Cologne

Cologne was another of those Roman settlements along the Rhine, Colonia Agrippina, founded in the First Century. It was taken by the Franks in 462, ending Roman domination in the area. In the Middle Ages, it sat smack dab on one of the major East-West trading routes, and had a good position along the Rhine. It was a Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire with all the rights, privileges and liberties that entailed, and a member of the Hanseatic League. We're talking some big money here...

The Archbishop of Cologne was one of the Electors of the Holy Roman Emperor, endowed with this other secular powers in 953 by Otto I. No surprise, the archbishop was his brother. However, by the 1200s the merchants in Cologne had driven the archbishops out. Still the Elector, the archbishops moved upstream towards Bonn.

Despite being a powerhouse in its day, Cologne was occupied by the French during the Jacobin and Napoleonic periods. All of the lands west of the Rhine were folded into France. You can see why the Germans were so salty with the French. After the overthrow of Napoleon, Cologne became part of Prussia in 1815 (thank you Chancellor Metternich et al). It was occupied by the British from 1918-1926. One of the most bombed cities in World War II, over eighty percent of the historic center was destroyed, and the population reduced by 90%, though mostly through evacuation.

Today, it's the fourth most populous city in Germany. Lots of museums, restored buildings, amazing churches. They have their own sort of beer, and a few specialty dishes. A chocolate museum and restaurant... Just this one day here, though, before we board a fast train to catch our flight to Frankfurt.

So some street scenes before we get to the churches and food, including a lot of pictures of the famous Heinzelmännchen Fountain. The heinzelmännchen are little pixies. The legend is, they used to help the artisans of Cologne do their work at night, so the men didn't have to work so hard at their crafts. One night, the curious wife of a tailor stayed up to spy out the secret, and the Heinzelmännchen disappeared. We can analyze this story many different ways, but meh. My brain is too tired to do much deconstructing right now. Great fountain though, built in 1899, marking the 100th birthday of the author of a famous poem about the pixies.Read more