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Cologne Germany - Historical Facts of the First of German Cities |
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Wednesday, 10 August 2005 |
Do you know of the first given name of the oldest German city? Do you
know how long it took to build its Cathedral? Do you further know what
its scariest natural disaster is? Read on…
Cologne Germany
(Köln) is the oldest so the first German city. When it became city in
50 A.D., it bore the name Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (CCAA)
because of the Roman Empress Agrippina.
Cologne is catholic and had a bishop as early as 313. In 785, it
became the seat of an archbishop. The Archbishop of Cologne was one of
the seven Electors of the Holy Roman Empire. He ruled a large area as a
secular lord in the Middle Ages, but in 1288, he was defeated by the
Cologne citizens and forced to move to Bonn.
Cologne Germany was
a member of the Hanseatic League. It became a free city officially by
1475, but lost its free status and regained its archbishopric during
the French period. In 1815, at the Congress of Vienna, it became part
of the Prussian kingdom.
The start of building of Cologne
Cathedral was in 1248, abandoned in the mid-1500s, and finished in
1880. That took 632 years; think about that... Just visit http://www.smart-travel-germany.com/cologne-cathedral.html for a side step to the history of Cologne Cathedral.
During
the 19th and 20th century, Cologne incorporated numerous surrounding
towns, so that it had a population of 600,000 inhabitants by the time
of World War 1.
In World War 2, Cologne Germany was repeatedly
bombed. The Cologne Cathedral received 14 hits by aerial bombs, but
luckily didn't collapse. When the city was in ruins -- see picture at http://www.smart-travel-germany.com/cologne.html
-- it took some time to rebuild it, but afterwards its buildings and
population grew again. So since 1975, the population of Cologne Germany
always lays around 1 million inhabitants.
So much the Rhine of
the city brought prosperity and quality of life, so feared is its
flood. The worst flood ever registered occurred in February 1784. After
an extremely long and cold winter the temperature jumped deep down. The
Rhine river had frozen over and the thaw as well as the breaking open
ice provided firmly for a record water level of 13,55 m. That was ten
meters above the normal level!
The tides, on which heavy ice
floes floated, devastated far parts of the development of the banks and
all ships. 65 people died. The district Mülheim on the right Rhine side
was completely destroyed.
In more recent time, a flood
protection concept plans the establishment of sheet pile walls. That
should protect old town up to a level of 10 meters against inundations.
Still, old town consists of a magnet for floods.
Despite of
this, Cologne is well-known as the Fun City of all German cities. You
go into a tavern and do not know anybody, and you go out with a lot of
friends. It's very easy to come in contact with Cologne people. In
February, during Cologne Carnival, the whole Rhine land celebrates for
at least six days -- with tons of sweets and kisses.
Kind regards,
Marcus Hochstadt
© Copyright http://www.smart-travel-germany.com/ All rights reserved
About the Author
Marcus Hochstadt has a high interest in helping you gain the
delightful form of a smart travel to and through Germany. Just
recently, he has written a special report on "How to Travel for Free!"
You can download it at http://www.smart-travel-germany.com/freetravel |
