Mondial Köln (D)

Köln

Name origin

Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Lat., = Claudian Colony and Altar of the Agrippinenses)

First documented mention

50 AD

Population

1,084,000

Area

405.01 km²

Federal state

North Rhine-Westphalia

Administrative region

Köln

District

/

Vehicle registration

K

River

Rhine

The Club Mondial is located in Köln-Longerich.

The history of Köln, the largest metropolis in NRW, can be traced back to Roman times, from which various buildings such as the Römerturm have survived as part of the city wall. The cathedral city is accessible via various motorways such as the A1, A3, A4 and A57. Travellers by train usually arrive in Köln at the Hauptbahnhof.

For long-distance train travellers it should be noted that not all ICE trains stop at Köln HBF, but for the sake of saving time some only stop at the station on the right bank of the Rhine, Köln-Messe/Deutz. For local transport, Köln has a dense network of light rail and buses, complemented by the S-Bahn. The light rail, operated with modern trams, connects the famous cathedral city in NRW with, among other places, Bonn.

The number of hotels and holiday flats in Köln is overwhelming. There are certainly also affordable places to stay, found mainly in guesthouses and hotels in Köln's outer districts, as well as in hostels close to the city centre.

The central sight is the cathedral, located right by the Hauptbahnhof and the Rhine, which is the city's landmark par excellence and one of the most significant Gothic buildings in the world. Köln also has numerous other churches and historic buildings, some of which even surpass the cathedral in their cultural-historical significance. Furthermore, Köln has numerous art museums and the Römisch-Germanisches Museum. The Schokoladenmuseum, located right on the Rhine, is considered an insider tip.

With Kölsch, Köln has its own top-fermented beer, enjoying which rounds off a visit to the city nicely. Along the Rhine promenade, directly opposite the old town, you'll find wonderful restaurants and bars with a view of the Rhine, where you can enjoy Kölsch lifestyle late into the night. At the annual summer music and fireworks event "Kölner Lichter" on the Rhine, around a million spectators gather on both banks of the river.

Famous sons and daughters of Köln include Jacques Offenbach, Ferdinand Franz Wallraf, Eduard Salomon von Oppenheim, Carl Bosch, August Bebel, Konrad Adenauer, Freya von Moltke, Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips, Mildred Scheel, Josef Neven DuMont, Willi Ostermann, Willy Birgel, Jupp Schmitz, Trude Herr, Willy Millowitsch, Peter & Mariele Millowitsch, Hans Süper, Otto Wolff von Amerongen, Nico, Heinrich Böll, Marie-Louise Steinbauer, Jürgen Becker, Rolf Kühn, Wolfgang Petry, Jürgen Zeltinger, Purple Schulz, Wolfgang Niedecken, Jean Pütz, Jack White, Dirk Bach, Heiner Lauterbach, Britta Heidemann, Anne Will, Marietta Slomka, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Tina Ruland, Katharina Schüttler, Guido Cantz, Stefan Raab and Sarah Kern.

Facts about the super-metropolis Köln on the Rhine:

- Köln looks back on around 2000 years of history, making it one of the oldest cities in Germany

- alongside Prague and Nuremberg, Köln was the most important city of the Holy Roman Empire (962–1803)

- Köln Cathedral (Hohe Domkirche Sankt Petrus) is one of the most significant sacred buildings in the world, home to the largest church bell of all, and houses the relics of the Three Wise Men

- the Archdiocese of Köln is, after Munich and Paderborn, the third-richest diocese in Germany

- Kölner Karneval is the biggest carnival festival in the northern hemisphere and generates a turnover of around 400 million euros for the city during the "fifth season"

- the WDR, based in Köln, is the largest broadcaster in Europe after the BBC

- RTL, based in Köln since 1988, is the largest private broadcaster in Europe

- with around 50,000 students, Köln is home to Germany's third-largest university, behind Munich and the Fernuniversität Hagen

- the Schildergasse/Hohe Straße in Köln's city centre is one of Germany's busiest shopping streets

- the Kölner Pascha on Hornstraße is the largest high-rise brothel in the world

- Kölsch is, on the one hand, a pale, top-fermented full beer that, under the Kölsch Convention, may only be brewed in and around Köln...

- ... and on the other hand an urban dialect belonging to the Ripuarian dialect group, hardly understood by anyone outside the Köln area

- the "Kölscher Klüngel" is a one-of-a-kind system, based on mutual favours and assistance between officials in administration and business, for the good of the population

- the "Kölsche Grundgesetz" is the informal constitution of the city of Köln and contains 11 articles:

Article 1: It is what it is.

Article 2: What comes, comes.

Article 3: It's always turned out fine so far.

Article 4: What's gone is gone.

Article 5: Nothing stays the way it was.

Article 6: Don't know it, don't need it, get rid of it.

Article 7: What do you want to do about it?

Article 8: Do it well, but not too often.

Article 9: What's all this nonsense?

Article 10: Will you have a drink with me?

Article 11: You'll laugh yourself silly.

Important additional articles:

Every fool is different.

Don't kiss today, kiss tomorrow.

It could have turned out worse.

You've got to be able to let others have their share too.

You've got to be able to allow yourself something too.

Stay the way you are.

The good Lord isn't like that.

We've always done it that way.

Not everything with a hole in it is broken.

Doesn't matter.

One man's owl is another man's nightingale.

We're not superstitious.

Whoever can celebrate can also work hard.

You never know, we're not involved.

Let fool be fool a while longer.

Even the craziest arse has its own face.

To each his own little pleasure.

That only, only, only happens in Köln.

Did I really say that?

You are Köln.

You know nothing.

We've never had it, never needed it.

Live and let live.