Talk of the Town: Cologne 50-1945 AD Quiz

Answer: Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium

It was the tribe of the Ubii who settled on the left bank of the river Rhine after making an agreement with the Romans. That was in 39 BC. Julia Agrippina alias Agrippina the Younger or Agrippina Minor was born there - it was an important military post and her daddy was the famous Germanicus. Later in her live she married her uncle Claudius, and asked him to name her birthplace after herself. Very modest, indeed. After this, the town rose to to local importance.

Putting up a building in Cologne can be risky: they'll either find something Roman, something medieval or a WWII bomb. The last of these is the most dangerous, but fastest to remove. The other two may end in archaeologists stopping the work for some time.

Our soldier might have ended in one of these other three other towns towns in the Rhineland:
Castrum Novaesium which is called Neuss today which has some nice Roman remains and a beautiful minster - and a Sauerkraut factory.
Colonia Augusta Treverorum: the beautiful Trier with it's enormous Porta Nigra from ancient times or
Castra Vetera, called Xanten. Xanten has one, if not the biggest Roman open air museum. It is the only German town starting with letter X and according to the Nibelungenlied it is also the birthplace of Siegfried.

Answer: the Salian Franks won

And the winner was the Salian Franks. They were quite powerful at that time, coming from a place that is now in the Netherlands. They were the first tribe to settle permannently - in Roman eyes - on the wrong side of the Limes.

They made the town their capital and stayed there for centuries. The Salian Franks can pride themselves on being the root of the Merovingian dynasty.

Answer: Charlemagne

They were really good friends. Hildebold was the chancellor and arch-chaplain of the imperial council. It is said they met while hunting. Charlemagne was hunting in the woods around Cologne and heard the sermon of Hildebold while resting in a small chapel. He was much impressed and promised him a big reward. But Hildebold only asked for of leather from the next deer killed to bind an old prayer book.

Later on Charlemagne asked Pope Leo III to give Cologne archiepiscopal status. That turned the bishop of the town, Hildebold, into to a very powerful archbishop.

Knowing the right people and helping each other is still said to be common in Cologne. It is called 'Klüngel'.

Hildebold died years after his famous friend. He was witness a to his testament and donated his own tomb in Aachen to the emperor.

The other people named weren't even born when he died.

Answer: the bones of the biblical Magi

Yes, the three Magi, known in Cologne as Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar.

Frederick I Barbarossa took them to Cologne from Milan, were he had "found" them. On July 23, 1164 they reached the town. If you want to take a look at them, they are still there, in Cologne Cathedral. These relics were a huge success. Soon the cathedral was thought too small for the mass of pilgrims, and in 1248 work began on a new cathedral - the one which is now the best known building in the town.

The three Magi are not the only relics in Cologne. The many churches of the town have quite a lot. For example the bones of Saint Ursula and her ten female companions who died a gruesome death near Cologne. Somebody made 11,000 virgins out of these 11 women. Who knows whether it was just a mistake or a marketing trick to get the pilgrims more interested?

Answer: for all of these reasons

As with all inheritance disputes this was a long, complicated and, to be honest, boring story. And like many of these it was solved violently.

Cologne was already important at that time: Sancta Colonia Dei Gratia Romanae Ecclesiae Fidelis Filia - saintly Cologne, the biggest town in Germany.
The burghers of the town of Cologne were on the right side: their town gained power. It took until 1475 that they had the title of "Freie Reichsstadt" (Free City of the Empire) but de facto Cologne used the privileges before that. For example, they were invited to the imperial diet from 1390 on, something reserved for free imperial cities.

The archbishop, who had ruled the town until then, was arrested and held for over one year. From this time on, Cologne was under the power of the leading Cologne families, and the archbishop had to ask for permission to enter the town.

And there is the fact that some future rivals - mainly Duesseldorf - gained power, too. Duesseldorf was made a town. Ever since, Duesseldorf and Cologne have been rivals, starting with beer - and not ending with soccer!

Answer: no

True, Cologne was threatened once by the Swedes in 1632. Neighboring Deutz, today a part of Cologne, was even occupied. But on the whole the town hadn't suffered that much. They had to take refugees into the save walls of their town and plagues didn't stop at their doors. But they were never burnt down like Magdeburg and were even able to do some business.

By the way: the university of Cologne was founded 1388, making it one of the oldest. And I honestly hope it wasn't closed down while the war was going on- and my fictional student had a place to go to! However, it did have to close in 1798 and was not revived till 1919.

Answer: France

It happened during the French Revolutionary Wars. Jean-Étienne Championnet was able to conquer the town, without bloodshed. Many inhabitants welcomed their new masters as liberators. And they changed a lot. They placed the Church under secular control, which allowed industry to grow. The Code Napoleon had clear, written laws, the Jews were allowed back in the town (having been expelled some centuries before) and Protestants were given equal rights.

In 1801 every citizen of Cologne became a French citizen. After the fall of Napoleon, Cologne changed hands again: from 1815 on it was Prussian. They had gained a lot, but lost some important books and other artworks which had been taken away by their visitors.

In this French intermezzo something important started in Cologne: "4711" Eau de Cologne. The French gave every house its own number, and the number of the house in the Glockengasse became the name of the brand.

Answer: Cologne Cathedral

Yes, the cathedral was finished. It was a major celebration, and Emperor William I of Prussia was there. There even is a short movie about this available. Just imagine: the building of the new cathedral had started in 1248 in the Gothic Style. About 1530 - it was already used as a church - the work came to a full stop. They had run out of money and, anyway, Gothic wasn't fashionable anymore. So there it was: a nave, but no spire. Only a wooden building crane stretching high in the sky for the next few centuries. In 1842, when the middle ages were fashionable again, they started again, using the old plans, making it the tallest building world wide when it was finished.


The first central railway station - next to the cathedral - was opened in 1857. The horsecar started in 1870. And the zoo opened his gates in 1860.

Answer: Konrad Adenauer

Konrad Adenauer was definitely the oldest Chancellor Germany has had. He died in 1967. In his time as lord mayor he was responsible for the opening of the first official German Autobahn in 1932 - something that the Nazis are often wrongly given credit for. While he was chancellor he worked on a peaceful co-existence with France.

The other gentlemen were his successors in the position of chancellor in West Germany (Erhard, Kiesinger, Brandt).

Answer: March 1945

They arrived in the town the same day Hohenzollern Bridge was demolished - March 6, 1945. They hadn't to do much fighting - and there was more than one way crossing the Rhine!

You would have had to be very nationalistic and naive to believe anything could stop the march of the US Army towards Cologne. Already 95% of the town was damaged; even the cathedral was slightly damaged. Moreover, many citizens had lost their lives, including the Jews and everyone else the régime didn't want, and of course the many soldiers who had fallen and the victims of the many air-raids on the town.

Thankfully, Americans still visit to see the sights, to buy Eau de Cologne and snow globes with the cathedral inside.

I hope you enjoyed this quiz.