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138-505: The capital of the electorate was Cologne . Conflicts with the citizens of Cologne caused the elector to move to Bonn . The Free Imperial City of Cologne was recognized after 1475, thus removing it from even the nominal secular authority of the elector. Cologne and Bonn were occupied by France in 1794. The right bank territories of the electorate were secularized in 1803 during the German mediatization . The electorate should not be confused with

276-510: A temperate – oceanic climate ( Köppen: Cfb ) with cool winters and warm summers. It is also one of the cloudiest cities in Germany, with just 1,567.5 hours of sun a year. Its average annual temperature is 10.7 °C (51 °F): 15.4 °C (60 °F) during the day and 6.1 °C (43 °F) at night. In January, the mean temperature is 3.0 °C (37 °F), while the mean temperature in July

414-422: A deeply felt anti-Prussian resentment, which was still significant after World War II, when the former mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer , became the first West German chancellor. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Cologne absorbed numerous surrounding towns, and by World War I had already grown to 700,000 inhabitants. Industrialisation changed the city and spurred its growth. Vehicle and engine manufacturing

552-463: A defensive strategy; as a strategic point on the north–south road from Bonn to Koblenz, it came under siege in 1586 and again in 1588. The Cologne War, similar to the Dutch Revolt , was not a war of assembled armies facing each other on a field, but a war of artillery sieges. It required men who could operate the machinery of war, which meant extensive economic resources for soldiers to build and operate

690-432: A half dozen heavy caliber cannons, called culverins . His soldiers, among them Spanish and Italian mercenaries, took up quarters in neighboring villages, a process accompanied by pillage, arson , murder and rape. On 18 November, the first day of the siege, Ferdinand sent a trumpeter and formally asked the fortress to surrender; the defending garrison replied that they had sworn their allegiance to Gebhard and would fight to

828-600: A major research hub for the aerospace industry, with the German Aerospace Center and the European Astronaut Centre headquarters. Lufthansa , Europe's largest airline, have their main corporate headquarters in Cologne. It also has a significant chemical and automobile industry. Cologne Bonn Airport is a regional hub, the main airport for the region being Düsseldorf Airport . The Cologne Trade Fair hosts

966-516: A mere taste of things to come. It was the first of many sieges in the Cologne War, and the castle's fall eventually led to the fall not just of Bonn, but of several other principal towns and cities in the Electorate of Cologne: Hülchrath , Neuss and Werl . Several smaller fortified towns such as Gelsenkirchen , Unkel and Brühl were also either heavily damaged or destroyed before, during and after

1104-589: A number of trade shows . The first urban settlement on the grounds of modern-day Cologne was Oppidum Ubiorum , founded in 38 BCE by the Ubii , a Cisrhenian Germanic tribe . In 50 CE, the Romans founded Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Cologne) on the river Rhine and the city became the provincial capital of Germania Inferior in 85 CE. It was also known as Augusta Ubiorum . Considerable Roman remains can be found in present-day Cologne, especially near

1242-505: A permanent Allied occupation of the entire Rhineland. As part of the demilitarisation of the Rhineland , the city's fortifications had to be dismantled. This was an opportunity to create two green belts ( Grüngürtel ) around the city by converting the fortifications and their fields of fire into large public parks. This was not completed until 1933. In 1919 the University of Cologne , closed by

1380-559: A product of Jesuit education. Once his position was secured, he invited Jesuits into the territory to help re-establish Catholicism, a task which the order approached zealously. They ejected Protestant pastors from parishes, sometimes by force, and re-established catechism education and pastoral visitations. Even when communities appeared to be reconverted, the Jesuits maintained strict supervision to identify recalcitrant Protestants or backsliders. The Jesuit reintroduction of Catholicism postponed

1518-516: A road. Walloon riders and squadrons of Italian cavalry, paid for by the pope, galloped back and forth. Forty companies of infantry trudged toward Bonn, including Walloons and Bavarians. They looked forward to besieging Bonn , the Elector's capital city, to which they laid siege on 21 December 1583, and which they took on 28 January 1584. The siege of the Godesburg and its subsequent destruction were

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1656-400: A show of extraordinary force convinced city leaders to surrender. If the show of force did not intimidate a city, the alternative was an expensive siege that reduced the city to rubble and ended with storming the ruins. In the case of the former, when a city capitulated, it would have to quarter troops at its own expense, called execution , but the soldiers would not be permitted to plunder. In

1794-465: A symbolic and physical embodiment of the power of the archbishop of Cologne in his many struggles for regional authority in secular and ecclesiastical matters. Furthermore, by the late 14th century, the fortress had become the repository of the Elector's valuables and archives. By the mid-16th century, with the inclusion of residential facilities, the castle was popularly considered the Lieblingssitz , or

1932-691: A tremendous loss of cultural treasures. The rebuilding of those churches and other landmarks such as the Gürzenich event hall was not undisputed among leading architects and art historians at that time, but in most cases, civil intention prevailed. The reconstruction lasted until the 1990s, when the Romanesque church of St. Kunibert was finished. In 1959, the city's population reached pre-war numbers again. It then grew steadily, exceeding 1 million for about one year from 1975. It remained just below that until mid-2010, when it exceeded 1 million again. In

2070-466: Is 19.0 °C (66 °F). The record high temperature of 40.3 °C (105 °F) happened on 25 July 2019 during the July 2019 European heat wave in which Cologne saw three consecutive days over 38.0 °C (100 °F). Especially the inner urban neighbourhoods experience a greater number of hot days, as well as significantly higher temperatures during nighttime compared to the surrounding area (including

2208-589: Is 37.5 m (123 ft) above sea level (the Worringer Bruch ). The city of Cologne lies within the larger area of the Cologne Lowland , a cone-shaped area of the central Rhineland that lies between Bonn , Aachen and Düsseldorf . Cologne is divided into 9 boroughs ( Stadtbezirke ) and 85 districts ( Stadtteile ): Located in the Rhine-Ruhr area, Cologne is one of the warmest cities in Germany. It has

2346-590: Is a small set of very closely related dialects, or variants, of the Ripuarian Central German group of languages. These dialects are spoken in the area covered by the Archdiocese and former Electorate of Cologne reaching from Neuss in the north to just south of Bonn , west to Düren and east to Olpe in the North-West of Germany. Kölsch is one of the very few city dialects in Germany, which also include

2484-547: Is regularly affected by flooding from the Rhine and is considered the most flood-prone European city. A city agency ( Stadtentwässerungsbetriebe Köln , "Cologne Urban Drainage Operations") manages an extensive flood control system which includes both permanent and mobile flood walls , protection from rising waters for buildings close to the river banks, monitoring and forecasting systems, pumping stations and programmes to create or protect floodplains , and river embankments. The system

2622-521: Is the largest city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and over 3.1 million people in the Cologne Bonn urban region . Cologne is also part of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region , the second biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union. Centered on the left (west) bank of

2760-507: The Battle of Worringen (1288), the archbishop was captured by soldiers of the city and was forced to grant the city near-complete autonomy. Eventually, the archbishop moved to Bonn to escape jurisdiction conflicts with the city government. In 1475, Cologne became a Free Imperial City , independent from the archbishop. The first pogrom against the Jews was in 1349, when they were used as scapegoats for

2898-478: The Battle of Worringen in 1288, Cologne gained its independence from the archbishops and became a Free City . Archbishop Sigfried II von Westerburg was forced to reside in Bonn . The archbishop nevertheless preserved the right of capital punishment. Thus the municipal council (though in strict political opposition towards the archbishop) depended upon him in all matters concerning criminal justice. This included torture,

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3036-613: The Black Death , and therefore burnt in an auto-da-fé . Political tensions arose from issues of taxation, public spending, regulation of business, and market supervision, as well as the limits of corporate autonomy. Long-distance trade in the Baltic grew, as the major trading towns came together in the Hanseatic League , under the leadership of Lübeck . It was a business alliance of trading cities and their guilds that dominated trade along

3174-470: The Cologne Bonn Region is home to 3,573,500 living on 4,415/km (11,430/sq mi). It is part of the polycentric megacity region Rhine-Ruhr with a population of over 11,000,000 people. There were 551,528 women and 527,773 men in Cologne. In 2021, there were 11,127 births in Cologne; 5,844 marriages and 1,808 divorces, and 10,536 deaths. In the city, the population was spread out, with 16.3% under

3312-702: The Cologne Central Mosque run by the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs . In 2011, about 11.2% of the population was Muslim . Cologne also has one of the oldest and largest Jewish communities in Germany. In 2011, 0.3% of Cologne's population was Jewish. Siege of Godesberg The siege of Godesberg , 18 November – 17 December 1583, was the first major siege of the Cologne War (1583–1589). Seeking to wrest control of an important fortification, Bavarian and mercenary soldiers surrounded

3450-544: The Cologne mark ) were used throughout Europe. The economic structures of medieval and early modern Cologne were characterised by the city's status as a major harbour and transport hub on the Rhine. Craftsmanship was organised by self-administering guilds, some of which were exclusive to women. As a free imperial city , Cologne was a self-ruling state within the Holy Roman Empire , an imperial estate with seat and vote at

3588-619: The Communist and Social Democrats members of the city assembly, and Mayor Adenauer was dismissed. Compared to some other major cities, however, the Nazis never gained decisive support in Cologne. (Significantly, the number of votes cast for the Nazi Party in Reichstag elections had always been the national average.) By 1939, the population had risen to 772,221 inhabitants. During World War II, Cologne

3726-558: The Duke of Arenberg . Cologne was, however, reestablished as the seat of a Catholic archbishop in 1824, and is an archdiocese to the present day. [REDACTED] Media related to Electorate of Cologne at Wikimedia Commons 51°0′N 6°50′E  /  51.000°N 6.833°E  / 51.000; 6.833 Cologne Cologne ( / k ə ˈ l oʊ n / , kə- LOHN ; German: Köln [kœln] ; Kölsch : Kölle [ˈkœlə] )

3864-616: The French Republic (which had already occupied Cologne in 1794). Thus this region later became part of Napoleon's Empire. Cologne was part of the French Département Roer (named after the river Roer, German: Rur ) with Aachen (French: Aix-la-Chapelle) as its capital. The French modernised public life, for example by introducing the Napoleonic code and removing the old elites from power. The Napoleonic code remained in use on

4002-539: The Holy Roman Empire and one of the major members of the trade union Hanseatic League . It was one of the largest European cities in medieval and renaissance times. Prior to World War II , the city had undergone occupations by the French (1794–1815) and the British (1918–1926), and was part of Prussia beginning in 1815. Cologne was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany during World War II. The bombing reduced

4140-689: The Imperial Diet , and as such had the right (and obligation) to contribute to the defense of the Empire and maintain its own military force. As they wore a red uniform, these troops were known as the Rote Funken (red sparks). These soldiers were part of the Army of the Holy Roman Empire ("Reichskontingent"). They fought in the wars of the 17th and 18th century, including the wars against revolutionary France in which

4278-521: The Oberstift and Ernest's forces had acquired a ruin. The residence was unusable, and the fortifications were mere rubble. The keep had survived the blast and various armies used it as a watch tower in the Thirty Years' War . Ernest's troops, under his brother's command, saturated the region, and the 7.3 kilometers (4.5 mi) between Godesberg and Bonn bore a greater resemblance to a military camp than to

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4416-535: The Rhineland ; it hosts more than 30 museums and hundreds of galleries. There are many institutions of higher education, most notably the University of Cologne , one of Europe's oldest and largest universities; the Technical University of Cologne , Germany's largest university of applied sciences; and the German Sport University Cologne . It hosts three Max Planck science institutes and is

4554-552: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne , the area over which the archbishop exercised spiritual authority, which was larger. Even larger was the Ecclesiastical Province of Cologne, which included suffragan dioceses such as Liège and Münster (see map below). Cologne was the ancient Roman city of Colonia Agrippina in the province of Germania Inferior , and has been a bishop's see since Roman times. In 953,

4692-577: The Royal Air Force in World War ;II. 1,046 heavy bombers attacked their target with 1,455 tons of explosives, approximately two-thirds of which were incendiary. This raid lasted about 75 minutes, destroyed 600 acres (243 ha) of built-up area (61%), killed 486 civilians and made 59,000 people homeless. The devastation was recorded by Hermann Claasen from 1942 until the end of the war, and presented in his exhibition and book of 1947 Singing in

4830-614: The Second Temple in the Siege of Jerusalem and the associated dispersion (diaspora) of the Jews , there is evidence of a Jewish community in Cologne. In 321 CE, Emperor Constantine approved the settlement of a Jewish community with all the freedoms of Roman citizens. It is assumed that it was located near the Marspforte within the city wall. The Edict of Constantine to the Jews is the oldest documented evidence in Germany. Early medieval Cologne

4968-727: The Spanish Netherlands for the Catholic side, and tertiary involvement from Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England on the Protestant side. At its most fundamental, it was a local feud between two competing dynastic interests—the Seneschals ( Truchsess ) of the House of Waldburg and the dukes of the House of Wittelsbach—that acquired religious overtones. The dispute had broad implications in

5106-701: The Wittelsbach Duke of Bavaria. In the Cologne War that followed, the pope funded Italian and Spanish mercenaries and the Catholic Bavarians also sent an army to support Ernst, while the Protestant Netherlands supported von Waldburg. The war ruined most of the Electoral economy, and many villages and towns were besieged and destroyed. The Siege of Godesberg in November–December 1583 ended with

5244-404: The basalt core of the mountain, placed 680 kilograms (1,500 lb) of powder into the tunnel and blew up a significant part of the fortifications. The explosion killed many of the defending troops, but the resulting rubble impeded the attackers' progress, and the remaining defenders continued to offer staunch resistance. Only when some of the attackers entered the castle's inner courtyard through

5382-583: The dialect spoken in Berlin , for example. As of 2015, 35.5% of the population belonged to the Catholic Church , the largest religious body, and 15.5% to the Protestant Church . Irenaeus of Lyons claimed that Christianity was brought to Cologne by Roman soldiers and traders at an unknown early date. It is known that in the early second century it was a bishop's seat. The first historical Bishop of Cologne

5520-496: The latrine system were the Bavarians able to overcome their opponents. The Godesburg's commander and some surviving defenders took refuge in the keep ; using prisoners held in the dungeons as hostages, the commander negotiated safe passage for himself, his wife and his lieutenant. The others who were left in the keep—men, women and children—were killed. Nearby Bonn fell to the Bavarians the following month. The Cologne War, 1583–1589,

5658-449: The 16th century, two Archbishops of Cologne converted to Protestantism . The first, Hermann von Wied , resigned the archbishopric on converting, but Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg , who converted to Calvinism in 1582, attempted to secularize the archbishopric. His marriage the following February, and his refusal to relinquish the territory resulted in the election of a competing archbishop and prince-elector, Ernst of Bavaria , brother of

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5796-449: The 17th and 18th centuries, resulting in complicated affairs, which were handled by diplomatic means and propaganda as well as by the supreme courts of the Holy Roman Empire. Cologne lost its status as a free city during the French period. According to the Treaty of Lunéville (1801) all the territories of the Holy Roman Empire on the left bank of the Rhine were officially incorporated into

5934-449: The 1980s and 1990s Cologne's economy prospered for two main reasons. The first was the growth in the number of media companies, both in the private and public sectors; they are especially catered for in the newly developed Media Park, which creates a strong visual focal point in Cologne's city centre and includes the KölnTurm , one of Cologne's most prominent high-rise buildings. The second was

6072-505: The Alps. Cologne is shown on the 4th century Peutinger Map . Maternus, who was elected as bishop in 313, was the first known bishop of Cologne. The city was the capital of a Roman province until it was occupied by the Ripuarian Franks in 462. Parts of the original Roman sewers are preserved underneath the city, with the new sewerage system having opened in 1890. After the destruction of

6210-518: The Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty . Due to the free status of Cologne, the archbishops were usually not allowed to enter the city. Thus they took up residence in Bonn and later in Brühl on the Rhine. As members of an influential and powerful family, and supported by their outstanding status as electors , the archbishops of Cologne repeatedly challenged and threatened the free status of Cologne during

6348-414: The Electorate of his possible conversion, and that he might refuse to relinquish his position. The Electorate had overcome similar problems. Hermann of Wied had converted to Protestantism and resigned in 1547. Salentin of Isenburg-Grenzau , Gebhard's immediate predecessor, had resigned upon his marriage. In December 1582, Gebhard announced his conversion and extended equal religious rights to Protestants in

6486-663: The Electorate, where he held a geographical advantage in his proximity to the rebellious Dutch provinces. In the south, however, Ferdinand's troops hunted the soldiers Gebhard had left in possession of such Oberstift villages as Ahrweiler and Linz ; Gebhard's troops were forced out of their strongholds, hunted through the countryside, and eventually captured. By the fall of 1583, most of the Oberstift had fallen to Ferdinand's army and many of Gebhard's erstwhile supporters—including his own brother—had returned home. In some cases, they honored parole agreements made after their capture. A strong supporter, Johann Casimir of Simmern , brother of

6624-515: The Electorate. In February, he married Agnes. At the end of March 1583, the Pope excommunicated him. The Cathedral chapter promptly elected a new archbishop, Ernest of Bavaria. With two competing archbishops, both claiming the see and the Electorate, the contenders and their supporters gathered the troops. In numbers, Ernest had the advantage. The Pope hired 5,000 mercenaries from the Farnese family to support

6762-531: The French in 1798, was reopened. This was considered to be a replacement for the loss of the University of Strasbourg on the west bank of the Rhine, which reverted to France with the rest of Alsace . Cologne prospered during the Weimar Republic (1919–33), and progress was made especially in public governance, city planning, housing and social affairs. Social housing projects were considered exemplary and were copied by other German cities. Cologne competed to host

6900-594: The Godesberg, and the village then of the same name, now Bad Godesberg , located at its foot. On top of the mountain sat a formidable fortress, similarly named Godesburg , built in the early 13th century during a contest over the election of two competing archbishops. Towering over the Rhine valley, the Godesburg's strategic position commanded the roads leading to and from Bonn , the Elector of Cologne's capital city, and Cologne ,

7038-664: The Olympics, and a modern sports stadium was erected at Müngersdorf. When the British occupation ended, the prohibition of civil aviation was lifted and Cologne Butzweilerhof Airport soon became a hub for national and international air traffic, second in Germany only to Berlin Tempelhof Airport . The democratic parties lost the local elections in Cologne in March 1933 to the Nazi Party and other extreme-right parties. The Nazis then arrested

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7176-540: The Rhine , Cologne is located on the River Rhine ( Lower Rhine ), about 35 km (22 mi) southeast of the North Rhine-Westphalia state capital Düsseldorf and 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Bonn , the former capital of West Germany . The city's medieval Cologne Cathedral ( Kölner Dom ) was the world's tallest building 1880–1890 and is today the third-tallest church and tallest cathedral in

7314-409: The Roman Antichrist moves every stone to oppress us and our churches ..." Although financial help from the English was not forthcoming, Ferdinand could not break the defenses. On 28 November, ten days after the beginning of the siege, artillery fire had wasted several thousand pounds of powder in the ineffectual bombardment. Ferdinand moved his cannons to an elevated position in a hillside vineyard to

7452-410: The advantage of height and would be able to shoot at attackers from multiple towers and defensive positions inside the walls. Ferdinand decided not to pursue this tactic. Unable to storm the castle, Ferdinand considered two options: abandon the siege, which he could not do, or blow up the fortress. This option of last resort usually made a fortress unusable. Furthermore, while he considered his options,

7590-502: The age of 18, and 17.8% were 65 years of age or older. 203 people in Cologne were over the age of 100. According to the Statistical Office of the City of Cologne, the number of people with a migrant background is at 40.5% (436,660). 2,254 people acquired German citizenship in 2021. In 2021, there were 559,854 households, of which 18.4% had children under the age of 18; 51% of all households were made up of singles. 8% of all households were single-parent households. The average household size

7728-399: The airport, where temperatures are classified). Still temperatures can vary noticeably over the course of a month with warmer and colder weather. Precipitation is spread evenly throughout the year with a light peak in summer due to showers and thunderstorms. The progressing climate change can be seen by looking at the climate data of the previous decade with lower mean temperatures. Cologne

7866-458: The archbishopric and included in the end a strip of territory along the left Bank of the Rhine east of Jülich , and the Duchy of Westphalia on the other side of the Rhine, beyond Berg and Mark . By the end of the 12th century, the Archbishop of Cologne was one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Emperor . Besides being prince-elector, he was Arch-chancellor of Italy as well, technically from 1238 and permanently from 1263 until 1803. In

8004-411: The archbishopric was effectively a secundogeniture of the Bavarian branch of the House of Wittelsbach. As the archbishop in this period usually also held the Bishopric of Münster (and often the Bishopric of Liège ), he was one of the most important princes of northwestern Germany. From 1597 until 1794, Bonn was the residence the Elector, and consequently the capital of the Electorate. After 1795,

8142-432: The archbishops of Cologne first gained noteworthy secular power when bishop Bruno was appointed as duke by his brother Otto I , King of Germany . In order to weaken the secular nobility, who threatened his power, Otto endowed Bruno and his archiepiscopal successors with the prerogatives of secular princes, thus establishing the Electorate of Cologne , formed by the temporal possessions of the archbishopric and included in

8280-404: The archbishops of Cologne first gained noteworthy secular power, when Bishop Bruno was appointed as duke by his brother Emperor Otto I . To weaken the secular nobility, who threatened his power, Otto endowed Bruno and his successors in the bishop's seat with the prerogatives of secular princes. This was the beginning of the electoral state of Cologne. It was formed from the temporal possessions of

8418-488: The availability of trade opportunities. The intersection of these trade routes was the basis of Cologne's growth. By the end of the 12th century, Archbishop Phillip von Heinsberg enclosed the entire city with walls . By 1300 the city population was 50,000–55,000. Cologne was a member of the Hanseatic League in 1475, when Frederick III confirmed the city's imperial immediacy. Cologne was so influential in regional commerce that its systems of weights and measurements (e.g.

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8556-399: The capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and as the headquarters of the Roman military in the region until occupied by the Franks in 462. During the Middle Ages the city flourished as being located on one of the most important major trade routes between east and western Europe (including the Brabant Road , Via Regia and Publica). Cologne was a free imperial city of

8694-433: The case of the latter, no quarter would be given to the defenders and the victorious soldiers were released to pillage , plunder, and sack. On 13–14 November, Ferdinand of Bavaria (Ernest's brother) and the Count of Arenberg took the Elector's castle at Poppelsdorf; on 18 November, they moved to attack the Godesburg. This fortress was considerably stronger than the one at Poppelsdorf and of supreme strategic importance for

8832-476: The castle as hostages. Presenting them at the keep's door, he made clear that they would be killed unless Ferdinand promised to spare his, his wife's and Sudermann's lives. Ferdinand acceded to Buchner's demand; some sources maintain that the Abbot of Heisterbach, one of the prisoners, had been treated decently by Buchner throughout his imprisonment in the castle and himself asked for Buchner's life to be spared. The prisoners were released. With much difficulty, given

8970-517: The castle wall, made foot assault dangerous and slow. Defenders could fire down on attackers from many angles. Fortifications such as this, and the star-shaped fortresses more commonly found in the flatter lands of the Dutch Provinces, increasingly made 16th-century warfare both difficult and expensive; victory was not simply a matter of winning a battle over the enemy's army. Victory required traveling from one fortified and armed city to another and investing time and money in one of two outcomes. Ideally,

9108-403: The city during World War II, destroying 61% of its built up area. During the Bombing of Cologne in World War II , Cologne endured 262 air raids by the Western Allies , which caused approximately 20,000 civilian casualties and almost completely wiped out the central part of the city. During the night of 31 May 1942, Cologne was the target of " Operation Millennium ", the first 1,000 bomber raid by

9246-493: The city fell to him in the Battle of Cologne . Charles fled to the Eifel mountains, rallied supporters and took the city back that same year after defeating Chilperic in the Battle of Amblève . Cologne had been the seat of a bishop since the Roman period; under Charlemagne , in 795, bishop Hildebold was promoted to archbishop . In the 843 Treaty of Verdun Cologne fell into the dominion of Lothair I 's Middle Francia – later called Lotharingia ( Lower Lorraine ). In 953,

9384-471: The city, the remains of which can be seen to this day. The military demands on what became Germany's largest fortress presented a significant obstacle to urban development, with forts, bunkers, and wide defensive dugouts completely encircling the city and preventing expansion; this resulted in a very densely built-up area within the city itself. During World War I Cologne was the target of several minor air raids but suffered no significant damage. Cologne

9522-463: The coast of Northern Europe and flourished from the 1200 to 1500 and continued with lesser importance after that. The chief cities were Cologne on the Rhine River, Hamburg and Bremen on the North Sea, and Lübeck on the Baltic. The economic structures of medieval and early modern Cologne were based on the city's major harbor, its location as a transport hub and its entrepreneurial merchants who built ties with merchants in other Hanseatic cities. During

9660-417: The competing Archbishops of Cologne fought for control of the Electorate; within a few months, the local feud between the two parties expanded to include supporters from the Electorate of the Palatinate on the Protestant side, and the Duchy of Bavaria on the Catholic side. Italian mercenaries hired with papal gold augmented the Catholic force. In 1586, the conflict expanded further, with direct involvement of

9798-486: The construction of the small residence, these archbishops also expanded the inner works to include dungeons and a chapel; they fortified the walls with towers and crenelations , added a curtain wall , and improved the roads that led to the entrance in a series of switchbacks . By the 1580s, the Godesburg was not only the favorite residence of the Elector, but also an elaborate stone fortress. Although it retained some of its medieval character, it had been enhanced partially in

9936-403: The death for him. In response, Ferdinand took control of the village at the foot of the mountain and encircled the site. He surveyed the locale for two days to identify the most promising angle of attack. The customary equipage of siege warfare—the siege tower , the trebuchet , and the crossbow —would be ineffective. The distance between the curtain wall and the valley floor and the angle of

10074-448: The defenders repaired the breaches caused by the cannonade and reinforced the walls, making them even stronger than they had been. The defenders also removed the roof of the St. Michael's Chapel in the castle's outer ward, filled the chapel with dirt to reinforce its walls, and placed some of their artillery pieces within the walls. Ferdinand reluctantly ordered saps to be dug into the side of

10212-461: The destruction of Godesberg Castle and the slaughter of most of its inhabitants. After several more sieges, von Waldburg gave up his claim to the see and retired to Strasbourg with his wife. Ernst became archbishop–the first major success of the Counter-Reformation in Germany. Under Ernst's direction, Jesuits supervised the reintroduction of Catholicism in the Electorate. From 1583 to 1761,

10350-519: The electorate's territories on the left bank of the Rhine were occupied by France and were formally annexed in 1801. Cologne was part of the département of Roer ; Bonn was part of the département of Rhin-et-Moselle . The Reichsdeputationshauptschluss of 1803 secularized the rest of the archbishopric, giving the Duchy of Westphalia to the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt and Vest Recklinghausen to

10488-594: The end a strip of territory along the left Bank of the Rhine east of Jülich , as well as the Duchy of Westphalia on the other side of the Rhine, beyond Berg and Mark . By the end of the 12th century, the Archbishop of Cologne was one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Emperor. Besides being prince elector, he was Archchancellor of Italy as well, technically from 1238 and permanently from 1263 until 1803. Following

10626-400: The end of 1945, however, the population had already recovered to approximately 450,000. By the end of the war, essentially all of Cologne's pre-war Jewish population of 11,000 had been deported or killed by the Nazis. The six synagogues of the city were destroyed. The synagogue on Roonstraße was rebuilt in 1959. Despite Cologne's status as the largest city in the region, nearby Düsseldorf

10764-530: The expense of the city's historic heritage with much being demolished (for example, the city walls or the area around the cathedral) and sometimes replaced by contemporary buildings. Cologne was designated as one of the Fortresses of the German Confederation . It was turned into a heavily armed fortress (opposing the French and Belgian fortresses of Verdun and Liège ) with two fortified belts surrounding

10902-513: The explosion, with a dreadful crack, propelled chunks of the towers and walls high into the air. Almost half the Godesburg collapsed instantly. According to a newspaper report dated 13 January 1584, debris raining on the valley below damaged several houses, and destroyed some of them completely. Amidst the flames and rubble, Arenberg's and Ferdinand's troops tried to storm the castle, but found their way blocked by masses of debris created by their own explosives. Furthermore, although close to half of

11040-545: The favorite seat (home), of the Electors. The fortification originally had been constructed in the medieval style. In the reign of Siegfried II of Westerburg (1275–1295), it successfully resisted a five-week siege by the Count of Cleves . Successive archbishops continued to improve the defenses with stronger walls, adding levels to the central Bergfried , which was cylindrical, not square like many medieval donjons . In addition to

11178-429: The first Wittelsbach to hold the position. Wittelsbach authority in northwestern German territories endured until the mid-18th century, with the election of a succession of Bavarian princes to the archbishop's throne and to the prince-elector's seat. This gave the family two voices in the choice of imperial candidates, which had ramifications in the 18th century. In 1740, Charles Albert, Duke of Bavaria , laid claim to

11316-555: The focus of the conflict. In 1837 the archbishop of Cologne, Clemens August von Droste-Vischering , was arrested and imprisoned for two years after a dispute over the legal status of marriages between Catholics and Protestants ( Mischehenstreit ). In 1874, during the Kulturkampf , Archbishop Paul Melchers was imprisoned before taking asylum in the Netherlands. These conflicts alienated the Catholic population from Berlin and contributed to

11454-541: The fortification, as were his mortars; in the course of the cannonade, return fire even managed to destroy a few of his own pieces. From his place of safety in the north, Gebhard understood well the potential of the loss of the Godesburg, yet he was relatively helpless to help his garrison. In an effort to garner financial support from the Protestant states, in November 1583 he wrote to the Archbishop of Canterbury, in London: "Verily,

11592-429: The fortified village of Poppelsdorf . The Godesburg foundation stone was laid on 15 October 1210 upon the order of Dietrich of Hengebach , the Archbishop of Cologne, who was himself in disputed possession of the Electorate and fighting to keep his position. Although his competitors deposed Dietrich in 1212, his successors finished and enlarged the fortress; it featured in chronicles of the subsequent centuries as both

11730-522: The furnace. Cologne – Remains of an old city . Cologne was taken by the American First Army in early March 1945 during the Invasion of Germany after a battle . By the end of the war, the population of Cologne had been reduced by 95%. This loss was mainly caused by a massive evacuation of the people to more rural areas. The same happened in many other German cities in the last two years of war. By

11868-409: The garrison had perished in the explosion and subsequent collapse of the fortifications, those who remained offered staunch resistance by throwing rocks on the approaching attackers, causing a large number of casualties. In frustration, 40 or 50 of the attackers tied together two ladders and crawled through the sluice-ways of the garderobe (latrines) that emptied on the hillside, thus gaining access to

12006-461: The hill placed the Godesburg out of range. The besiegers had no choice but to use expensive artillery, although the angle would decrease its effectiveness. Ferdinand initially placed three cannons at the foot of the mountain, in Godesberg village. Daily, cannonballs and mortar shells smashed against the castle's walls. Nightly, the defenders repaired the damage. At the following sunrise, the assault began anew. Ferdinand's cannons were ineffective against

12144-506: The imperial city and throughout the merchant capitals of the northern German states. According to contemporary sources, around 180 people lived in the facility, including peasants, the Dutch soldiers defending it, and an unknown number of women and children. The fortress was also home to several of Gebhard's prisoners. The Abbot of Heisterbach, Johann von St. Vith, had been taken prisoner in July 1583 when Sudermann's troops sacked several villages in

12282-497: The imperial title; his brother Klemens August of Bavaria , then the archbishop and prince-elector, cast his vote for Charles and personally crowned him at Frankfurt . The shift of the emperor's orb from the House of Habsburg to the Wittelsbach family, albeit a brief event, was only resolved by the ascension of Maximilian III Joseph who, with the Treaty of Füssen , eschewed any imperial pretensions. Gebhard's defeat also changed

12420-526: The interests of powerful neighbors. The scale of involvement of such external mercenary armies as Spain's Army of Flanders set a precedent that internationalized contests of local autonomy and religious issues in the German states, a problem not settled until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Despite that settlement, German states remained vulnerable to both external intervention and religious division, as they were in

12558-457: The interior of the castle. There they killed around 20 of the defenders in fierce fighting; the remaining defenders, approximately 70 men, among them Buchner and Sudermann, the garrison commander and his lieutenant, sought refuge in the castle's keep. In this way, Ferdinand's infantry at last gained unopposed access to the fortress. Storming the castle had taken about two hours. Out of options, Buchner opened negotiations, using those interned in

12696-837: The left bank of the Rhine until 1900, when a unified civil code (the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch ) was introduced in the German Empire . In 1815 at the Congress of Vienna , Cologne was made part of the Kingdom of Prussia , first in the Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and then the Rhine Province . The permanent tensions between the Catholic Rhineland and the overwhelmingly Protestant Prussian state repeatedly escalated with Cologne being in

12834-405: The mountain. The sapping was difficult and dangerous and the sappers worked under continuous attack from the castle's defenders, who fired on them with small arms and the castle's artillery and dropped rocks and debris on their heads. The forced labor of local peasants minimized losses among Ferdinand's own troops, but many of the peasants perished in the effort. On 6 December, the sappers reached

12972-503: The new Elector. Ernest's brother, the Duke of Bavaria, provided an army and Ernest arranged for his brother Ferdinand's army to take possession of the so-called Oberstift , the southern territory of the Electorate; his troops plundered many of its villages and towns. With the support of Adolf von Neuenahr and the Count Solms , Gebhard secured some of the northern and eastern portions of

13110-434: The outer wall of the castle, and in a day or two we hope to send the fortress into the sky." On 17 December, Ferdinand again asked the castle's defenders to surrender. They replied that they did not know the meaning of the word and would hold the Godesburg to the last man. A report dated 23 December 1583 relates that, having given Ferdinand a rude reply, the defenders went back to lunch. Ferdinand ordered 400 men to enter

13248-576: The permanent improvement of the diverse traffic infrastructure, which made Cologne one of the most easily accessible metropolitan areas in Central Europe. Due to the economic success of the Cologne Trade Fair , the city arranged a large extension to the fair site in 2005. At the same time the original buildings, which date back to the 1920s, were rented out to RTL , Germany's largest private broadcaster, as their new corporate headquarters. Cologne

13386-405: The political, social, and dynastic balance of the Holy Roman Empire . It tested the principle of ecclesiastical reservation established in the religious Peace of Augsburg (1555). The 1555 agreement settled religious problems in the Empire with the principle Cuius regio, eius religio : the subjects of a secular prince followed the religion of their sovereign. Ecclesiastical reservation excluded

13524-422: The population by 93% mainly due to evacuation, and destroyed around 80% of the millennia-old city center. The post-war rebuilding has resulted in a mixed cityscape, restoring most major historic landmarks like city gates and churches (31 of them being Romanesque ). The city nowadays consists of around 25% pre World War II buildings and boasts around 9,000 historic buildings. Cologne is a major cultural center for

13662-473: The powerful Louis VI, Elector Palatine , returned to the Palatine when his brother died. Other supporters were frustrated by Gebhard's chronic inability to pay his troops, or intimidated by threats of Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor . By late October 1583, most of the Oberstift had fallen, although he still held the Godesburg, located near the villages of Godesberg and Friesdorf, the formidable fortress at Bonn, and

13800-490: The projected attack on Bonn, the capital city of the Electorate. The Godesburg was defended by Lieutenant Colonel Felix Buchner, Captain of the Guard Eduard Sudermann, a garrison of soldiers from the Netherlands, and a few cannons. Sudermann was a patrician from Cologne, and the son of Cologne's Bürgermeister (mayor) Dr. Heinrich Sudermann (1520–1591), a jurist and ambassador, and one of the most influential men in

13938-508: The region and plundered the Heisterbach monastery. Other prisoners held in the Godesburg included Gebhard von Bothmer, the suffragan (auxiliary bishop) of Hildesheim, and Captain Ranucino from Florence , the captured commander of Deutz , across the Rhine from Cologne. To besiege the fortress, Ferdinand brought more than 400 Fussvolk (foot soldiers) and five squadrons of mounted soldiers, plus

14076-512: The region's economic powerhouse. Over time, the Electors strengthened its walls and heightened its towers. They added a small residence in the 14th century and the donjon (also called a Bergfried or keep) developed as a stronghold of the Electoral archives and valuables. By the mid-16th century, the Godesburg was considered nearly impregnable and had become a symbol of the dual power of the Prince-electors and Archbishops of Cologne, one of

14214-511: The religious balance in the northwestern states. Although the Peace of Augsburg (1555) had addressed earlier the problem of religious pluralism, the solution potentially converted simple, and usually local, legal disputes into dynastic and religious warfare, as the Cologne War itself demonstrated. The result of the Cologne War gave the Counter Reformation a foothold in the lower Rhine. Ernest was

14352-405: The saps; these men would storm the castle once the mine had been detonated. The remainder of his cavalry and foot soldiers were to wait in the fields below. Some sources assert that the fuse was lit at around 1:00 pm, although the 19th-century local historian Heinrich Joseph Floß argued that these sources are mistaken, and that the explosion clearly occurred in the morning. All sources agree that

14490-506: The sentence for which was only allowed to be handed down by the episcopal judge known as the greve. This legal situation lasted until the French conquest of Cologne. Besides its economic and political significance Cologne also became an important centre of medieval pilgrimage, when Cologne's archbishop, Rainald of Dassel , gave the relics of the Three Wise Men to Cologne's cathedral in 1164 (after they had been taken from Milan ). Besides

14628-497: The siege works, and a political and military will to keep the machinery of war operating. The destruction of so prominent a fortress was also news. When Frans Hogenberg and Georg Braun compiled their Civitates Orbis Terrarum , a collection of important scenes and locales, they included Hogenberg's engraving of its destruction as not only an important sight, but an important event. Hogenberg lived in Bonn and Cologne in 1583, and likely saw

14766-475: The siege. In addition to damage to the towns and cities, Ernest's supporters managed to restrict imports and exports to and from the Electorate, not only crippling Gebhard's financial resources but resulting in economic hardship for the inhabitants. Advances in military architecture over the previous century had led to the construction or enhancement of fortresses that could withstand the pounding of cannonballs and mortar shells. For both Gebhard and Ernest, winning

14904-477: The site himself. After overwhelming the Godesburg, the Bavarians found a large marble slab in the ruins: the castle's foundation stone, which had been displaced by the explosion. The stone is a block of black marble with a Latin inscription commemorating the construction of the fortress by Dietrich I von Hengebach in 1210: Anno · D(omi)ni · M·C·C·X · Gudensburg · Fundatum · E(st) · A · Teoderico · Ep(iscop)o · I(n) · Die · Mauror(um) · M(a)r(tyrum) . A gold inscription

15042-450: The slaughter lasted well into the night. The castle's 178 dead were buried in two mass graves whose locations remain unknown. Among those who perished in the destruction and storming of the castle was also one of the prisoners, a vicar from Hildesheim. The Hildesheim suffragan, too, was not among the rescued prisoners; he had died during his incarceration, a short while before the castle was stormed. Gebhard lost an important stronghold in

15180-482: The small force was almost completely wiped out in combat. The tradition of these troops is preserved as a military persiflage by Cologne's most outstanding carnival society, the Rote Funken . The Free Imperial City of Cologne must not be confused with the Electorate of Cologne , which was a state of its own within the Holy Roman Empire. Since the second half of the 16th century the majority of archbishops were drawn from

15318-414: The solution of Germany's religious problems for another half century . Finally, the German tradition of local and regional autonomy created structural and cultural differences in the Holy Roman Empire, compared to the increasingly centralized authority of such other European states as France, England, and Spain. The unabashed intervention of Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, English and Scots mercenaries in

15456-429: The south-eastern side of the fortress's outermost wall and then spent another ten days undermining the basalt on which the castle stood; they completed their work on 16 December and placed 680 kilograms (1,500 lb) of powder into the mine. Ferdinand reported on the siege's progress in a letter to his older brother, Duke Wilhelm , dated 15 December 1583: "The fortress stands on solid rock. ...[Y]esterday we had reached

15594-468: The state of mind of the besiegers, Ferdinand and Arenberg brought the Buchners and Sudermann out of the castle alive. Once the Buchners, Sudermann, and the hostages were clear of the fortress, Ferdinand released his troops, who were in an ugly mood and hungry for blood and plunder. All those who remained in the keep—soldiers, men, women and children—were killed, some inside the keep, some in the courtyard below;

15732-502: The style made popular by Italian military architects. The physical location on the mountain did not permit the star-shaped trace italienne ; nevertheless, the Godesburg's cordons of thick, rounded walls and massive iron-studded gates made its defenders formidable adversaries. Its height, some 120 meters (400 ft) above the Rhine on the peak of a steep hill, made artillery assault difficult. The approach road, with its hairpin turns, made battering rams impractical. The turns, overlooked by

15870-422: The territories of the imperial prelates (bishops, archbishops, abbots or abbesses) from cuius regio, eius religio . In an ecclesiastical territory, if the prelate changed his religion, his subjects did not have to do so. Instead, the prelate was expected to resign from his post. Problematically, the 1555 agreement did not specify this detail. Agnes of Mansfeld-Eisleben was a Protestant canoness (meaning that she

16008-405: The third largest city by area. The population density was 2,700/km (7,000/sq mi). Cologne first reached the population of 1,000,000 in 1975 due to the incorporation of Wesseling , however this was reversed after public opposition. In 2009 Cologne's population again reached 1,000,000 and it became one of the four cities in Germany with a population exceeding 1 Million. The metropolitan area of

16146-420: The three magi Cologne preserves the relics of Saint Ursula and Albertus Magnus . Cologne's location on the river Rhine placed it at the intersection of the major trade routes between east and west as well as the main south–north Western Europe trade route, Venice to Netherlands; even by the mid-10th century, merchants in the town were already known for their prosperity and luxurious standard of living due to

16284-524: The war a large increase in automobile traffic could be anticipated. Plans for new roads had already, to a certain degree, evolved under the Nazi administration, but the actual construction became easier when most of the city centre was in ruins. The destruction of 95% of the city centre, including the famous Twelve Romanesque churches such as St. Gereon , Great St. Martin , St. Maria im Kapitol and several other monuments in World War II, meant

16422-405: The war required mobilizing enough men to encircle a seemingly endless array of enemy artillery fortresses. These could be protected with relatively small garrisons, but taking them required both expensive artillery and enough men to storm the battlements. Furthermore, the victor had to maintain and defend all his possessions as they were acquired. Even the ruin of the Godesburg required a garrison and

16560-536: The war, as well as the influence of papal gold, changed the dynamic of internal German confessional and dynastic disputes. The great "players" of the early modern European political stage realized that they could enhance their own positions vis-a-vis one another by assisting, promoting or undermining local and regional competition among the German princes, as they did in the feud between Gebhard and Ernest. Conversely, German princes, dukes, and counts realized that they could acquire an edge over their competitors by promoting

16698-565: The wealthiest ecclesiastical territories in the Holy Roman Empire . The Cologne War, a feud between the Protestant Elector, Gebhard, Truchsess of Waldburg , and the Catholic Elector, Ernest of Bavaria , was yet another schismatic episode in the Electoral and archdiocesan history. The Godesburg came under attack from Bavarian forces in November 1583. It resisted a lengthy cannonade by the attacking army; finally, sappers tunneled into

16836-493: The west of the Godesburg. The height offered a more advantageous trajectory with which to fire on the walls of the Godesburg's outer ward . Within a few hours, his cannonade had breached them. Ferdinand sent three Italian experts to examine the breach and to advise him on the next step; the Italians, having come under fire during their examination, concluded that storming the castle would incur many casualties. The defenders still had

16974-527: The wharf area, where a 1,900-year-old Roman boat was discovered in late 2007. From 260 to 271, Cologne was the capital of the Gallic Empire under Postumus , Marius , and Victorinus . In 310, under emperor Constantine I , a bridge was built over the Rhine at Cologne. Roman imperial governors resided in the city and it became one of the most important trade and production centers in the Roman Empire north of

17112-618: The world . It was constructed to house the Shrine of the Three Kings and is a globally recognized landmark and one of the most visited sights and pilgrimage destinations in Europe. The cityscape is further shaped by the Twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne . Cologne is famous for Eau de Cologne , which has been produced in the city since 1709; "cologne" has since come to be a generic term. Cologne

17250-508: Was Saint Maternus . Thomas Aquinas studied in Cologne in 1244 under Albertus Magnus . Cologne is the seat of the Archdiocese of Cologne . According to the 2011 census, 2.1% of the population was Eastern Orthodox , 0.5% belonged of an Evangelical Free Church and 4.2% belonged to further religious communities officially recognized by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (such as Jehovah's Witnesses ). There are several mosques, including

17388-579: Was 1.88. Cologne residents with a foreign citizenship as of 31 December 2021 is as follows: Cologne is home to 90,000 people of Turkish origin and is the second largest German city with Turkish population after Berlin . Cologne has a Little Istanbul in Keupstraße that has many Turkish restaurants and markets. Famous Turkish-German people like rapper Eko Fresh and TV presenter Nazan Eckes were born in Cologne. Colognian or Kölsch ( Colognian pronunciation: [kœɫːʃ] ) (natively Kölsch Platt )

17526-456: Was a Military Area Command Headquarters ( Militärbereichshauptkommandoquartier ) for Wehrkreis VI (headquartered at Münster ). Cologne was under the command of Lieutenant-General Freiherr Roeder von Diersburg, who was responsible for military operations in Bonn , Siegburg , Aachen , Jülich , Düren , and Monschau . Cologne was home to the 211th Infantry Regiment and the 26th Artillery Regiment. The Allies dropped 44,923.2 tons of bombs on

17664-487: Was a woman living in a religious community, but not bound by a perpetual vow) at a convent in Gerresheim , today a district of Düsseldorf . After 1579, she maintained a lengthy liaison with the Archbishop of Cologne, Gebhard of Waldburg-Trauchburg, Truchsess of Waldburg. In defense of her honor, two of her brothers convinced Gebhard to marry her, and Gebhard considered converting to Calvinism for her. Rumors spread throughout

17802-617: Was added to the back of the stone, noting that it had been found "on the very top of the blasted wall". Ferdinand took the stone to Munich, where it was kept in a museum beside a fresco painting in an arcade commemorating the siege. Today, the foundation stone is in the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Bonn. Gebhard's eventual defeat changed the balance of power in the Electoral College of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1589, Ernest of Bavaria became uncontested Prince-elector of Cologne,

17940-539: Was chosen as the political capital of the federated state of North Rhine-Westphalia . With Bonn being chosen as the provisional federal capital ( provisorische Bundeshauptstadt ) and seat of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany (then informally West Germany ), Cologne benefited by being sandwiched between two important political centres. The city became–and still is–home to a number of federal agencies and organizations. After reunification in 1990, Berlin

18078-506: Was especially successful, though the heavy industry was less ubiquitous than in the Ruhr area . The cathedral , started in 1248 but abandoned around 1560, was eventually finished in 1880 not just as a place of worship but also as a German national monument celebrating the newly founded German empire and the continuity of the German nation since the Middle Ages. Some of this urban growth occurred at

18216-638: Was founded and established in Germanic Ubii territory in the 1st century CE as the Roman Colonia Agrippina , hence its name. Agrippina was later dropped (except in Latin), and Colonia became the name of the city in its own right, which developed into modern German as Köln . Cologne , the French version of the city's name, has become standard in English as well. Cologne functioned as

18354-472: Was made the capital of Germany. In 1945 architect and urban planner Rudolf Schwarz called Cologne the "world's greatest heap of rubble". Schwarz designed the master plan for reconstruction in 1947, which included the construction of several new thoroughfares through the city centre, especially the Nord-Süd-Fahrt ("North-South-Drive"). The master plan took into consideration the fact that even shortly after

18492-593: Was occupied by the British Army of the Rhine until 1926, under the terms of the Armistice and the subsequent Versailles Peace Treaty . In contrast with the harsh behaviour of the French occupation troops in Germany, the British forces were more lenient to the local population. Konrad Adenauer , the mayor of Cologne from 1917 until 1933 and later a West German chancellor, acknowledged the political impact of this approach, especially since Britain had opposed French demands for

18630-569: Was part of Austrasia within the Frankish Empire . Cunibert, made bishop of Cologne in 623, was an important advisor to the Merovingian King Dagobert I and served with domesticus Pepin of Landen as tutor to the king's son and heir Siegebert III, the future king of Austrasia. In 716, Charles Martel commanded an army for the first time and suffered the only defeat of his life when Chilperic II , King of Neustria , invaded Austrasia and

18768-594: Was redesigned after a 1993 flood, which resulted in heavy damage. In the Roman Empire, the city was large and rich with a population of 40,000 in 100–200 AD. The city was home to around 20,000 people in 1000 AD, growing to 50,000 in 1200 AD. The Rhineland metropolis still had 50,000 residents in 1300 AD. Cologne is the fourth-largest city by population in Germany after Berlin , Hamburg and Munich . As of 31 December 2021, there were 1,079,301 people registered as living in Cologne in an area of 404.99 km (156.37 sq mi), which makes Cologne

18906-529: Was the focus of the 2015-16 New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany , with over 500 women reporting that they were sexually assaulted by persons of African and Arab appearance. The metropolitan area encompasses over 405 square kilometres (156 square miles), extending around a central point that lies at 50° 56' 33 latitude and 6° 57' 32 longitude. The city's highest point is 118 m (387 ft) above sea level (the Monte Troodelöh ) and its lowest point

19044-539: Was triggered by the 1582 conversion of the Archbishop-Prince Elector of Cologne , Gebhard, Truchsess of Waldburg , to Calvinism , and his subsequent marriage to Agnes of Mansfeld-Eisleben in 1583. When he refused to relinquish the Electorate , a faction of clerics in the Cologne Cathedral chapter elected another archbishop, Ernest of Bavaria , of the House of Wittelsbach . Initially, troops of

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