In a Nutshell: Cologne is the commercial and cultural center of the Rhineland, growing from a Roman fort, and passing through the hands of the Alemans and Saxons to become a stronghold of the Ripuarian Franks.

Location: Cologne is located on the lower Rhine River in present-day Germany’s northwestern state of North-Rhine Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westphalen). It is approx. 60 km east of Aachen.

Coat-of-Arms: Three crowns, for the Three Kings, and 11 tongues of flame, for the 11,000 virgins martyred for their Catholic Faith by Attila at Cologne in the legendary history of St. Ursula.

Climate: Climatically, the Cologne region is part of the Northwest German lowlands, and is influenced by the Atlantic Ocean, and the North Sea. Cologne has a mild climate; the daily and yearly fluctuations in temperature are subdued, and precipitation is spread relatively uniformly throughout the year. In winter, the Cologne region is one of the warmest areas in Germany; snow which stays on the ground longer than a few days is the absolute exception. [From wilkommeninkoeln.com]
Average Annual Rainfall: 30 inches
Average January Temperature: 34 degrees F
Average July Temperature: 68 degrees F


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Your boat has been sailing down the legendary Rhine River for the past few days. Yesterday you navigated around the Lorelei, towering 400 feet above the river it wears like a belt. Today you got to see the famous Drachenfels (‘Dragonsrock’) where, legend has it, Siegfried killed a dragon living in a cave and gained invincibility by bathing in its blood. But now you are tired, and are relieved to spot an island in the river, just across a small waterway from a decent-sized port city. A bridge connects the city and the island with the eastern bank on the right. You have reached Cologne.

As you step off the boat, you notice the local speech: a Frankish dialect of Old High German. The nobles wear impressive garments from Paris and Aachen and speak with more western dialects. All these things you recognize as signs of the Ripuarian Franks who control this city.

Yet you know that it was not always so. The natives call their city Köln, from the old Roman name Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. After the Romans it was the Alemannic tribes, before they moved south into Swabia. Then the Romans retook it, only to lose it to the Franks in 455.

Yet through it all, Cologne has been a crossroads of commerce and communication and, yes, invasion. Since the time of Emperor Constantine, a bridge has stood here, reaching across the mighty Rhine, bringing east and west, Francia and Saxony, closer. Meanwhile the Rhine herself—the ancient border between Rome and Germania—has facilitated trade between the Angles, Saxons, and Frisians to the north, and the northern marches of the Roman Empire to the south. But it also brought Vikings.

As you walk through the port section and make your way through the bustling city of Cologne, you listen carefully, observing everything:

You see Frisian merchants from the north, haggling with Frankish nobles and Saxon peasants alike.

You note the workers and craftsmen close by the harbor, who have begun the daunting 600-year project of constructing what will be the famous Cologne cathedral, and you know that the relics of St. Ursula, of St. Albert the Great (teacher of Thomas Aquinas) and of the three Wise Men will make Cologne a pilgrimage destination for faithful from across Europe.

You also remember how the crafts in Cologne are organized by self-administering guilds, some even including women. You know that Cologne will see her economic and political stature grow ever stronger, becoming a key member of the Hanseatic League, and in 1451 attaining the status of Imperial Free City.

You keep walking and take in the diverse nature of her inhabitants: mostly Franks, to be sure, but also some English scribes, some Saxons that have resigned themselves to Frankish rule, some Bavarian, Gothic, even Roman or Byzantine diplomats, on their way to Aachen, Paris, or Canterbury.

And as you meet people you hear names mentioned—families that have long been important in Cologne: AW family names like Frankisc, Karling, Chatti, even Salisc, though the Salians tend to prefer the lands around Paris to the west.

You reach your destination—for now—and relax, listening to the symphony of languages. But you hear more than just Frankish or Saxon, Frisian or English, Gothic or Latin; you think of yourself, here in the midst of one of the most important cities in the Frankish empire, nestled around one of Europe’s most fabled rivers, and realize: You are hearing the very pages of history, turning before you.