Photos

This is the Cathedral of Cologne. I've been there on a lovely day in early August. It was warm and somewhere near the Cathedral and the river Rhine some marching bands had a "band-battle". The atmosphere was friendly. Although it started raining the people stayed out to listen to the music. Everybody seemed to have fun. I was enjoying the scenery and was a bit sad that I had to leave after only a few hours. But I'll visit this city again.

Some information about Cologne and the Cathedral from wikipedia.org:
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants. It is one of the oldest cities in Germany, having been founded by the Romans in the year 38 BC. Cologne was granted the status of a Roman "city" in the year 50 AD.

Cologne lies on the River Rhine. The city's famous Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. The University of Cologne (Universität zu Köln) is one of Europe's oldest universities.

Cologne is well-known for its beer, called Kölsch. Kölsch is also the name of the local dialect. This has led to the common joke that Kölsch is the only language you can drink.

Cologne carnival is one of the biggest street festivals in Europe. It is held annually; the season starts officially on 11 November at 11 minutes after 11 with the proclamation of the new Carnival Season, and it continues until Ash Wednesday. But the so-called "Tolle Tage" (mad days) don't start until Weiberfastnacht (Women's Carnival) or, in dialect, Wieverfastelovend (Thursday before Ash Wednesday), which is the beginning of the street carnival. Hundreds of thousands of visitors flock to Cologne during this time. Generally around a million people are celebrating in the streets on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday.

The center 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 characterized by simple and modest post-war buildings, with few interspersed pre-war buildings which were reconstructed due to their historical importance.

Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner 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" (Dauerbaustelle). They predict that, by the time the renovation of the building has finished, the end of the world will be upon us!

PP: cropped, rotated, sharpened; added borders

Hope you enjoy it. Regards, Britta