COLOGNE

German Kln, largest city of North RhineWestphalia Land (state), and a major river port of Germany. It is located on the left (west) bank of the Rhine River below Bonn. Cologne's historical importance is due to its location at the crossing of major European trade routes. Settled since Roman times, the city achieved renown as a medieval commercial and manufacturing centre; it is considered to be the cultural and economic capital of the Rhineland. Cologne is situated on a fertile lowland plain, about 21 miles (34 km) northwest of Bonn, and has a temperate but humid climate. The city's layout follows the semicircular pattern it assumed in 1180 when the city wall was built; the flat side of the semicircle is bounded by the Rhine. Administrative annexations of surrounding communities in 1975 significantly enlarged the city's area and population; heavily industrialized and rural residential districts surround the modern city on both banks of the river. Banking and trade have been prominent in the economy of Cologne since the Middle Ages. Wine and textile production are other well-established activities. Insurance has become of great importance, as have engineering, metalworking, and petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and lignite-extraction industries. Other manufactures include engines, chocolate, and eau de cologne. The perimeter of Cologne's inner semicircle is defined by ring roads, called the Ringstrassen, which in the 19th century replaced the medieval fortifications. Greenbelts stretch alongside the Ringstrassen. The main shopping and business streets, such as the north-south Hohe Strasse and the west-east Schildergasse, as well as the city's historic buildings, lie within the Ringstrassen. Despite the destruction of about 90 percent of the central city during World War II, Cologne's appearance still reflects its history; religious and secular buildings and monuments of all periods remained standing or have been rebuilt. The most impressive architectural feature of the city is the Cologne Cathedral, which was built between the 13th and the 19th century. It is the largest Gothic church in northern Europe and houses a collection of relics and art treasures that span a millennium. Numerous Romanesque churches date from the 11th to the 13th century. Secular medieval buildings such as the Overstolzenhaus, the Gothic Town Hall, and the Grzenich, or Festhaus (banquet hall), suffered damage in World War II but have undergone extensive reconstruction. Institutions of higher learning in the city include the University of Cologne (founded in 1388, dissolved during the French Revolutionary occupation of the city, and refounded in 1919) and professional, trade, and art schools. Among the city's cultural institutions are the Wallraf-Richartz Museum (with a fine collection of Old Masters), the Ludwig Museum (with an excellent wide-ranging collection of modern art), and several other museums. City mass transit consists of bus, streetcar, and subway service. Because of its favourable location, Cologne has become a major rail junction and an important inland port. Autobahns connect the city with other major German urban centres. The Cologne/Bonn Airport has a helicopter landing ground. Area city, 156 square miles (405 square km). Pop. (1992 est.) 956,690. German Kln, fourth largest city in Germany and largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state). One of the key inland ports of Europe, it is the historic, cultural, and economic capital of the Rhineland. Cologne's commercial importance grew out of its position at the point where the huge traffic artery of the Rhine (German: Rhein) River intersected one of the major land routes for trade between western and eastern Europe. In the Middle Ages it also became an ecclesiastical centre of significance and an important centre of art and learning. This rich and varied heritage is still much in evidence in present-day Cologne, despite the almost complete destruction of the Inner City during World War II. Cologne is the seat of a university and the see of a Roman Catholic archbishop. Its cathedral, the largest Gothic church in northern Europe, was designated a World Heritage site in 1996; it is the city's major landmark and unofficial symbol. Early settlement and medieval growth After Julius Caesar destroyed the Eburones in 53 BC, the Roman general Agrippa colonized the area with another tribe called the Ubii, who came from the right bank of the Rhine. A fortified settlement was established on the site in about 38 BC. This was the birthplace of Agrippina the Younger, who was the wife of the emperor Claudius, and it was at her request that the title of Roman colony was conferred upon the town in AD 50. It was named Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, shortened to Colonia; later it was made the headquarters of the governor of Lower Germany. After AD 258 it was for a time the capital of a splinter empire ruled by Postumus and comprising Gaul, Britain, and Spain. In 310 the emperor Constantine the Great built a castle and a permanent bridge to it across the Rhine. Ceramics and glass were manufactured in Cologne in Roman times. About 456 it was conquered by the Franks, and it soon became the residence of the kings of the Ripuarian part of the Frankish kingdom. A Christian community existed in Cologne probably as early as the 2nd century, and the town is first mentioned as a bishopric in 313. Charlemagne made it an archbishopric in the late 8th century; by the 10th century the archbishop dominated the city, receiving a wide range of tolls, customs duties, and other payments. The city's industry and trade grew during the Middle Ages, especially from about the 10th century, and increasingly bitter conflicts developed between the wealthy merchants and the archbishop. The former sought commercial and political freedom, the latter the preservation of his temporal power, which was augmented from the 13th century when the archbishop became one of the electors privileged to choose the German king. It was not until the Battle of Worringen, in 1288, that the Archbishop was finally defeated, and the city of Cologne secured full self-government. From that time, Cologne was, in fact, a free imperial city, although it was only officially recognized as such in 1475. Until the end of the 14th century, the government of the city was in the hands of the wealthy patricians; but in 1396, after a bloodless revolution, a new municipal constitution was established under which the 22 branches of the guilds became the basis of the government, for they elected a council that had power over all internal and external affairs. This medieval period was a splendid one for Cologne. It was a prominent member of the mercantile Hanseatic League, and its merchants had probably the most extensive connections and the most varied trade of all the German towns. Crafts included textile manufacturing, bookmaking, leatherworking, enameling, and metalworking, the work of Cologne's goldsmiths being particularly fine. The arts and religion flourished there also. Three of the greatest Roman Catholic scholars and theologians of the medieval Scholastic movementAlbertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, and John Duns Scotusall taught in Cologne's schools. After the Thirty Years' War (161848), however, the city declined. As late as 1794, when the French occupied Cologne, public Protestant services were still banned, and the city has remained predominantly Roman Catholic. The Jewish community, which had existed from the time of Constantine the Great, was expelled in 1424, and until 1794 no Jew was allowed to remain overnight in the city. The 19th and 20th centuries Cologne's history as a free imperial city ended when it was taken by France in 1794; and, when the Archbishop Elector died in 1801, the see was left vacant and not restored until 1821. In 1815 Cologne passed to Prussia, and from that time a new era of prosperity began. A wide range of industries flourished, and a chamber of commerce was established, the oldest in Germany. When the railways were built, its geographical position made it an ideal railway centre. The population grew from 41,685 in 1801 to 372,529 in 1900. Liberal points of view were represented in the 19th century by the Rheinische Zeitung, edited (184243) by Karl Marx and Moses Hess, while the Socialist Neue Rheinische Zeitung was edited (184849) by Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Ferdinand Freiligrath. The city's growth was interrupted by World War I. Under Konrad Adenauerthe future chancellor of West Germany who was Oberbrgermeister of Cologne from 1917 until he was deposed by the Nazis in 1933growth resumed, especially in suburban areas and in the laying out of new industrial parks. By 1939 the population had reached 768,352. In World War II, Cologne sustained 262 air raids. There were 20,000 casualties, and the city was left in ruins, with nearly all the dwellings in the old town damaged and 91 out of 150 churches destroyed. In March 1945, the war's end for Cologne, the population had sunk to 40,000. By December, however, there were 447,000 in the city, and the population continued to rise rapidly while the work of clearance and reconstruction was undertaken. Since the war the process of growth has continued, with the development of new industrial areas and satellite towns and the improvement of transportation.