Cologne (Köln in German — population 1.08 million — the largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-largest city in Germany) is one of the oldest cities in Germany, founded as the Roman colony of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (CCAA) in 50 AD by Emperor Claudius (whose wife Agrippina the Younger was born in a Roman military settlement at this spot on the Rhine in 15 AD — the settlement was elevated to a full Roman colonia in her honor). Cologne's history is shaped by three forces: the Rhine (the river that made Cologne one of the most important trading cities in medieval Europe — the Rhine tolls collected by the Archbishop of Cologne were the foundation of the city's medieval wealth), the Catholic Church (Cologne was the ecclesiastical capital of the Holy Roman Empire: the Archbishop of Cologne was one of the seven Electors who chose the Holy Roman Emperor, and the city's skyline was dominated by 12 Romanesque basilicas built between the 10th and 13th centuries — the largest concentration of Romanesque church architecture in the world), and the Cathedral (Kölner Dom — the Gothic cathedral begun in 1248 (the foundation stone was laid in 1248) and not completed until 1880 (the construction was paused for 632 years (1473–1842)) that is the most visited landmark in Germany (6 million visitors/year) and was the tallest building in the world from 1880 to 1884). Cologne is also the birthplace of Eau de Cologne (4711 Kölnisch Wasser — the perfume created in 1792 by the Italian perfumer Giovanni Maria Farina, who named it "Köln water" after his adopted city — the specific blend of citrus, neroli and rosemary that has been produced continuously in Cologne since 1792), the city of Kölsch (the pale, top-fermented beer produced exclusively within the Cologne city limits (the Kölsch Konvention of 1986 — the agreement restricting the name to the 24 Cologne breweries) and served only in the Kölsch glass (the 200ml cylindrical glass called the Stange)), and the home of the largest carnival in Germany (the Kölner Karneval — 3 days of "the crazy days" (die tollen Tage), beginning on the 11th of the 11th at 11:11am and culminating in the Rosenmontagszug (Rose Monday Parade): the fourth-largest carnival procession in the world with 2 million spectators).
Kölner Dom (the Cologne Cathedral — the UNESCO World Heritage Site (1996) and the most visited landmark in Germany: the history of the cathedral's construction is the most remarkable of any building in the world: the foundation stone was laid in 1248 by Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden with the intention of creating the largest Gothic cathedral in Christendom (to house the Shrine of the Three Kings — the golden reliquary containing the remains of the Magi, the most important relic in northern Europe, brought to Cologne from Milan in 1164 by Archbishop Reinald von Dassel). Construction was paused in 1473 when funds ran out (only the choir and the south tower base completed) and the unfinished south tower stood as the largest construction crane in the world for 400 years. Construction resumed in 1842 using the original medieval plans (the original architect's drawing (the "Cologne Cathedral South Tower Plan") was discovered in Darmstadt in 1814) and completed in 1880. The statistics: 157m high (the tallest building in the world from 1880 to 1884), 7,000 sq m of stained glass, the Shrine of the Three Kings (the largest surviving medieval goldsmith work), and the South Tower climb (533 steps to the top).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe 12 Romanesque Basilicas of Cologne (the unique surviving ensemble of 12 Romanesque churches built between the 10th and 13th centuries — all within the old Roman city walls): the most important: St Aposteln (the 11th–12th century trefoil choir plan that became the model for Cologne Romanesque), St Maria im Kapitol (the largest Romanesque church in Cologne, built 1049 on the ruins of a Roman temple to the Capitoline triad — the wooden doors of 1065 (the largest surviving Romanesque wooden doors in existence)), St Gereon (the decagonal martyrium with the 10th-century oval nave — an extraordinary architectural form: the oval rotunda of the Roman period converted to a Romanesque nave by adding the Gothic vault in 1227), and Groß St Martin (the 12th-century tower group visible from the Rhine — the four-towered cluster above the Altstadt waterfront).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideCologne Altstadt (the old town on the west bank of the Rhine, south of the Cathedral: the most important Kölsch beer bars (the Brauhäuser) in Cologne): the Kölsch (the pale, top-fermented ale produced exclusively within the Cologne city limits under the Kölsch Konvention of 1986: served only in the Stange (the 200ml cylindrical glass — no handle, no curves) and brought continuously by the Köbes (the traditional Cologne waiter (the term is specific to the Cologne Brauhäuser — the Köbes wears an apron, carries the glasses on a circular tray, and automatically replaces your empty Stange with a fresh one until you signal you are finished by placing your coaster on top of your glass)). The essential Brauhäuser: Früh am Dom (Am Hof 12 — directly beside the Cathedral, the most famous, very tourist-friendly), Gaffel am Dom, and Päffgen (Friesenstraße 64 — the most traditional and least touristy of the central Brauhäuser).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideRhineland cuisine (the specific food culture of the Rhineland between Bonn and Düsseldorf): the Himmel un Äd ("Heaven and Earth" in Cologne dialect — the classic Rhineland dish: the mashed potato (Äd — earth) and the apple sauce (Himmel — heaven) served with the Blutwurst (the black pudding, the blood sausage) and the fried onion rings, all served on the same plate in distinct sections: the combination of the sweet apple sauce, the creamy potato and the savory black pudding is the most characteristically Rhineland flavor combination), and the Sauerbraten (the Rhenish beef pot roast — marinated in vinegar, red wine, onion and a bouquet garni for 3–7 days before braising, served with a dark, sweet-sour sauce thickened with the raisin and gingerbread (Lebkuchen) — the specific Rhineland flavoring that distinguishes the Rhenish Sauerbraten from the Bavarian version).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideMuseum Ludwig (Heinrich-Böll-Platz 1 — directly beside the Kölner Dom: one of the most important museums of modern art in the world: the Picasso collection (the most comprehensive Picasso collection in Germany, with 770 Picasso works donated by Peter and Irene Ludwig in 1976 — the collection includes the major periods of Picasso's work from the Blue Period (1901–1904) through the Cubism, Classicism and Surrealism to the late work (the collection is rivaled only by the Musée Picasso in Paris and Barcelona)), the Pop Art collection (the largest and most important Pop Art collection in Europe: Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol (the Mao series, the Marilyns), Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Claes Oldenburg — the collection is a result of Peter Ludwig's systematic acquisition of the major works of American Pop Art in the late 1960s and 1970s), and the Russian Avant-Garde (the Malevich collection).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuide4711 Glockengasse (Glockengasse 4 — the address from which the name "4711" derives: during the French occupation of Cologne (1794–1814), the French administration assigned house numbers to all buildings in the city — the perfume shop of Wilhelm Mülhens was assigned the number 4711): the perfume house where the Cologne water (the "Kölnisch Wasser" — named by Giovanni Maria Farina in 1709 for his adopted city: the clear, fresh fragrance of citrus (bergamot, lemon, orange), neroli (the distilled blossom of the bitter orange tree) and rosemary that Farina described as "the Italian morning after the rain, the freshness of a spring day") has been produced and sold since 1792. The 4711 House: the ornate Neo-Renaissance building with the carillon (the carillon performs at the quarter hour), the museum of Cologne water history and the perfume boutique where the original 1792 formula is still sold.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Rhine promenade (the Rheinuferpromenade — the 10km riverside walk along the west bank of the Rhine through Cologne: the most comprehensive view of the Cologne skyline is from the east bank (the Deutz side) of the Deutzer Brücke (the bridge across the Rhine directly south of the Cathedral): from the Deutz bank: the Cathedral dominates (157m of Gothic pinnacles and flying buttresses), with the 12th-century tower cluster of Groß St Martin visible beside it (the pre-Cathedral skyline of medieval Cologne), and the old Rhine crane (the Kran — the original 1554 treadmill crane that worked the Rhine harbor, the oldest surviving harbor crane in the world, now a landmark on the riverbank). The Rhine cruise (the KD Rhine boats depart from the Frankenwerft — the riverside dock below the Cathedral: 1-hour round trip northward to Dormagen or southward toward Bonn).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Belgisches Viertel (the Belgian Quarter — the neighborhood in the western Cologne Innenstadt (around Aachener Straße): the most creative and gentrified neighborhood in Cologne: the independent restaurants, the concept stores and the bar scene that represents the young creative class of Cologne. The neighborhood is named for the Belgian-inspired Art Nouveau architecture of the 1890s–1910s (the street pattern named for Belgian cities and the facades influenced by the Brussels Art Nouveau). The restaurant scene on Kyffhäuserstraße and Roonstraße: the finest restaurants in Cologne outside of the starred venues, with a mix of German regional cooking (the Rhineland cuisine), Mediterranean and the international influences of the multi-cultural Cologne population.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideSchokoladenmuseum (Am Schokoladenmuseum 1a — the most visited museum in Germany that is not a world heritage site (1.5 million visitors/year): the 3-floor permanent exhibition of the history of cacao and chocolate from the first cultivation by the Olmecs (c. 3500 BC in the lowland tropics of present-day Mexico and Guatemala) through the Maya and Aztec civilizations (the cacao use as currency and as a bitter ceremonial drink (xocolātl — the Nahuatl word from which "chocolate" derives)), the Spanish introduction of cacao to Europe (Hernán Cortés brought cacao to Spain in 1528), the Industrial Revolution of chocolate production (the Van Houten cocoa press (1828), the Cadbury solid eating chocolate (1847), the Lindt conching machine (1879)), and the modern chocolate industry. The centerpiece: the Lindt chocolate fountain (the 3-meter high gold-plated chocolate fountain with the flowing molten chocolate — the most photographed museum object in Germany: visitors can dip a wafer into the flowing Lindt chocolate at the fountain).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Kölner Karneval (the Cologne Carnival — the most important carnival in Germany and the fourth-largest in the world after Rio, Venice and Nice (disputed): the annual carnival of the Rhineland begins with the "11th of the 11th" opening on November 11 at 11:11am (the number 11 is considered the "fool's number" in Rhineland tradition — the reason is disputed, but the repetition of the number creates the carnival slogan "Kölle Alaaf!" ("Cologne above all!")). The "crazy days" (die tollen Tage) are the 3 days before Ash Wednesday: Weiberfastnacht (Women's Carnival Thursday — the day when the women take power, cutting the ties of men with scissors as a symbol of emasculation), Rosenmontag (Rose Monday — the procession of 150+ floats through the city center with 1 million spectators), and Veilchendienstag (Shrove Tuesday). In summer: the Karneval-themed bars in the Altstadt show the costumes, the archive recordings and the Büttenrede (the carnival speeches — the political satire in dialect).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Romanisches Viertel (the Roman Quarter — the reconstructed Roman street grid visible in the street plan of central Cologne: the Hohe Straße (the Roman via principalis — the main Roman road, still the main shopping street of Cologne after 2,000 years), the Praetorium (the excavated underground remains of the Roman imperial governor's palace below the Rathaus (the Cologne town hall) — accessible via the underground museum (the Archäologische Zone)), and the Rathaus (the 14th–15th-century town hall with the 61m Gothic tower (the Rathaus tower, 1406) and the 1569 Renaissance portico that is the most important Renaissance facade in the western Rhineland).
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideFrüh am Dom (Am Hof 12 — the most famous Brauhaus in Cologne, directly in the shadow of the Cathedral since 1904): the final evening Kölsch in the Stange glass, watching the Gothic pinnacles of the Cathedral lit at night from the terrace. The Köbes brings a replacement Stange automatically. When you are done, you place the coaster on the glass. "Kölle Alaaf!" — the Cologne farewell.
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