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136-528: Overath is located about 25 km east of Cologne , in the Bergisches Land . Despite the reclassification as a 'Stadt' (town, though the German understanding leans towards city) years ago due to surpassing the relevant population threshold, the former appellation Gemeinde (parish) seems more appropriate (particularly to the inhabitants) due to the spread-out villages it consists of. The main settlement

272-519: A temperate – oceanic climate ( Köppen: Cfb ) with cool winters and warm summers. It is also one of the cloudiest cities in Germany, with just 1,567.5 hours of sun a year. Its average annual temperature is 10.7 °C (51 °F): 15.4 °C (60 °F) during the day and 6.1 °C (43 °F) at night. In January, the mean temperature is 3.0 °C (37 °F), while the mean temperature in July

408-422: A deeply felt anti-Prussian resentment, which was still significant after World War II, when the former mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer , became the first West German chancellor. During the 19th and 20th centuries, Cologne absorbed numerous surrounding towns, and by World War I had already grown to 700,000 inhabitants. Industrialisation changed the city and spurred its growth. Vehicle and engine manufacturing

544-626: A major research hub for the aerospace industry, with the German Aerospace Center and the European Astronaut Centre headquarters. Lufthansa , Europe's largest airline, have their main corporate headquarters in Cologne. It also has a significant chemical and automobile industry. Cologne Bonn Airport is a regional hub, the main airport for the region being Düsseldorf Airport . The Cologne Trade Fair hosts

680-511: A more independent status, especially in Bavaria. However, it has no legal significance. All sixteen states are represented at the federal level in the Bundesrat (Federal Council), where their voting power depends on the size of their population. Germany is a federal , parliamentary , representative democratic republic . The German political system operates under a framework laid out in

816-597: A number of trade shows . The first urban settlement on the grounds of modern-day Cologne was Oppidum Ubiorum , founded in 38 BCE by the Ubii , a Cisrhenian Germanic tribe . In 50 CE, the Romans founded Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (Cologne) on the river Rhine and the city became the provincial capital of Germania Inferior in 85 CE. It was also known as Augusta Ubiorum . Considerable Roman remains can be found in present-day Cologne, especially near

952-516: A permanent Allied occupation of the entire Rhineland. As part of the demilitarisation of the Rhineland , the city's fortifications had to be dismantled. This was an opportunity to create two green belts ( Grüngürtel ) around the city by converting the fortifications and their fields of fire into large public parks. This was not completed until 1933. In 1919 the University of Cologne , closed by

1088-528: A plan to divide the German Reich into 14 roughly equal-sized states. His proposal was turned down due to opposition of the states and concerns of the government. Article 18 of the constitution enabled a new delimitation of the German territory but set high hurdles: "Three fifth of the votes handed in, and at least the majority of the population are necessary to decide on the alteration of territory". In fact, until 1933 there were only four changes in

1224-628: A referendum in the Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4) was abolished, which meant territorial revision was no longer possible against the will of the population affected by it. East Germany had originally consisted of five states (i.e., Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia). In 1952, these states were abolished and the East was divided into 14 administrative districts called Bezirke . Soviet -controlled East Berlin – despite officially having

1360-427: A revision, the federal government had to include the proposal into its legislation. Then a referendum was required in each territory or part of a territory whose affiliation was to be changed (paragraph 3). The proposal should not take effect if within any of the affected territories a majority rejected the change. In this case, the bill had to be introduced again and after passing had to be confirmed by referendum in

1496-702: A tremendous loss of cultural treasures. The rebuilding of those churches and other landmarks such as the Gürzenich event hall was not undisputed among leading architects and art historians at that time, but in most cases, civil intention prevailed. The reconstruction lasted until the 1990s, when the Romanesque church of St. Kunibert was finished. In 1959, the city's population reached pre-war numbers again. It then grew steadily, exceeding 1 million for about one year from 1975. It remained just below that until mid-2010, when it exceeded 1 million again. In

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1632-470: Is 19.0 °C (66 °F). The record high temperature of 40.3 °C (105 °F) happened on 25 July 2019 during the July 2019 European heat wave in which Cologne saw three consecutive days over 38.0 °C (100 °F). Especially the inner urban neighbourhoods experience a greater number of hot days, as well as significantly higher temperatures during nighttime compared to the surrounding area (including

1768-609: Is 37.5 m (123 ft) above sea level (the Worringer Bruch ). The city of Cologne lies within the larger area of the Cologne Lowland , a cone-shaped area of the central Rhineland that lies between Bonn , Aachen and Düsseldorf . Cologne is divided into 9 boroughs ( Stadtbezirke ) and 85 districts ( Stadtteile ): Located in the Rhine-Ruhr area, Cologne is one of the warmest cities in Germany. It has

1904-582: Is a pilgrimage destination for Saint Mary . The B 55 und B 484 federal roads (German Bundesstraßen ) as well as the A ;4 Autobahn pass through area of the town. The A 4 has got two exits to Overath, Overath-Untereschbach and Overath . The Cologne Bonn Airport is reachable within 25 minutes. The railway station in Overath connects the town with Cologne and Marienheide . The train heading for Cologne departs every 30 minutes,

2040-612: Is a small set of very closely related dialects, or variants, of the Ripuarian Central German group of languages. These dialects are spoken in the area covered by the Archdiocese and former Electorate of Cologne reaching from Neuss in the north to just south of Bonn , west to Düren and east to Olpe in the North-West of Germany. Kölsch is one of the very few city dialects in Germany, which also include

2176-574: Is in the Agger valley, with others spread on the hills surrounding it. The kleine Heckberg (small Heckberg, 348 m) near Federath is the highest point of Overath, and the whole Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis . Neighbouring cities are Rösrath in the West, Bergisch Gladbach in the North-West, Lindlar in the North-East, Engelskirchen in the East and Much , Neunkirchen-Seelscheid and Lohmar in

2312-429: Is referred to as "Land government" (Landesregierung) . Before 1 January 2000, Bavaria had a bicameral parliament, with a popularly elected Landtag , and a Senate made up of representatives of the state's major social and economic groups. The Senate was abolished following a referendum in 1998. The states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg are governed slightly differently from the other states. In each of those cities,

2448-551: Is regularly affected by flooding from the Rhine and is considered the most flood-prone European city. A city agency ( Stadtentwässerungsbetriebe Köln , "Cologne Urban Drainage Operations") manages an extensive flood control system which includes both permanent and mobile flood walls , protection from rising waters for buildings close to the river banks, monitoring and forecasting systems, pumping stations and programmes to create or protect floodplains , and river embankments. The system

2584-670: Is sometimes propagated by the richer states as a means to avoid or reduce fiscal transfers . In southwestern Germany, territorial revision seemed to be a top priority since the border between the French and American occupation zones was set along the Autobahn Karlsruhe-Stuttgart-Ulm (today the A8 ). Article 118 stated "The division of the territory comprising Baden , Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern into Länder may be revised, without regard to

2720-534: Is the largest city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and over 3.1 million people in the Cologne Bonn urban region . Cologne is also part of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region , the second biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union. Centered on the left (west) bank of

2856-404: Is very common to use the term Bundesland (federated Land ). Officially this term Bundesland neither appears in the constitution of 1919 nor in the current one. Three Länder call themselves Freistaaten ("free states", an older German term for "republic"): Bavaria (since 1919), Saxony (originally from 1919 and again since 1990), and Thuringia (since 1994). Of the 17 states at the end of

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2992-534: The Battle of Worringen in 1288, Cologne gained its independence from the archbishops and became a Free City . Archbishop Sigfried II von Westerburg was forced to reside in Bonn . The archbishop nevertheless preserved the right of capital punishment. Thus the municipal council (though in strict political opposition towards the archbishop) depended upon him in all matters concerning criminal justice. This included torture,

3128-479: The Cologne Bonn Region is home to 3,573,500 living on 4,415/km (11,430/sq mi). It is part of the polycentric megacity region Rhine-Ruhr with a population of over 11,000,000 people. There were 551,528 women and 527,773 men in Cologne. In 2021, there were 11,127 births in Cologne; 5,844 marriages and 1,808 divorces, and 10,536 deaths. In the city, the population was spread out, with 16.3% under

3264-671: The Cologne Central Mosque run by the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs . In 2011, about 11.2% of the population was Muslim . Cologne also has one of the oldest and largest Jewish communities in Germany. In 2011, 0.3% of Cologne's population was Jewish. States of Germany The Federal Republic of Germany , as a federal state , consists of sixteen states . Berlin , Hamburg and Bremen (with its seaport exclave , Bremerhaven ) are called Stadtstaaten (" city-states "), while

3400-557: The Cologne mark ) were used throughout Europe. The economic structures of medieval and early modern Cologne were characterised by the city's status as a major harbour and transport hub on the Rhine. Craftsmanship was organised by self-administering guilds, some of which were exclusive to women. As a free imperial city , Cologne was a self-ruling state within the Holy Roman Empire , an imperial estate with seat and vote at

3536-639: The Communist and Social Democrats members of the city assembly, and Mayor Adenauer was dismissed. Compared to some other major cities, however, the Nazis never gained decisive support in Cologne. (Significantly, the number of votes cast for the Nazi Party in Reichstag elections had always been the national average.) By 1939, the population had risen to 772,221 inhabitants. During World War II, Cologne

3672-665: The Congress of Vienna (1815), 39 states formed the German Confederation . The Confederation was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War in which Prussia defeated Austria and forced Austria to remove itself from the affairs of the German states. Territorial boundaries were essentially redrawn as a result of military conflicts and interventions from the outside: from the Napoleonic Wars to

3808-682: The Congress of Vienna , the number of territories decreased from about 300 to 39; in 1866 Prussia annexed the sovereign states of Hanover , Nassau , Hesse-Kassel , and the Free City of Frankfurt . Prussia and the other states in Northern and Central Germany united as a federal state , the North German Federation , on 1 July 1867. Four of the five southern German states (Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt) entered military alliances with Prussia but Austria did not. In

3944-721: The Deutsche Mark was introduced as legal tender in the Saarland. Paragraph 6 of Article 29 stated that, if a petition was successful, a referendum should be held within three years. Since the deadline passed on 5 May 1958 without anything happening, the Hesse state government filed a constitutional complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in October 1958. The complaint was dismissed in July 1961 on

4080-604: The Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, those four states joined the North German Federation which was consequently renamed to German Empire . The parliament and Federal Council decided to give the Prussian king the title of German Emperor (since 1 January 1871). The new German Empire included 25 states (three of them, Hanseatic cities) and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine . Within

4216-639: The French Republic (which had already occupied Cologne in 1794). Thus this region later became part of Napoleon's Empire. Cologne was part of the French Département Roer (named after the river Roer, German: Rur ) with Aachen (French: Aix-la-Chapelle) as its capital. The French modernised public life, for example by introducing the Napoleonic code and removing the old elites from power. The Napoleonic code remained in use on

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4352-495: The Holy Roman Empire and one of the major members of the trade union Hanseatic League . It was one of the largest European cities in medieval and renaissance times. Prior to World War II , the city had undergone occupations by the French (1794–1815) and the British (1918–1926), and was part of Prussia beginning in 1815. Cologne was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany during World War II. The bombing reduced

4488-718: The Imperial Diet , and as such had the right (and obligation) to contribute to the defense of the Empire and maintain its own military force. As they wore a red uniform, these troops were known as the Rote Funken (red sparks). These soldiers were part of the Army of the Holy Roman Empire ("Reichskontingent"). They fought in the wars of the 17th and 18th century, including the wars against revolutionary France in which

4624-673: The Oder-Neisse line fell under either Polish or Soviet administration but attempts were made at least symbolically not to abandon sovereignty well into the 1960s. The former provinces of Farther Pomerania , East Prussia , Silesia and Posen-West Prussia fell under Polish administration with the Soviet Union taking the area around Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), pending a final peace conference with Germany which eventually never took place. More than 8 million Germans had been expelled from these territories that had formed part of

4760-680: The Regierender Bürgermeister (governing mayor) in Berlin. The parliament for Berlin is called the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives), while Bremen and Hamburg both have a Bürgerschaft . The parliaments in the remaining 13 states are referred to as Landtag (State Parliament). The city-states of Berlin and Hamburg are subdivided into Districts . The City of Bremen consists of two urban districts : Bremen and Bremerhaven , which are not contiguous. In

4896-557: The Rhineland ; it hosts more than 30 museums and hundreds of galleries. There are many institutions of higher education, most notably the University of Cologne , one of Europe's oldest and largest universities; the Technical University of Cologne , Germany's largest university of applied sciences; and the German Sport University Cologne . It hosts three Max Planck science institutes and is

5032-591: The Royal Air Force in World War ;II. 1,046 heavy bombers attacked their target with 1,455 tons of explosives, approximately two-thirds of which were incendiary. This raid lasted about 75 minutes, destroyed 600 acres (243 ha) of built-up area (61%), killed 486 civilians and made 59,000 people homeless. The devastation was recorded by Hermann Claasen from 1942 until the end of the war, and presented in his exhibition and book of 1947 Singing in

5168-537: The Saarland  – which later received a special status – in the French zone; Mecklenburg(-Vorpommern) , Brandenburg , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt , and Thuringia in the Soviet zone . No single state comprised more than 30% of either population or territory; this was intended to prevent any one state from being as dominant within Germany as Prussia had been in the past. Initially, only seven of

5304-682: The Second Temple in the Siege of Jerusalem and the associated dispersion (diaspora) of the Jews , there is evidence of a Jewish community in Cologne. In 321 CE, Emperor Constantine approved the settlement of a Jewish community with all the freedoms of Roman citizens. It is assumed that it was located near the Marspforte within the city wall. The Edict of Constantine to the Jews is the oldest documented evidence in Germany. Early medieval Cologne

5440-567: The Weimar Republic , six still exist (though partly with different borders): The other 11 states of the Weimar Republic either merged into one another or were separated into smaller entities: Some territories bordering other states were annexed to the bordering state. Also, Prussia had exclaves that were surrounded by other states. These became part of their surrounding states. All states, except Bavaria , now have territory of

5576-603: The West German constitution thus applied to the entire German people . Article 23, which had allowed "any other parts of Germany" to join, was rephrased. It had been used in 1957 to reintegrate the Saar Protectorate as the Saarland into the Federal Republic, and this was used as a model for German reunification in 1990. The amended article now defines the participation of the Federal Council and

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5712-602: The dialect spoken in Berlin , for example. As of 2015, 35.5% of the population belonged to the Catholic Church , the largest religious body, and 15.5% to the Protestant Church . Irenaeus of Lyons claimed that Christianity was brought to Cologne by Roman soldiers and traders at an unknown early date. It is known that in the early second century it was a bishop's seat. The first historical Bishop of Cologne

5848-556: The 16 German states in matters concerning the European Union . Article 29 was again modified and provided an option for the states to "revise the division of their existing territory or parts of their territory by agreement without regard to the provisions of paragraphs (2) through (7)". Article 118a was introduced into the Basic Law and provided the possibility for Berlin and Brandenburg to merge "without regard to

5984-453: The 17th and 18th centuries, resulting in complicated affairs, which were handled by diplomatic means and propaganda as well as by the supreme courts of the Holy Roman Empire. Cologne lost its status as a free city during the French period. According to the Treaty of Lunéville (1801) all the territories of the Holy Roman Empire on the left bank of the Rhine were officially incorporated into

6120-540: The 1949 constitutional document known as the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). By calling the document the Grundgesetz , rather than Verfassung (constitution), the authors expressed the intention that it would be replaced by a true constitution once Germany was reunited as one state. Amendments to the Grundgesetz generally require a two-thirds majority of both chambers of the parliament; the fundamental principles of

6256-454: The 1980s and 1990s Cologne's economy prospered for two main reasons. The first was the growth in the number of media companies, both in the private and public sectors; they are especially catered for in the newly developed Media Park, which creates a strong visual focal point in Cologne's city centre and includes the KölnTurm , one of Cologne's most prominent high-rise buildings. The second was

6392-400: The Alps. Cologne is shown on the 4th century Peutinger Map . Maternus, who was elected as bishop in 313, was the first known bishop of Cologne. The city was the capital of a Roman province until it was occupied by the Ripuarian Franks in 462. Parts of the original Roman sewers are preserved underneath the city, with the new sewerage system having opened in 1890. After the destruction of

6528-459: The American states and regional governments in other federations without serious calls for territorial changes" in those other countries. Arthur B. Gunlicks summarizes the main arguments for boundary reform in Germany: "the German system of dual federalism requires strong Länder that have the administrative and fiscal capacity to implement legislation and pay for it from own source revenues. Too many Länder also make coordination among them and with

6664-480: The Basic Law as a binding order. An expert commission was established, named after its chairman, the former Secretary of State Professor Werner Ernst. After two years of work, the experts delivered their report in 1973. It provided an alternative proposal for the two regions: the north and center-southwest. In the north, either a single new state consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Bremen and Lower Saxony should be created (solution A) or two new states, one in

6800-408: The Bavarian Wittelsbach dynasty . Due to the free status of Cologne, the archbishops were usually not allowed to enter the city. Thus they took up residence in Bonn and later in Brühl on the Rhine. As members of an influential and powerful family, and supported by their outstanding status as electors , the archbishops of Cologne repeatedly challenged and threatened the free status of Cologne during

6936-403: The Federal Minister of the Interior by reference to the referendum of 1951. However, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the rejection was unlawful: the population of Baden had the right to a new referendum because the one of 1951 had taken place under different rules from the ones provided for by article 29. In particular, the outcome of the 1951 referendum did not reflect

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7072-399: The Federal Republic as a whole (paragraph 4). The reorganization should be completed within three years after the Basic Law had come into force (paragraph 6). Article 29 states that "the division of the federal territory into Länder may be revised to ensure that each Land be of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively". In their letter to Konrad Adenauer ,

7208-438: The Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. This was in contrast to the post-war development in Austria , where the national Bund ("federation") was constituted first, and then the individual states were carved out as units of that federal nation. The German use of the term Länder ("lands") dates back to the Weimar Constitution of 1919. Previously, the states of the German Empire had been called Staaten ("states"). Today, it

7344-424: The Federal Territory must be revised (paragraph 1). Moreover, in territories or parts of territories whose affiliation with a Land had changed after 8 May 1945 without a referendum, people were allowed to petition for a revision of the current status within a year after the promulgation of the Basic Law (paragraph 2). If at least one tenth of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections were in favour of

7480-474: The French in 1798, was reopened. This was considered to be a replacement for the loss of the University of Strasbourg on the west bank of the Rhine, which reverted to France with the rest of Alsace . Cologne prospered during the Weimar Republic (1919–33), and progress was made especially in public governance, city planning, housing and social affairs. Social housing projects were considered exemplary and were copied by other German cities. Cologne competed to host

7616-399: The French-occupied Saar Protectorate was returned and formed into the Saarland , the Federal Republic consisted of ten states, which are referred to as the " Old States " today. West Berlin was under the sovereignty of the Western Allies and neither a Western German state nor part of one. However, it was in many ways integrated with West Germany under a special status. A new delimitation of

7752-470: The German-speaking lands for centuries and which mostly did not have sizable Polish minorities before 1945. However, no attempts were made to establish new states in these territories, as they lay outside the jurisdiction of West Germany at that time. In 1948, the military governors of the three Western Allies handed over the so-called Frankfurt Documents to the minister-presidents in the Western occupation zones. Among other things, they recommended revising

7888-443: The Nazi regime via the Gleichschaltung process, as the states administratively were largely superseded by the Nazi Gau system . Three changes are of particular note: on 1 January 1934, Mecklenburg-Schwerin was united with neighbouring Mecklenburg-Strelitz ; and, by the Greater Hamburg Act ( Groß-Hamburg-Gesetz ) of 1937, the territory of the city-state was extended, while Lübeck lost its independence and became part of

8024-453: The Olympics, and a modern sports stadium was erected at Müngersdorf. When the British occupation ended, the prohibition of civil aviation was lifted and Cologne Butzweilerhof Airport soon became a hub for national and international air traffic, second in Germany only to Berlin Tempelhof Airport . The democratic parties lost the local elections in Cologne in March 1933 to the Nazi Party and other extreme-right parties. The Nazis then arrested

8160-480: The Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein . During the Allied occupation of Germany after World War II , internal borders were redrawn by the Allied military governments. New states were established in all four zones of occupation: Bremen , Hesse , Württemberg-Baden , and Bavaria in the American zone ; Hamburg , Schleswig-Holstein , Lower Saxony , and North Rhine-Westphalia in the British zone ; Rhineland-Palatinate , Baden , Württemberg-Hohenzollern and

8296-421: The Rhine , Cologne is located on the River Rhine ( Lower Rhine ), about 35 km (22 mi) southeast of the North Rhine-Westphalia state capital Düsseldorf and 25 km (16 mi) northwest of Bonn , the former capital of West Germany . The city's medieval Cologne Cathedral ( Kölner Dom ) was the world's tallest building 1880–1890 and is today the third-tallest church and tallest cathedral in

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8432-401: The Saarland (solution C), the district of Germersheim would then become part of Baden-Württemberg. The other alternative was that the Palatinate (including the region of Worms ) could be merged with the Saarland and Baden-Württemberg, and the rest of Rhineland-Palatinate would then merge with Hesse (solution D). Both alternatives could be combined (AC, BC, AD, BD). At the same time,

8568-453: The South. Overath is divided into 7 parts. When first mentioned in 1060, Overath was called "Achera" (after the Agger river). Presumably because of the first settlement at a clearing (German Rodung ) the name changed to "Ouerode" (about 1280), "Ovverode" (1304), "Overadt" (1582), and finally became "Overath". In 1939, the population of Overath was 6,500. In 1946, it already exceeded 10,500 and continued to grow to 15,500 in 1970. The area of

8704-414: The Western Allies, viewed itself as part of the Federal Republic and was largely integrated and considered a de facto state. In 1952, following a referendum , Baden, Württemberg-Baden, and Württemberg-Hohenzollern merged into Baden-Württemberg . In 1957, the Saar Protectorate joined the Federal Republic as the state of Saarland . The next change occurred with German reunification in 1990, in which

8840-402: The affected states, the proposals were shelved. Public interest was limited or nonexistent. The referendum in Baden was held on 7 June 1970. 81.9% of voters decided for Baden to remain part of Baden-Württemberg, only 18.1% opted for the reconstitution of the old state of Baden . The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were held on 19 January 1975 (the percentages given are

8976-502: The age of 18, and 17.8% were 65 years of age or older. 203 people in Cologne were over the age of 100. According to the Statistical Office of the City of Cologne, the number of people with a migrant background is at 40.5% (436,660). 2,254 people acquired German citizenship in 2021. In 2021, there were 559,854 households, of which 18.4% had children under the age of 18; 51% of all households were made up of singles. 8% of all households were single-parent households. The average household size

9112-399: The airport, where temperatures are classified). Still temperatures can vary noticeably over the course of a month with warmer and colder weather. Precipitation is spread evenly throughout the year with a light peak in summer due to showers and thunderstorms. The progressing climate change can be seen by looking at the climate data of the previous decade with lower mean temperatures. Cologne

9248-432: The archbishops of Cologne first gained noteworthy secular power when bishop Bruno was appointed as duke by his brother Otto I , King of Germany . In order to weaken the secular nobility, who threatened his power, Otto endowed Bruno and his archiepiscopal successors with the prerogatives of secular princes, thus establishing the Electorate of Cologne , formed by the temporal possessions of the archbishopric and included in

9384-488: The availability of trade opportunities. The intersection of these trade routes was the basis of Cologne's growth. By the end of the 12th century, Archbishop Phillip von Heinsberg enclosed the entire city with walls . By 1300 the city population was 50,000–55,000. Cologne was a member of the Hanseatic League in 1475, when Frederick III confirmed the city's imperial immediacy. Cologne was so influential in regional commerce that its systems of weights and measurements (e.g.

9520-407: The boundaries of the West German states in a way that none of them should be too large or too small in comparison with the others. As the premiers did not come to an agreement on this question, the Parliamentary Council was supposed to address this issue. Its provisions are reflected in Article 29 of the Basic Law . There was a binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory:

9656-399: The capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and as the headquarters of the Roman military in the region until occupied by the Franks in 462. During the Middle Ages the city flourished as being located on one of the most important major trade routes between east and western Europe (including the Brabant Road , Via Regia and Publica). Cologne was a free imperial city of

9792-582: The city during World War II, destroying 61% of its built up area. During the Bombing of Cologne in World War II , Cologne endured 262 air raids by the Western Allies , which caused approximately 20,000 civilian casualties and almost completely wiped out the central part of the city. During the night of 31 May 1942, Cologne was the target of " Operation Millennium ", the first 1,000 bomber raid by

9928-596: The city fell to him in the Battle of Cologne . Charles fled to the Eifel mountains, rallied supporters and took the city back that same year after defeating Chilperic in the Battle of Amblève . Cologne had been the seat of a bishop since the Roman period; under Charlemagne , in 795, bishop Hildebold was promoted to archbishop . In the 843 Treaty of Verdun Cologne fell into the dominion of Lothair I 's Middle Francia – later called Lotharingia ( Lower Lorraine ). In 953,

10064-471: The city, the remains of which can be seen to this day. The military demands on what became Germany's largest fortress presented a significant obstacle to urban development, with forts, bunkers, and wide defensive dugouts completely encircling the city and preventing expansion; this resulted in a very densely built-up area within the city itself. During World War I Cologne was the target of several minor air raids but suffered no significant damage. Cologne

10200-454: The commission developed criteria for classifying the terms of Article 29 Paragraph 1. The capacity to perform functions effectively was considered most important, whereas regional, historical, and cultural ties were considered as hardly verifiable. To fulfill administrative duties adequately, a population of at least five million per state was considered as necessary. After a relatively brief discussion and mostly negative responses from

10336-703: The community was extended in 1975, which increased the population to over 20,000. Since then it has risen further up to 27,106 in December 2005. The Catholic church is devoted to Saint Walpurga ( Heilige Walburga ). Until 1803 the Benedictines had a monastery in Cyriax , a subsidiary of Michaelsberg Abbey at Siegburg . The Catholic church in Heiligenhaus is devoted to Saint Roch ( Heiliger Rochus ). Marialinden' s church ( St. Mariä Heimsuchung )

10472-631: The configuration of the German states: the 7  Thuringian states were merged in 1920, whereby Coburg opted for Bavaria , Pyrmont joined Prussia in 1922, and Waldeck did so in 1929. Any later plans to break up the dominating Prussia into smaller states failed because political circumstances were not favourable to state reforms. After the Nazi Party seized power in January 1933, the Länder were gradually abolished and reduced to provinces under

10608-476: The consent of the federal government (Article 32 of the Basic Law). Typical treaties relate to cultural relationships and economic affairs. Some states call themselves a " free state " ( Freistaat ). It is merely a historic synonym for "republic" and was a description used by most German states after the abolishment of monarchy after World War I . Today, Freistaat is associated emotionally with

10744-401: The constituent states have certain limited powers in this area: in matters that affect them directly, the states defend their interests at the federal level through the Bundesrat ("Federal Council"), and in areas where they have the legislative authority they have limited powers to conclude international treaties "with the consent of the federal government". It was the states that formed

10880-416: The constitution, as expressed in the articles guaranteeing human dignity, the separation of powers, the federal structure, and the rule of law are valid in perpetuity. Despite the original intention, the Grundgesetz remained in effect after the German reunification in 1990, with only minor amendments. The federal constitution stipulates that the structure of each Federated State's government must "conform to

11016-432: The constitution. An appeal against the decision was rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Constitutional Court. On 24 August 1976, the binding provision for a new delimitation of the federal territory was altered into a mere discretionary one. Paragraph 1 of Article 29 was rephrased, with the provision that any state had to be "of a size and capacity to perform its functions effectively" put first. The option for

11152-486: The empire, 65% of the territory and 62% of the population belonged to the state of Prussia. After the territorial losses of the Treaty of Versailles , the remaining states continued as republics of a new German federation. The debate on a new delimitation of the German territory started in 1919 as part of discussions about the new constitution. Hugo Preuss , the father of the Weimar Constitution , drafted

11288-612: The end a strip of territory along the left Bank of the Rhine east of Jülich , as well as the Duchy of Westphalia on the other side of the Rhine, beyond Berg and Mark . By the end of the 12th century, the Archbishop of Cologne was one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Emperor. Besides being prince elector, he was Archchancellor of Italy as well, technically from 1238 and permanently from 1263 until 1803. Following

11424-400: The end of 1945, however, the population had already recovered to approximately 450,000. By the end of the war, essentially all of Cologne's pre-war Jewish population of 11,000 had been deported or killed by the Nazis. The six synagogues of the city were destroyed. The synagogue on Roonstraße was rebuilt in 1959. Despite Cologne's status as the largest city in the region, nearby Düsseldorf

11560-647: The executive branch consists of a Senate of approximately eight, selected by the state's parliament; the senators carry out duties equivalent to those of the ministers in the larger states. The equivalent of the minister-president is the Senatspräsident (president of the senate), also commonly referred to as Bürgermeister (Mayor) in Bremen, the Erster Bürgermeister (first mayor) in Hamburg, and

11696-545: The expense of the city's historic heritage with much being demolished (for example, the city walls or the area around the cathedral) and sometimes replaced by contemporary buildings. Cologne was designated as one of the Fortresses of the German Confederation . It was turned into a heavily armed fortress (opposing the French and Belgian fortresses of Verdun and Liège ) with two fortified belts surrounding

11832-456: The federal system: the legislatures are popularly elected for four or five years (depending on the state), and the minister-president is then chosen by a majority vote among the Landtag ' s members. The minister-president is typically the head of the biggest party of a coalition. The minister-president appoints a cabinet to run the state's agencies and to carry out the executive duties of

11968-487: The federal territory has been discussed since the Federal Republic was founded in 1949 and even before. Committees and expert commissions advocated a reduction of the number of states; academics ( Werner Rutz , Meinhard Miegel , Adrian Ottnad , etc.) and politicians ( Walter Döring , Hans Apel , and others) made proposals – some of them far-reaching – for redrawing boundaries but hardly anything came of these public discussions. Territorial reform

12104-412: The federation more complicated." But several proposals have failed so far; territorial reform remains a controversial topic in German politics and public perception. Federalism has a long tradition in German history. The Holy Roman Empire comprised many petty states , numbering more than 300 in around 1796. The number of territories was greatly reduced during the Napoleonic Wars (1796–1814). After

12240-412: The federation. The states retain residual or exclusive legislative authority for all other areas, including culture, which in Germany includes not only topics such as the financial promotion of arts and sciences, but also most forms of education and job training (see Education in Germany ). Though international relations including international treaties are primarily the responsibility of the federal level,

12376-446: The five " New States " on 3 October 1990. The former district of East Berlin joined West Berlin to form the new state of Berlin. Henceforth, the 10 "old states" plus 5 "new states" plus the new state Berlin add up to current 16 states of Germany. After reunification, the constitution was amended to state that the citizens of the 16 states had successfully achieved the unity of Germany in free self-determination and that

12512-623: The focus of the conflict. In 1837 the archbishop of Cologne, Clemens August von Droste-Vischering , was arrested and imprisoned for two years after a dispute over the legal status of marriages between Catholics and Protestants ( Mischehenstreit ). In 1874, during the Kulturkampf , Archbishop Paul Melchers was imprisoned before taking asylum in the Netherlands. These conflicts alienated the Catholic population from Berlin and contributed to

12648-409: The former Free State of Prussia. Other former Prussian territories lying east of the rivers Neisse and Oder were lost in 1945 and are now part of Poland or Russia . They are Silesia (Upper and Lower), Pomerania, West Prussia-Posen, and East Prussia respectively. Possible boundary changes between states continue to be debated in Germany, in contrast to how there are "significant differences among

12784-536: The furnace. Cologne – Remains of an old city . Cologne was taken by the American First Army in early March 1945 during the Invasion of Germany after a battle . By the end of the war, the population of Cologne had been reduced by 95%. This loss was mainly caused by a massive evacuation of the people to more rural areas. The same happened in many other German cities in the last two years of war. By

12920-548: The general elections held September 26, 2004, is as follows: Christoph Nicodemus was elected mayor (German Bürgermeister ) in September 2020, representing CDU, Greens and FDP. The coat of arms of Overath was only created on March 3, 1938. It consists of two areas: Overath is twinned with: Cologne Cologne ( / k ə ˈ l oʊ n / kə- LOHN ; German: Köln [kœln] ; Kölsch : Kölle [ˈkœlə] )

13056-586: The grounds that Article 29 had made the new delimitation of the federal territory an exclusively federal matter. At the same time, the Court reaffirmed the requirement for a territorial revision as a binding order to the relevant constitutional bodies. The grand coalition decided to settle the 1956 petitions by setting binding deadlines for the required referendums. The referendums in Lower Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate were to be held by 31 March 1975, and

13192-829: The left bank of the Rhine until 1900, when a unified civil code (the Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch ) was introduced in the German Empire . In 1815 at the Congress of Vienna , Cologne was made part of the Kingdom of Prussia , first in the Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg and then the Rhine Province . The permanent tensions between the Catholic Rhineland and the overwhelmingly Protestant Prussian state repeatedly escalated with Cologne being in

13328-511: The necessary majority vote in Brandenburg, while a majority of Berliners voted in favour. Federalism is one of the entrenched constitutional principles of Germany . According to the German constitution , some topics, such as foreign affairs and defence, are the exclusive responsibility of the federation (i.e., the federal level), while others fall under the shared authority of the states and

13464-547: The northeast consisting of Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and the northern part of Lower Saxony (from Cuxhaven to Lüchow-Dannenberg ) and one in the northwest consisting of Bremen and the rest of Lower Saxony (solution B). In the center and southwest, one alternative was that Rhineland-Palatinate (with the exception of the Germersheim district but including the Rhine-Neckar region) should be merged with Hesse and

13600-426: The other thirteen states are called Flächenländer ("area states") and include Bavaria , Saxony , and Thuringia , which describe themselves as Freistaaten ("free states"). The Federal Republic of Germany ("West Germany") was created in 1949 through the unification of the three western zones previously under American, British, and French administration in the aftermath of World War II . Initially,

13736-421: The percentages of those eligible who voted in favour): The votes in Lower Saxony were successful as both proposals were supported by more than 25% of eligible voters. The Bundestag, however, decided that both Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe should remain part of Lower Saxony. The justification was that a reconstitution of the two former states would contradict the objectives of paragraph 1 of article 29 of

13872-591: The permanent improvement of the diverse traffic infrastructure, which made Cologne one of the most easily accessible metropolitan areas in Central Europe. Due to the economic success of the Cologne Trade Fair , the city arranged a large extension to the fair site in 2005. At the same time the original buildings, which date back to the 1920s, were rented out to RTL , Germany's largest private broadcaster, as their new corporate headquarters. Cologne

14008-422: The population by 93% mainly due to evacuation, and destroyed around 80% of the millennia-old city center. The post-war rebuilding has resulted in a mixed cityscape, restoring most major historic landmarks like city gates and churches (31 of them being Romanesque ). The city nowadays consists of around 25% pre World War II buildings and boasts around 9,000 historic buildings. Cologne is a major cultural center for

14144-407: The pre-War states remained: Baden (in part), Bavaria (reduced in size), Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse (enlarged), Saxony, and Thuringia. The states with hyphenated names, such as Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt, owed their existence to the occupation powers and were created out of mergers of former Prussian provinces and smaller states. Former German territory that lay east of

14280-478: The principles of republican, democratic, and social government, based on the rule of law" (Article 28). Most of the states are governed by a cabinet led by a Ministerpräsident (minister-president), together with a unicameral legislative body known as the Landtag (State Diet ). The states are parliamentary republics and the relationship between their legislative and executive branches mirrors that of

14416-420: The provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the Länder concerned. If no agreement is reached, the revision shall be effected by a federal law, which shall provide for an advisory referendum." Since no agreement was reached, a referendum was held on 9 December 1951 in four different voting districts, three of which approved the merger ( South Baden refused but was overruled, as the result of total votes

14552-467: The provisions of Article 29, by agreement between the two Länder with the participation of their inhabitants who are entitled to vote". A state treaty between Berlin and Brandenburg was approved in both parliaments with the necessary two-thirds majority, but in a popular referendum of 5 May 1996, about 63% voted against the merger. The German states can conclude treaties with foreign countries in matters within their own sphere of competence and with

14688-639: The public support of Federal German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for the plan. The rejection of the plan by the Saarlanders was interpreted as support for the Saar to join the Federal Republic of Germany. On 27 October 1956, the Saar Treaty established that Saarland should be allowed to join Germany, as provided by the German constitution. Saarland became part of Germany effective 1 January 1957. The Franco-Saarlander currency union ended on 6 July 1959, when

14824-592: The referendum in Baden was to be held by 30 June 1970. The threshold for a successful vote was set at one-quarter of those entitled to vote in Bundestag elections. Paragraph 4 stated that the vote should be disregarded if it contradicted the objectives of paragraph 1. In his investiture address, given on 28 October 1969 in Bonn, Chancellor Willy Brandt proposed that the government would consider Article 29 of

14960-550: The same status as West Berlin – was declared East Germany's capital and its 15th district. The debate on territorial revision restarted shortly before German reunification . While academics (Rutz and others) and politicians (Gobrecht) suggested introducing only two, three, or four states in East Germany, legislation reconstituted the East German states in an arrangement similar to that which they had had before 1952, as

15096-513: The sentence for which was only allowed to be handed down by the episcopal judge known as the greve. This legal situation lasted until the French conquest of Cologne. Besides its economic and political significance Cologne also became an important centre of medieval pilgrimage, when Cologne's archbishop, Rainald of Dassel , gave the relics of the Three Wise Men to Cologne's cathedral in 1164 (after they had been taken from Milan ). Besides

15232-488: The small force was almost completely wiped out in combat. The tradition of these troops is preserved as a military persiflage by Cologne's most outstanding carnival society, the Rote Funken . The Free Imperial City of Cologne must not be confused with the Electorate of Cologne , which was a state of its own within the Holy Roman Empire. Since the second half of the 16th century the majority of archbishops were drawn from

15368-410: The state's government. Like in other parliamentary systems, the legislature can dismiss or replace the minister-president after a successful no-confidence vote . The governments in Berlin , Bremen and Hamburg are referred to as " senates ". In the free states of Bavaria and Saxony , the government is referred to as "state government" (Staatsregierung) ; and in the other states, the government

15504-488: The states of the Federal Republic were Baden (until 1952), Bavaria (in German: Bayern ), Bremen , Hamburg , Hesse ( Hessen ), Lower Saxony ( Niedersachsen ), North Rhine-Westphalia ( Nordrhein-Westfalen ), Rhineland-Palatinate ( Rheinland-Pfalz ), Schleswig-Holstein , Württemberg-Baden (until 1952), and Württemberg-Hohenzollern (until 1952). West Berlin , while still under occupation by

15640-481: The territory of the former German Democratic Republic ( East Germany ) became part of the Federal Republic, by accession of the re-established eastern states of Brandenburg , Mecklenburg-West Pomerania ( Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ), Saxony ( Sachsen ), Saxony-Anhalt ( Sachsen-Anhalt ), and Thuringia ( Thüringen ), and the reunification of West and East Berlin into a city state. A referendum in 1996 to merge Berlin with surrounding Brandenburg failed to reach

15776-405: The third largest city by area. The population density was 2,700/km (7,000/sq mi). Cologne first reached the population of 1,000,000 in 1975 due to the incorporation of Wesseling , however this was reversed after public opposition. In 2009 Cologne's population again reached 1,000,000 and it became one of the four cities in Germany with a population exceeding 1 Million. The metropolitan area of

15912-420: The three magi Cologne preserves the relics of Saint Ursula and Albertus Magnus . Cologne's location on the river Rhine placed it at the intersection of the major trade routes between east and west as well as the main south–north Western Europe trade route, Venice to Netherlands; even by the mid-10th century, merchants in the town were already known for their prosperity and luxurious standard of living due to

16048-484: The three western military governors approved the Basic Law but suspended Article 29 until such time as a peace treaty should be concluded. Only the special arrangement for the southwest under Article 118 could enter into force. Upon its founding in 1949, West Germany thus had eleven states. These were reduced to nine in 1952 when three south-western states ( South Baden , Württemberg-Hohenzollern , and Württemberg-Baden ) merged to form Baden-Württemberg . From 1957, when

16184-470: The train heading for Marienheide departs every 60 minutes. Cologne is reachable by train in within 35 minutes. These traffic connections, together with rural surroundings, make Overath a popular place to live for commuters . There is no hospital in Overath. The nearest hospitals are in Bergisch Gladbach and Engelskirchen. The city council consists of 38 members. The current breakdown, from

16320-528: The war a large increase in automobile traffic could be anticipated. Plans for new roads had already, to a certain degree, evolved under the Nazi administration, but the actual construction became easier when most of the city centre was in ruins. The destruction of 95% of the city centre, including the famous Twelve Romanesque churches such as St. Gereon , Great St. Martin , St. Maria im Kapitol and several other monuments in World War II, meant

16456-540: The wharf area, where a 1,900-year-old Roman boat was discovered in late 2007. From 260 to 271, Cologne was the capital of the Gallic Empire under Postumus , Marius , and Victorinus . In 310, under emperor Constantine I , a bridge was built over the Rhine at Cologne. Roman imperial governors resided in the city and it became one of the most important trade and production centers in the Roman Empire north of

16592-546: The wishes of the majority of Baden's population. The two Palatine petitions (for a reintegration into Bavaria and integration into Baden-Württemberg) failed with 7.6% and 9.3%. Further requests for petitions (Lübeck, Geesthacht, Lindau, Achberg, and 62 Hessian communities) had already been rejected as inadmissible by the Federal Minister of the Interior or were withdrawn as in the case of Lindau. The rejection

16728-640: The world . It was constructed to house the Shrine of the Three Kings and is a globally recognized landmark and one of the most visited sights and pilgrimage destinations in Europe. The cityscape is further shaped by the Twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne . Cologne is famous for Eau de Cologne , which has been produced in the city since 1709; "cologne" has since come to be a generic term. Cologne

16864-514: Was Saint Maternus . Thomas Aquinas studied in Cologne in 1244 under Albertus Magnus . Cologne is the seat of the Archdiocese of Cologne . According to the 2011 census, 2.1% of the population was Eastern Orthodox , 0.5% belonged of an Evangelical Free Church and 4.2% belonged to further religious communities officially recognized by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (such as Jehovah's Witnesses ). There are several mosques, including

17000-585: Was 1.88. Cologne residents with a foreign citizenship as of 31 December 2021 is as follows: Cologne is home to 90,000 people of Turkish origin and is the second largest German city with Turkish population after Berlin . Cologne has a Little Istanbul in Keupstraße that has many Turkish restaurants and markets. Famous Turkish-German people like rapper Eko Fresh and TV presenter Nazan Eckes were born in Cologne. Colognian or Kölsch ( Colognian pronunciation: [kœɫːʃ] ) (natively Kölsch Platt )

17136-456: Was a Military Area Command Headquarters ( Militärbereichshauptkommandoquartier ) for Wehrkreis VI (headquartered at Münster ). Cologne was under the command of Lieutenant-General Freiherr Roeder von Diersburg, who was responsible for military operations in Bonn , Siegburg , Aachen , Jülich , Düren , and Monschau . Cologne was home to the 211th Infantry Regiment and the 26th Artillery Regiment. The Allies dropped 44,923.2 tons of bombs on

17272-480: Was chosen as the political capital of the federated state of North Rhine-Westphalia . With Bonn being chosen as the provisional federal capital ( provisorische Bundeshauptstadt ) and seat of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany (then informally West Germany ), Cologne benefited by being sandwiched between two important political centres. The city became–and still is–home to a number of federal agencies and organizations. After reunification in 1990, Berlin

17408-609: Was confirmed by the Federal Constitutional Court in the case of Lübeck. In the Paris Agreements of 23 October 1954, France offered to establish an independent "Saarland", under the auspices of the Western European Union (WEU), but on 23 October 1955 in the Saar Statute referendum the Saar electorate rejected this plan by 67.7% to 32.3% (out of a 96.5% turnout: 423,434 against, 201,975 for) despite

17544-411: Was decisive). On 25 April 1952, the three former states merged to form Baden-Württemberg. With the Paris Agreements in 1954, West Germany regained (limited) sovereignty. This triggered the start of the one-year period as set in paragraph 2 of Article 29. As a consequence, eight petitions for referendums were launched, six of which were successful: The last petition was originally rejected by

17680-516: Was especially successful, though the heavy industry was less ubiquitous than in the Ruhr area . The cathedral , started in 1248 but abandoned around 1560, was eventually finished in 1880 not just as a place of worship but also as a German national monument celebrating the newly founded German empire and the continuity of the German nation since the Middle Ages. Some of this urban growth occurred at

17816-664: Was founded and established in Germanic Ubii territory in the 1st century CE as the Roman Colonia Agrippina , hence its name. Agrippina was later dropped (except in Latin), and Colonia became the name of the city in its own right, which developed into modern German as Köln . Cologne , the French version of the city's name, has become standard in English as well. Cologne functioned as

17952-479: Was made the capital of Germany. In 1945 architect and urban planner Rudolf Schwarz called Cologne the "world's greatest heap of rubble". Schwarz designed the master plan for reconstruction in 1947, which included the construction of several new thoroughfares through the city centre, especially the Nord-Süd-Fahrt ("North-South-Drive"). The master plan took into consideration the fact that even shortly after

18088-604: Was occupied by the British Army of the Rhine until 1926, under the terms of the Armistice and the subsequent Versailles Peace Treaty . In contrast with the harsh behaviour of the French occupation troops in Germany, the British forces were more lenient to the local population. Konrad Adenauer , the mayor of Cologne from 1917 until 1933 and later a West German chancellor, acknowledged the political impact of this approach, especially since Britain had opposed French demands for

18224-587: Was part of Austrasia within the Frankish Empire . Cunibert, made bishop of Cologne in 623, was an important advisor to the Merovingian King Dagobert I and served with domesticus Pepin of Landen as tutor to the king's son and heir Siegebert III, the future king of Austrasia. In 716, Charles Martel commanded an army for the first time and suffered the only defeat of his life when Chilperic II , King of Neustria , invaded Austrasia and

18360-594: Was redesigned after a 1993 flood, which resulted in heavy damage. In the Roman Empire, the city was large and rich with a population of 40,000 in 100–200 AD. The city was home to around 20,000 people in 1000 AD, growing to 50,000 in 1200 AD. The Rhineland metropolis still had 50,000 residents in 1300 AD. Cologne is the fourth-largest city by population in Germany after Berlin , Hamburg and Munich . As of 31 December 2021, there were 1,079,301 people registered as living in Cologne in an area of 404.99 km (156.37 sq mi), which makes Cologne

18496-536: Was the focus of the 2015-16 New Year's Eve sexual assaults in Germany , with over 500 women reporting that they were sexually assaulted by persons of African and Arab appearance. The metropolitan area encompasses over 405 square kilometres (156 square miles), extending around a central point that lies at 50° 56' 33 latitude and 6° 57' 32 longitude. The city's highest point is 118 m (387 ft) above sea level (the Monte Troodelöh ) and its lowest point

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