Cologne

Cologne is a large city in the northwest of Germany, and is the country’s fourth highest in population.  It is situated on both sides of the Rhine river, and features a tremendous cathedral just by the river.  The city was decimated by Allied bombing during WWII, and thus contains very few original buildings (the cathedral was mostly spared during the bombing).  It is the home of the Kolsch style of beer, which is gently sweet and light in color and alcohol. 

I took a scenic train ride through the Dutch and then German countryside into Cologne, featuring sprawling wheat fields and beautiful blue skies.  I spent the afternoon in the hostel, talking to family and taking an online Spanish lesson.  My trip to Colombia is starting to form!

In the evening I went out with some new friends I’d made for some seemingly traditional German food and a trip to a hookah bar.  I decided to call it a night at 3am, though my compatriots trudged on into the morning!

The next day I began with a trip to the EL-DE house, a former jail for the Gestapo.  The exhibition began with a tour of the jail, which contained a few cells and small rooms for solitary confinement and interrogation.  The small, deep, rectangular cells were meant to hold only a few inmates at the beginning of the war, but were consistently holding over thirty by the last years of the war.  The inmates were largely made up of those showing resistance to the Nazis, often through speech and the sharing of pamphlets.  Many were severely beaten and interrogated, though often released.  In the last years of the war, more and more were sent away to concentration camps, and in the final year of the Nazis hundreds were executed in the courtyard behind the building.

The rest of the museum was made up of an extremely thorough detailing of the rise of the Nazi party in Cologne and then traced their actions through the end of WWII.  The first section of this exhibit was mainly general explanation of the Nazi party and Hitler, and what they saw as the problems facing German society (largely that the “impurity” of the German race was the source of all troubles).

The following sections included information on a wide variety of ares of the Nazi movement and the peoples they oppressed.  These included the rise of the Nazi party in German politics and the deliberate work the Nazis did to inject their ideology and imagery into every element of German life.  These included the well-known “Hitler Youth,” and the dealings with both the Protestant and Catholic Churches in Germany.  There were particularly detailed sections on the Jews and the Romas, who it seemed were the main ethnic groups targeted in Cologne.  (Other groups were targeted as well, notably the Slavs, though not in Cologne).

From there the exhibit moved into the beginning of World War II.  The beginning of the war saw great success for the German military and so life in Cologne was relatively normal, other than the shortages of labor and certain food items.  Like in the United States, rationing was implemented and many women moved into work previously reserved for men.  Again like the States, various propaganda was created to promote these aims. 

However, as the war moved onward and the Allies were able to invade the European continent, Cologne became a frequent target of bombing runs.  These runs decimated the city, leaving the vast majority of it in ruins.  To this day, very few old buildings are present in the city, the notable exception being the main Cathedral, which was apparently used by bombers as a central reference point in the city from above.  By the end of the war, the pictures made it seem that Germany had paid a high price for war.  A certain quote by Adolf Hitler was often posted throughout the ruined city by American troops… roughly translated it said: “Give me 5 years and you will not recognize Germany again.” 

From the EL-DE house, I went to check out the main cathedral.  Unfortunately we couldn’t walk through most of it and, like many large landmarks, it’s so big that it’s hard to find a place to get a proper picture with my phone.  After a quick stop inside, I went for a walk along the Rhine and stopped at a restaurant for a snack and some reading.  I decided I’d cross the river in the evening to take some pictures of the city from a large tower on the other side.

After a break back at the hostel, I took a walk across one of city’s large bridges (Cologne is situated on both sides of the Rhine) to this large tower to take pictures.  There I met two lovely Americans who were on assignment in Germany filming an international dance competition.  We chatted about traveling, their work, and photography while waiting for the perfect lighting.  Afterwards we went for a late dinner and enjoyed conversation over Cologne’s native Kolsch beer.

Next stop, Dortmund.