DISCOVER COLOGNE

Cologne lies on the Rhine. The city's famous Cologne Cathedral (Kolner Dom) is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. The University of Cologne (Universität zu Koln) is one of Europe's oldest universities and internationally renowned for its department of economics.

Cologne is a major cultural centre of the Rhineland and has a vibrant art scene. Cologne counts over 30 museums and hundreds of galleries. Exhibitions range from local ancient Roman archaeological sites to contemporary graphics and sculpture. The city's Trade Fair Grounds are host to a number of trade shows such as the Art Cologne Fair, the International Furniture Fair (IMM) and the Photokina. Cologne is also well known for its celebration of Cologne Carnival and the homosexual festival Christopher Street Day (CSD).

Within Germany, Cologne is known as an important media centre. Several radio and television stations, including Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) and RTL, are based in the city. The city also hosts the Cologne Comedy Festival, which is considered to be the largest comedy festival in Mainland Europe.

In 2005 Cologne hosted the 20th Roman Catholic World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI. It was one of the largest ever meetings, with over a million participants.


LANDMARKS OF COLOGNE

The centre of Cologne was completely destroyed during World War II. The reconstruction of the city followed the style of the 1950s, while respecting the old layout and naming of the streets. Thus, the city today is characterised by simple and modest post-war buildings, with few interspersed pre-war buildings which were reconstructed due to their historical importance. Some buildings of the "Wiederaufbauzeit" (era of reconstruction), for example the opera house by Wilhelm Riphahn, are nowadays regarded as classics in modern architecture. Nevertheless, the uncompromising style of the opera house and other modern buildings has remained controversial.

• Cologne Cathedral (German: Kolner Dom) is the city's famous landmark and unofficial symbol. It is a Gothic church, started in 1248, and completed in 1880. In 1996, it was designated a World Heritage site; it claims to house the relics of the Three Magi.It is interesting to note, that the residents of Cologne call the cathedral "the eternal construction site". They predict that by the time the renovation of the building has finished the end of the world will be upon us!
• Twelve Romanesque Churches: These buildings are outstanding examples of medieval sacral architecture. The roots of some of the churches date back as far as Roman times, like St. Gereon, which originally was a chapel on a Roman graveyard. With the exception of St. Maria Lyskirchen all of these churches were very badly damaged during World War II. Reconstruction was only finished in the 1990s.
• Cologne University, with approx. 44,000 students as of 2005, is one of the largest universities in Germany.
• Fragrance-Museum Farina House, the birthplace of Eau de Cologne.
• Romisch-Germanisches Museum (English: Roman-Germanic Museum) for ancient Roman and Germanic culture.
• Wallraf-Richartz Museum for mediaeval art.
• Museum Ludwig for modern art.
• EL-DE Haus the former local headquarters of the Gestapo houses a museum documenting the Nazi rule in Cologne with a special focus on the prosecution of political dissenters and minorities.
• Kolner Philharmonie - the Cologne Philharmonic Orchestra Building housing both the Gürzenich Orchestra and the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne.
• RheinEnergieStadion, the major Cologne stadium, primarily used for football games, seating 50,997 visitors in national games and 46,134 in international games, home to the local 2. Bundesliga team, 1.FC Koln, and to the local NFL Europe team, the Cologne Centurions.
• Kolnarena, a multifunctional event hall, home to the local ice hockey team, the Kolner Haie (English: Cologne Sharks).
• Kolnturm (English: Cologne Tower), Cologne's second tallest building at 165.48 metres in height, second only to the Colonius (266 metres).
• Colonius - a telecommunication tower with an observation deck (closed since 1992).
• Colonia-Hochhaus - Germany's tallest residential building.
• Hansa-Hochhaus - designed by architect Jakob Koerfer and completed in 1925, it was at one time Europe's tallest office building.
• Rheinseilbahn - an aerial tramway crossing the Rhine.
• Messe Koln (English: Cologne Fair). Exhibition area of 100000m².
• Messeturm Koln (English: Exhibition Tower Cologne).
• Hohe Strasse (English: High Street) is one of the main shopping areas and extends past the cathedral in an approximately southerly direction. This street is particularly popular with tourists and contains many gift shops, clothing stores, fast food restaurants and electronic goods dealers.
• Ford Motor Company plants, assembling the Ford Fiesta and Ford Fusion as well as manufacturing engines and parts; headquarters for Ford of Europe.
• The Panasonic Toyota Racing Formula One team has its factory in the city.
• Schildergasse - extends the shopping area of Hohe Strasse to the west ending at Neumarkt.
• Ehrenstrasse - the shopping area around Apostelnstrasse, Ehrenstrasse, and Rudolfplatz is a little more on the eccentric and stylish side.
• Historic Ringe boulevards (such as Hohenzollernring, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring, Hansaring) with their medieval city gates (such as Hahnentorburg on Rudolfplatz) are also known for their night life.
• German Sports & Olympic Museum, with expositions about sports from antiquity until the present.
• Schokoladenmuseum (Chocolatemuseum) officially called Imhoff-Schokoladen-Museum.
• JavaMuseum - Forum for Internet Technology in Contemporary Art - collections of Internet based art, corporate part of (NewMediaArtProjectNetwork):cologne - the experimental platform for art and New Media.

EAU DE COLOGNE

Cologne is also famous for Eau de Cologne (Kolnisch Wasser). At the beginning of the 18th century, Italian expatriate Johann Maria Farina (1685-1766) created a new fragrance and named it after his hometown Cologne, Eau de Cologne (Water of Cologne). In the course of the 18th century the fragrance became increasingly popular. Eventually, Cologne merchant Wilhelm Mulhens secured the name Farina, which at that time had become a household name for Eau de Cologne, under contract and opened a small factory at Cologne's Glockengasse. In later years, and under pressure from court battles, his grandson Ferdinand Mulhens chose a new name for the firm and their product. It was the house number that was given to the factory at Glockengasse during French occupation of the Rhineland in the early 19th century, number 4711.

COLOGNE TOURS & TRAVEL

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