Samya 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 Samya club is located in Köln-Hahnwald.

The history of NRW's largest metropolis, Cologne, can be traced back to Roman times, from which various buildings such as the Römerturm, part of the old city wall, still survive. The cathedral city can be reached via various motorways such as the A1, A3, A4 and A57. Rail travellers usually arrive in Cologne at the main station.

Long-distance rail travellers should note that not all ICE trains stop at Köln Hauptbahnhof — to save time, some stop only at the station on the right bank of the Rhine, Köln-Messe/Deutz. For local transport, Cologne has a dense network of light rail lines and buses, supplemented by the S-Bahn. The light rail system, operated with modern trams, connects the famous cathedral city with, among other places, Bonn.

The number of hotels and holiday apartments in Cologne is overwhelming. There are certainly affordable places to stay too, found not only in hostels near the city centre but especially in guesthouses and hotels in Cologne's outer districts.

The central sight is the cathedral, located right next to the main station and the Rhine, which is the city's ultimate landmark and one of the most important Gothic buildings in the world. Cologne also boasts numerous other churches and historic buildings, some of which surpass even the cathedral in cultural-historical significance. Cologne is also home to numerous art museums and the Roman-Germanic Museum. An insider tip is the Chocolate Museum, situated right on the Rhine.

With Kölsch, Cologne has its own special top-fermented beer, the enjoyment of which rounds off any visit to the city. Along the Rhine promenade, right opposite the old town, you'll find wonderful restaurants and bars with views of the Rhine, where you can enjoy the Cologne way of life well into the night. At the "Kölner Lichter" — an annual summer music and fireworks event on the Rhine — around one million spectators gather on both banks of the river.

Famous sons and daughters of Cologne 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 of Cologne on the Rhine:

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

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

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

- the Archdiocese of Cologne is the third-richest diocese in Germany, behind Munich and Paderborn

- Cologne Carnival is the largest carnival festival in the northern hemisphere, generating around 400 million euros in revenue for the city during the "fifth season"

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

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

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

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

- Pascha in Hornstraße, Cologne, is the world's largest high-rise brothel

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

- ... and on the other hand, an urban dialect belonging to the Ripuarian family, barely understood by anyone outside the Cologne metropolitan area

- Kölscher Klüngel is a system, unique in the world, built on mutual favours and assistance between officials in administration and business, for the benefit of the population

- The Kölsche Grundgesetz (Cologne's Basic Law) is the city's informal constitution and contains 11 articles:

Article 1: It is what it is.

Article 2: It comes as it 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 about?

Article 10: Will you have a drink with me?

Article 11: You'll laugh yourself to bits.

Important additional articles:

Every fool is different.

If you don't kiss today, you'll kiss tomorrow.

It could always have turned out worse.

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

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

Stay as 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 part of it.

So let every fool be a fool in peace.

Even the craziest arse has its own face.

To each his own little pleasure.

That only, only, only happens in Cologne.

Did I really say that?

You are Cologne.

Nobody knows anything.

We haven't got it, we can't get it.

Live and let live.