(Köln), a city in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), in the Land of Nordrhein-Westfalen, one of the greatest economic centers of the country. Situated on both banks of the Rhine, in the southern part of the lower Rhine lowlands (in the Bay of Cologne). Area, 251.4 sq km. Population, 866,300 (1970).
Cologne is a major junction of railroads, autobahns and highways, petroleum and petroleum product pipelines, and airlines. About 1.3 million passengers passed through the international airport serving Cologne and Bonn in 1970; it is also an important river port (with a freight turnover of 8.5 million tons). There are eight bridges across the Rhine in Cologne and its suburbs.
A favorable location in terms of transportation and proximity to the Ruhr and lower Rhine brown coal basin promoted the economic development of the city. In the industry of Cologne and its suburbs (in which more than 250,000 people are employed) machine building and metal working are especially important, including engine and tractor building, the manufacture of equipment for the mining industry (such as the Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz plants), automobile production (the Fordwerke plants), railroad car and locomotive building, and the electrical engineering industry, especially the production of cables (the Feiten und Guilleaume plants). Other industries include the petroleum-refining and petrochemical industry (in Cologne and its suburbs Godorf and Wesseling); a diversified chemical industry (Cologne and its suburbs account for one-sixth of all the people employed in the chemical industry of the FRG), including fine chemical production (such as perfumes); and the textile, clothing, food and condiments (including chocolate), printing, and jewelry industries. In addition to big enterprises, there are many medium and small industrial and handicraft enterprises.
Cologne is an important wholesale trade center and the site of regular international fairs and exhibitions; it is also an important center of credit and banking and especially insurance; there is a stock exchange there.
Cologne is the site of a university, a pedagogical academy and a pedagogical institute, an academy of business administration and economics, an insurance academy, an insurance institute, a music high school, and a zoological garden. Its museums of art include the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, the Kunsthalle, the Roman-German Museum, and the Museum for East Asian Art.
O. V. VITKOVSKII
Cologne, one of the oldest German cities, arose from a Roman military camp founded in the first century at the site of a settlement of the Germanic tribe of the Ubii. In 50 A.D. it was named Colonia Agrippina. With a favorable geographic position and as the residence of a bishop (from 785, an archbishop), Cologne was already an important urban center in the tenth and 11th centuries and soon became one of the leading cities of medieval Germany, with highly developed handicraft arts and trade. The lords of the city, the archbishops of Cologne (who became electors in the 13th century), ranked among the most influential princes of the empire. From the late 11th century Cologne was the site of a struggle between burghers and lords; this struggle often led to armed clashes and ended in, the transfer of power to the patriciate in the city in the late 13th century. After the guild uprising of 1396 in Cologne power passed into the hands of the guild leadership and the merchants.
Cologne was a leading member of the Hanseatic League. Its economic importance greatly declined in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was occupied by French troops in 1794 and given to Prussia by decision of the Congress of Vienna (1814–15). In 1842–43 Marx lived and worked in Cologne. In the Revolution of 1848–49, Cologne was a major center of the revolutionary movement. Marx and Engels published the Neue Rheinische Zeitung in Cologne from June 1848 to May 1849. After World War I (1914–18), Cologne was occupied by British troops until 1926. After World War II (1939–45) it was in the British zone of occupation and became part of the FRG when it was established in 1949.
The oldest center of Cologne was the ancient Roman camp with a rectangular shape along the banks of the Rhine, around which the feudal city with a radial-ring structure arose from the ninth to the 12th century.
Cologne is the site of highly interesting Romanesque churches from the 11th to the 13th centuries with a rich and complex spatial composition, including the church of St. Mary (St. Maria im Kapitol; from before 1049 to 1065); the church of the Apostles (about 1192–1219) and the church of Great St. Martin (about 1185–1240), both of which were rebuilt in the 12th and 13th centuries; and the church of St. Gereon (basically an oval structure, 1219–27). The immense Gothic five-nave cathedral (length, 144 m; height, 157 m) was built from 1248 to 1560 but was completed only in 1842–80. Cologne has also an abundance of secular medieval and Renaissance buildings, such as the Zur Scheuer house (mid-13th century), the Rathaus (1350–70; tower, 1407–14; two-tier gallery, 1569–73; architect, W. Vernuyken), the dance hall Gürzenich (1441–47), and the Zeughaus (1594–1606). Industrial and port regions arose all over Cologne in the 19th and 20th centuries. The city has been under partial reconstruction since 1919. New buildings in Cologne include the opera theater (1954–57), the drama theater (1959 to 1965; architect, W. Riphahn), and bridges across the Rhine.
(also eau de cologne), an alcohol-water solution of various odoriferous substances. Colognes are aromatic and refreshing. They were first prepared in 1725 from citrus oils, such as orange, tangerine, lemon, and bergamot oils. The manufacture of colognes involves (1) the preparation of a composition, that is, a mixture of essential oils and odoriferous substances, (2) the addition of infusions of scented raw materials, of alcohol, and of water, (3) aging, and (4) subsequent filtration. The product is then packaged in glass bottles and tightly sealed. Colognes contain a smaller proportion of odoriferous substances than perfumes.