Since I was feeling a lot better Fitzi and I decided to take advantage of our time in Germany. We went a bit further than the little sleepy towns nearby where he grew up. We agreed to visit the beautiful city of Cologne for our last few days abroad and I must say that I am in love. I had the slice of tourist life mixed in with squeezing into the local affairs. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the altstadt of Cologne.
Cologne is one of the largest cities in Germany. However, the square mileage of the city is so much smaller than the city I reside in the states that I am surprisingly shocked at how easy the downtown is to walk in. Although there is a subway system we booked our hotel in downtown so we could easily walk around. It was a little more than what I wanted to budget. However, it was completely worth it for how easy it was to pause for a pee break, to recombobulate when our possessions started getting too heavy, or even just because we decided to head out for a few drinks nearby without our heavy coats. The most common way to enter the city is by train over the Hohenzollernbrücke Bridge over The Rhine. This is also Germany’s Love Lock Bridge for those romantics out there.
The Cologne Cathedral
My background is design with a focus on architecture. I’m a little bit of a nut when it comes to beautiful buildings. The big cheese of beautiful buildings in Cologne is the Dom or Cathedral. I am head over heels in love with this building. The interior of space reaches an impressive 44m (145 feet). This makes the pointed arches and stain glass look like they are floating at impressive and unrealistic heights. The exterior is an elaborate and detailed web of pointed arches and flying buttresses to add to the impressive amount of detail that the cathedral provides to the skyline. I only wanted to authentically use the term flying buttresses because it is a hilarious term and I’m slightly childish.
The original architectural plans were started and planned as an authentic gothic cathedral. The construction then started and stopped throughout the centuries. It wasn’t actually finished until the 19th century when the original plans were rediscovered and put into action. Then the church proceeded to sustain damage in the bombings of World War II (curse you war for destroying so much). It has since been restored to the original state except for a prominent south side stained glass window.
For a long time the window was plain glass but in recent years a German artist Gerhard Richter was asked to create a piece for the window which he created with a computer algorithm of pixilated primary colors mixed with grey and white. The result is a very striking and piece of modern art that compliments the advancements of the current century without detracting or overshadowing the historical significance of the church. It is a fantastic blend of art and technology that will be enjoyed for years to come.
Museums and History
At the base of the cathedral are several museums as well as an old archway. That tiny old archway is actually from the time of the Roman empire in 50AD. Before Cologne, there was a Roman settlement which is still preserved as much as possible within the city including in the Romano-Germanic Museum.
If museums are your thing there is also the Ludwig Museum. This museum is not for the Crazy King or the Deaf Musician but for a plethora of modern and surrealist art including a large collection of Picasso’s. We did not have much time to peruse the city so we did not go inside. I also didn’t take a great photo of it because most of the time it was rainy, cold, and I’m in love with another (if you cannot tell).
Altstadt
Altstadt literally means old city, this typically is also the downtown, but not necessarily. Cologne’s altstadt has a bustling shopping area that starts at the base of the cathedral at Hohe Straße and continues into Schildergasse. For more architecture, the Peek and Cloppenburg Building has a marvelous façade designed by Renzo Piano. This was where our home base was and was extremely walkable to every part since it is so old. There are very few skyscrapers in Cologne. Most are built further away from the Altstadt so everything is closer to human scale rather than oversized.
We happened to be there at the time of Fasnacht. It’s a kind of a carnival celebrated in several Germanic countries. People celebrate and dress up much like Halloween but less scary aspect. Unless you are afraid of clowns, then it is terrifying. We saw several mini parades of people in costume as well as joined in with the dancing and festivities at local bars.
Cologne’s team was also playing a game of fußball while we were there. It was fun crashing a local hotspot for watching the game on the televisions and drinking a Cologne traditional Kölsch beer served in a 200ml glass called a Stange. I’m not usually into sports. However, it was a lot of fun to join in with the locals in their enthusiasm for their local team.
Thank you for Traveling with me to Cologne, Germany. I will be back in the states before too long and will be able to continue my DIY activities within the next week or so. Please email me at saturatelife@gmail.com and I hope to see you back soon!
