Cologne

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Coat of Arms
Coat of Arms, Cologne

Cologne (German: Köln/ sometimes Kölle) is a city at the Rhine River in Germany. About 970,000 people live there.

The city was founded as "Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensis" by the Romans in the year 50. Before that, it was a Roman castle ("castellum") and a town with inhabitants of the local German tribe named Ubier ("oppidum uborum") at least for 100 years. It had been a settlement already during stone age.

The most interesting thing to see there is Cologne Cathedral. This church was built from about 1248 to about 1550, but finally finished in 1880. The United Nations list it as 'World Cultural Heritage'. Cologne's archbishop Rainald von Dassel brought the relics of the biblical Three Wise Men there in 1164. They are kept in a very beautiful golden shrine in the cathedral. Three golden crowns in the coat of arms of the city symbolize them. They made Cologne a major place of pilgrimage.

Cologne is the biggest city in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The University of Cologne alone has more than 50,000 students. It was founded 1919 and is one of the biggest in Germany. There are several specialized Schools in addition to the university. The Hochschule für Musik is the biggest Academy of Music in Europe. Cologne has two Colleges of Arts and the Sports College again is one of the biggest worldwide.

Cologne has 31 museums.

Cologne has one of the busiest train stations in Europe. It is the only train station located next to a big cathedral.

People in Cologne and nearby have their own language. They call it Kölsch. During carnival time it even appears on nationwide broadcasts.

Cologne has a handful of broadcasting stations. The Westdeutscher Rundfunk, part of the network ARD, is the biggest producer of television and radio programs in Germany.

Cologne is in the southern part of the 'Rhine-Ruhr agglomeration' of cities, where there live about 10 million people. This is one of the most densely populated areas of the world.