings. From 1951 on, they became less and less part of the occupying forces of the Belgian Corridor in the south of the British zone, but became pioneers of NATO. In 1947, the headquarters of the Belgian Armed Forces moved from Lüdenscheid via Bonn to Cologne-Weiden. In the Cologne area, either existing facilities of the former Wehrmacht were used or new barracks were built. In the vicinity of the barracks, settlements were built for members of the armed forces. At times, Cologne was the largest Belgian garrison abroad.

From 1988 onwards, the Belgian armed forces were restructured, compulsory military service in Belgium was abolished in 1993 and from 1996 onwards the headquarters were transferred back to Belgium. The result was a reduction in the size of the units in Germany up to their dissolution. The barracks and facilities were subsequently demolished, converted or converted into parts for residential use. The surrounding housing estates were sought-after, not least because of their location on the outside and above-average large plots of land. Many of the members of the armed forces remained in Germany after the withdrawal or dissolution of their unity.

Bundeswehr

After the establishment of the German Armed Forces in 1955, Cologne became one of Germany's largest military sites. In the current Bundeswehr structure, 5,720 posts have been designated in Cologne. The Federal Supreme Authorities in the Division of the Federal Ministry of Defense (BMVg), based in Cologne, are the Federal Office for Human Resources Management (BAPersBw) with its affiliated assessment center for managers (ACFüKrBw) and the Federal Office for the Military Shield Service (BAMAD). In addition, the Air Force Command (LwTrKdo), the Office for Army Development (AHEntwg), the Air Force Command (BMVg) and the Center for Aerospace Medicine are based in Cologne, as well as several smaller services such as a Bundeswehr Service Center (BwDLZ), a Bundeswehr specialized training school (BwFachS), a sports center a medical support and health care center (SanUstgZ/SanVersZ), a Bundeswehr fire brigade and parts of a Bundeswehr career center (KarrC Bw).

Ferdinand Franz Wallraf, First Honorary Citizen of Cologne

honorary citizen

Between 1823 and 2007, Cologne granted honorary citizenship to 23 people.

Alternative Cologne Honorary Citizenship

The alternative of Cologne's honorary citizenship is an honor for Cologne's citizens. It was created in 2002 in opposition to the award of the honorary citizenship of Cologne to the publisher Alfred Neven DuMont and the chocolate manufacturer Hans Imhoff.

Thirty Cologne personalities, including Martin Stankowski and the cabaret artist Heinrich Pachl, founded the initiative circle of alternative honorary citizenship. The committee's members include the writer Günter Wallraff, actress Marie-Luise Marjan, musicians Tommy Engel and Wolfgang Niederecken, cabaret artist Jürgen Becker and writer Elke Heidenreich.

With this award, the Citizens' Committee wishes to draw attention to citizens and networks who are engaged in Cologne without financial resources and often outside the mainstream of public opinion.

The award is given irregularly.

winner

• In 2002 Pastor Franz Meurer, the so-called Don Camillo from Vingst, was appointed as a social partner in the municipality of Cologne-Höhenberg/Vingst, where he established a comprehensive social network.
• In 2006, Gunter Demnig, who has since moved some 22,000 stumbling blocks in over 530 towns in Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Hungary and Spain to commemorate the victims of Nazism.
• 2011 Hedwig Neven DuMont (wife of Cologne publisher Alfred Neven DuMont), as chairman of the association We help, as well as Kurt Holl (1938-2015). In Cologne, he was involved in the establishment of the Nazi documentation center at the former Gestapo headquarters in the EL-DE-Haus. Since 1980, his main volunteer focus has been the deployment of Roma and Sinti in Cologne. In 1990 he initiated the first exhibition on the persecution of the Nazis. Holl was one of the founders of "Rome e. V.’; In 2004, he opened "Amaro Kher," a project for the school integration of Roma refugee children.
• 2016 Irene Franken (co-founder of the Cologne Women's History Association) for her scientific work on women in the history of Cologne

Sons and daughters of the city

The Asteroid (243440) was discovered in 2009 and was named after the Roman name of the city.

• Seven Merian booklets have been published over Cologne: 1948 (No 3), August 1960, December 1979, July 1988, January 1994, March 2002 and September 2012

Image volumes and encyclopedias

• Detlev Arens, Celia Körber-Leupold: Cologne. A big city in pictures. Greven, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-7743-0378-9.
• Hugo Borger, Frank Günter Zehnder: Cologne. The city as a work of art. city views from the 15th to 20th century. Greven, Cologne 1982, ISBN 3-7743-0181-6.
• Hermann Claasen, Hrsg. and Vorwort, Josef Rick: Singing in the oven: Cologne, remains of an old German city, Schwann, Düsseldorf 1979, ISBN 3-590-32006-0.
• Patrick Essex, Tobias Bungter: CologneGood. Dabbelju, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-939666-13-4.
• Reinhard Matz and Wolfgang Vollmer: Cologne before the war. Life culture city 1880-1940 and Cologne after the war. Life Culture City 1950-1990. Greven, Cologne 2012 and 2014 respectively, ISBN 978-3-7743-0482-6 and ISBN 978-3-7743-0628-8.
• Reinhard Matz, with Wolfgang Vollmer: Cologne and the war. Life-Culture City (1940-1950). Greven Verlag, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-7743-0667-7.
• Lee Miller - Cologne in March 1945, with introductory texts by Kerstin Stremmel and Walter Filz. by the Historical Society of Cologne e e. V. and the Central-Dombau Verein zu Cologne from 1842, Greven Verlag, Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-7743-0618-9.
• Jörn Sackermann (pictures) and Manfred Böckling (texts): Travel through Cologne, Wuerzburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-8003-4232-7.
• Hans Schmitt-Rost (eds.) and Walter Dick, time of the ruins, Cologne at the end of the dictatorship, with a foreword by Heinrich Böll, Kiepenheuer and Witsch, Cologne, 1965.
• Ulrich S. Soénius, Jürgen Wilhelm (eds.): Cologne people's lexicon. Greven, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-7743-0400-0 (about 1850 articles about deceased personalities of the 2000-year history of Cologne by 50 authors).
• Paul Wietzorek: The historic Cologne Tell pictures. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2006, ISBN 978-3-86568-115-7. 
• Jürgen Wilhelm (eds.): The large Cologne lexicon. Greven, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-7743-0355-X (approximately 1130 articles from A to Z from author's collective).

Town books and atlases, roads

• Hansgerd Hellenkemper, Emil Meynen: Cologne City. In: Heinz Stoob, Wilfried Ehbrecht, Jürgen Lafrenz, Peter Johannek (eds): German city atlas. Volume 2, Part 2. Dortmund 1979, ISBN 3-89115-317-1.
• Dorothea Wiktorin (eds.): Cologne, the historical topographic atlas. Emons Verlag, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-89705-229-6.
• Erich Keyser (eds.): Rhineland diary. Volume III 3. Subband from German book. manual of urban history. On behalf of the association of historical commissions and with the support of the Council of German Cities, the German Association of Cities and the Council of German Municipalities. Stuttgart 1956.
• Helmut Signon, Klaus Schmidt All roads pass through Cologne. 3. circulation. Greven, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-7743-0379-7.
• Ansgar Bach: Literary Cologne. 80 authors - places of residence, works and works. Published Jena 1800, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-931911-23-3.
• Uwe Schwarz: Cologne and its surroundings in old cards. From the Eifel-Card to the Army of Staff (1550 to 1897). Edited by Werner Schäfke. Cologne, Emons Verlag 2005, ISBN 3-89705-343-8.
• Rüdiger Schünemann-Steffen: Cologne Street Name-Lexikon, Jörg Rüshü Self-Verlag, Cologne 1999, ³/2013

monographs

• Gerhard Curdes, Markus Ulrich: The development of the Cologne city center. The influence of models and innovations on the shape of the city. Dortmund Sales for Building and Planning Literature, Dortmund 1997, ISBN 3-929797-36-4.
• Werner Eck: Cologne in Roman times. History of a city within the Romanum empire. Greven, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-7743-0357-6 (history of the city of Cologne in 13 volumes. Volume 1).
• Hiltrud Kier: Small art history of Cologne. C. H. Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-47170-6.
• Dirk van Laak: archeology of everyday life. Cologne and its infrastructure. Greven, Cologne 2017, ISBN 978-3-7743-0678-3.
• Jürgen Pöttgen: 700 years of bell cast in Cologne. Masters and workshops between 1100 and 1800 (= Workshops of the Rhineland monument maintenance 61). Wernersche Verlagsgesellschaft, Worms 2005. ISBN 978-3-88462-206-3.
• Andreas Rossmann: This can only be Cologne. A glossary. Photos by Manfred Wegener Verlag of the bookstore Walther König, Cologne 2019, ISBN 978-3-96098-727-7.
• Martin Rüther: Cologne in World War II. Everyday life and experience between 1939 and 1945. Emons, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-89705-407-8 (Fonts of the Nazi Documentation Center of the City of Cologne). Volume 12).
• Christian Schuh: Cologne's 85 districts. History, data, facts, names. From A like old town to Z like Zündorf. Emons, Cologne 2003, ISBN 3-89705-278-4.
• Arnold Stelzmann, Robert Frohn: Illustrated history of the city of Cologne. 11th circulation. Bachem, Cologne 1990, ISBN 3-7616-0973-6 (1. 1958).
• Bernhard van Treeck: Street Art Cologne. Edition Aragon, Moers 1996, ISBN 3-89535-434-1.
• Gerta Wolff: The Roman-Germanic Cologne. Guide to museum and city. Bachem, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-7616-1370-9.

travel literature

• Alexander Kuffner: "Time travel guide Cologne 1933-1945." A historical travel guide. Helios, Aachen 2009, ISBN 978-3-938208-92-2.
• Maik Kopleck (eds.), Gregory Piatkowski: From Colonia Agrippina to the "German Autumn". PastFinder, Düsseldorf 2008, ISBN 978-988-99780-4-4 (series PastFinder ZikZak.).
• Dieter Luippold (Editor), Achim Bourmer and others. a: Cologne. 10th circulation. Baedeker, Ostfildern 2007, ISBN 978-3-8297-1131-9 (series Baedeker Alliance travel guides.).
• Martin Stankowski That's why it's so beautiful on the Rhine. From Cologne Cathedral to Loreley. The other guide. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-462-04107-1.
• Kirstin Kabasci Cologne. Travel know-how publisher, Bielefeld 2006, ISBN 3-8317-1396-0.

historical

magazines

• History in Cologne. Journal for urban and regional history. (published annually with a band; Volume 55, SH-Verlag Köln) was published in 2008
• Yearbook of the Cologne Historical Association e. V. (published annually with a volume, Yearbook 79, SH-Verlag Köln, published in 2008; supplements)

monographs and other

• Historical Archives of the City of Cologne (eds.): music. theater. dance. literature. Museums - Art and Culture in Cologne after 1945. Wienand Verlag, Cologne 1996, ISBN 3-87909-455-1.
• LVR-Jewish Museum in the Cologne Archeological Quarter: Decree 321: Cologne, the emperor and the Jewish history. o. J., ISBN 978-3-96719-002-1.
• Christian Bartz: Cologne in the Thirty Years War. The policy of the Council of the City (1618-1635). Mainly on the basis of the Council minutes in the Historical Archives of the City of Cologne. (= Military Historical Investigations, Vol. 6). Frankfurt u. a. 2005 (Diss. Univ. Bundeswehr Munich 2004).
• Carl Dietmar, Werner Jung: Small illustrated history of the city of Cologne. 10th circulation. Bachem, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-7616-2226-1 (special edition Historical Archive of the City of Cologne).
• Carl Dietmar and Werner Jung: Cologne. The great city history, clear text, Essen 2015, ISBN 978-3-8375-1487-2.
• Barbara and Christoph Driessen: Cologne. A story. Greven, Cologne 2015, ISBN 3-7743-0653-2.
• Mario Kramp: From dream to nightmare. Cologne and the beginning of the bomb war. Greven Verlag, Cologne 2014, ISBN 978-3-7743-0652-3.
• Mario Kramp: Cologne at the Seine. The pavilion at the Paris World Exhibition in 1937. With photographs by Hugo and Karl Hugo Schmölz, Greven, Cologne 2019, ISBN 978-3-7743-0902-9.
• Claus Leggewie 50 years '68. Cologne and its history of protest. Greven, Cologne 2018, ISBN 978-3-7743-0693-6.
• Horst Matzerath: Cologne in the period of National Socialism 1933-1945. Greven, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-7743-0429-1 (history of the city of Cologne). Volume 12).
• Thomas Mergel: Cologne in the Empire 1871-1918 (History of the City of Cologne, Volume 10). Greven, Cologne 2018, ISBN 978-3-7743-0454-3.
• Klaus Müller: Cologne from French to Prussian rule, 1794-1815. Greven, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-7743-0375-4 (History of the City of Cologne). Volume 8).
• Klaus Müller: Ferdinand Franz Wallraf Scholar, Collector, Cologne Honorary Citizen 1748-1824. Hrsg. Historisches Gesellschaft Köln, Greven, Cologne 2017, ISBN 978-3-7743-0680-6.
• Ute Planert (eds.): Albert's daughter. Cologne women between city, university and republic (1914-1933). Röhrig Universitätsverlag, St. Ingbert 2019, ISBN 978-3-86110-737-8.
• Martin Rüther: Cologne in World War II. Everyday life and experience between 1939 and 1945. Emons, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-89705-407-8.
• Werner Schäfke, Marcus Trier (eds.): Middle Ages in Cologne. A selection of the collections of the Cologne City Museum. Emons, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-89705-654-1.
• Werner Schäfke: Cologne after 1945. The story of our present. Regionalia, Rheinbach 2017, ISBN 3-95540-321-1.
• Klaus Schmidt: Faith, power, and freedom struggles. 500 years of Protestants in the Rhineland, with a follow-up from Günther van Norden, Greven, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-7743-0385-0.
• Bettina Schmidt-Czaia (eds.): Welcome to the old Cologne - history(s) around the city wall: Contributions of the accompanying program of the exhibition (Communications from the Cologne Municipal Library 103). Cologne 2018, ISBN 978-3-928907-36-1.
• Gerd Schwerhoff: Cologne in the Ancien Régime 1686-1794 (History of the City of Cologne Volume 7). Greven, Cologne 2017, ISBN 978-3-7743-0450-5.
• Robert Steimel: Kölner Köpfe, Steimel Verlag, Cologne-Zollstock 1958.
• Rita Wagner (eds.): Conrad the Great. The Adenauer Period in Cologne from 1917 to 1933, Nünnerich-Asmus, Mainz 2017.
• Ruta Wagner (eds.): Cologne on the Rhine. Or: From time to time. Unchanged angle — constant change. Nünnerich-Asmus, Oppenheim am Rhein 2019, ISBN 978-3-96176-090-9.
• Paul Wietzorek: The historic Cologne Tell pictures. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2006, ISBN 978-3-86568-115-7. 

Architecture, heritage and art

• Cord Machens and Bernd Ullrich: Architectural atlas Cologne. 51/7 Publishing House, Cologne 2018, ISBN 978-3981833522.
• Barbara Schlei, Uta Winterhager and Tobias Groß (eds.): architects Cologne, Contemporary and Modern Buildings and Quartiere; Walther König, Cologne 2015. 2016 awarded by the Stiftung Buchkunst as one of the 25 most beautiful books of the year.
• Peter Bergthaller: Glass painting in Cologne churches. Artists and works 1945-2012. B. Kühlen Verlag, Mönchengladbach 2013, ISBN 978-3-87448-367-4.
• Hugo Borger, Frank Günter Zehnder: Cologne. The city as a work of art. city views from the 15th to 20th century. Greven, Cologne 1982, ISBN 3-7743-0181-6.
• The 1960s, Cologne’s way to the art metropolis, from happy to art market. (ref.): Wulf Herzogenrath and Gabriele Lüg, Cologne Kunstverein, Cologne 1986 (excluding ISBN).
• Carl Dietmar, Marcus Trier: Take the subway to the Roman era. 2. circulation. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-462-03575-4.
• Hiltrud Kier: The small Romanesque churches. Guide to the history and development of Cologne suburbs, J. P. Bachem, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-7616-2944-4.
• Günther A. Menne, Christoph Nötzel (eds.), Helmut Footbroich, Celia Körber-Leupold: Protestant churches in Cologne and its surroundings. Bachem, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-7616-1943-8.
• Alexander Kierdorf (eds.): Cologne. An architectural guide. Architectural Guide to Cologne. Reimer, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-496-01181-5 (German and English).
• Birgit Kilp: Josef Haubrich A lawyer of art, Wienand, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-86832-223-1.
• Udo Mainzer: Small illustrated art history of the city of Cologne, Bachem, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-7616-2888-1.
• Udo Mainzer: Small illustrated architectural history of the city of Cologne. J. P. Bachem, Cologne 2017, ISBN 978-3-7616-3108-9.
• Werner Schäfke: Cologne's Romanesque churches. architecture, art, history. Emons, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-89705-321-7.
• Irene Schoor and Marion Kranen: Cologne cinema. From walking cinemas, cinemas and cinemas, Emons, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-95451-869-2.
• Bernd Streiberger, Anne Luise Müller (eds.): Architectural leader, Legal Rheinisches Cologne, DOM Publishers, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-86922-163-2.
• The Municipality of Cologne with the House of Architecture Cologne (eds.): Cologne perspectives - urbanization - architecture - public space. JOVIS Verlag Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-86859-403-4.
• Irene Schoor and Marion Kranen: Cologne cinema. From walking cinemas, cinemas and cinemas, Emons, Cologne 2016, ISBN 978-3-95451-869-2.

Entertainment game over Cologne

• Heinrich Böll: What is Cologne?, in: Merian 8-XIII Cologne (1960), pp. 3-7
• Jürgen Becker: Biotop for poppies. A book for Immis and Homer. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-462-02423-X.
• Friedhelm Biermann: Three kings, eleven thousand virgins and more. An entertaining journey through the Cologne centuries. Emons, Cologne 2001, ISBN 3-89705-228-8.
• Stephan Grünewald: Cologne on the couch. The indestructibility of longing. Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2008, ISBN 978-3-462-03814-9.
• Hanns Dieter Hüsch: Cologne. Eulen, Freiburg 1993, ISBN 3-89102-235-2.
• Bernd Imgrund: No cathedral without the Rhine. 33 exciting and unusual conversations from Cologne. Emons, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-89705-713-5.
• Falko Rademacher: Cologne for Imis. A guide through the strangest city in the world. Emons, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-89705-249-0.
• Thomas R. P. Mielke: Colonia, novel of a city. Two thousand years of Cologne's history told entertainingly. Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 2003, ISBN 3-404-14855-X.
• August Kopisch: The small male in the project Gutenberg-DE ISBN 3-933070-89-9.
• Bartholomäus Figatowski (eds.): What is the cathedral dreaming of? Fantastic stories from Cologne. Schmenk Verlag, Oberhausen 2013, ISBN 978-3-943022-21-6.

media

• Rheinhard Zeese: 1900 years fortified Cologne. LEB, Brühl 2006 (CD-ROM).
• Rheinhard Zeese: Historical parks and public gardens in Cologne from 1801 to 1932. LEB, Brühl 2007 (CD-ROM).
• Hermann Rheindorf: chronicle of the Rhine bridges in Cologne. DVD, ISBN 3-9813237-4-2, Distributor: COLOGNE PROGRAM, 2010.
• Hermann Rheindorf: Cologne in the Third Reich Part 1 The way to the Nazi dictatorship, Part 2 Everyday under the swastika, Part 3 Cologne in war. DVD, COLOGNE PROGRAM 2012 (2+3 2013)