Avalon Visionary Rhine River Cruise - Day 4 - Cologne

Oct. 30, 2012 – Cologne, Germany

Eau de Cologne.  Bet you thought this came from France.  It didn’t, this perfume came from Cologne, Germany, a beautiful Romanesque city built on both sides of the Rhine River.  The most famous eau de cologne is 4711, however, the first cologne made here was Farina.

The Cologne Cathedral is the landmark twin-spired Gothic cathedral that is seen on all of the postcards and in pictures of this city.  Supposedly, the remains of the three magi are buried within this structure.  It took over 600 years to build this massive church.  During World War II, there was an agreement that no historically significant buildings would be destroyed.  The very first 1000 bomber raid by the Royal Air Force was conducted on Cologne on the night of May 30 and 31, 1942.  It was expected that it would knock Germany out of the war and damage the German morale.  The RAF only had about 400 aircraft and the Royal Navy refused to let coastal command aircraft take part in the raid.  Cologne was not the first choice.  Hamburg was, but inclement weather caused the change in destination for the bombing.  Seven official administration buildings, 14 public buildings, 7 banks, 9 hospitals, 17 churches, 16 schools, 4 university buildings, 10 postal and railway buildings, 10 buildings of historical interest, 2 newspaper offices, 4 hotels, 2 movie theaters, and 6 department stores were completely destroyed.  The only military installation damage was the barracks used by members of anti-aircraft gun crew.  Damage to homes and apartments was considerable with 13,010 destroyed, 6,360 seriously damaged, and 22,270 lightly damaged.  The number killed was 469 of whom 411 were civilians and 58 were military. 

Because the main train station was next door to the Cologne Cathedral, there was some damage to the structure.  There has been continual restoration done on it since the end of World War II, and it has still not been completed.

Cologne was a former Roman city and has an historical heritage. There is a complete tile floor from a Roman home in the Roman-German museum.   The remains of an ancient  Jewish quarter was discovered in Cologne in 2007.  The remains of a synagogue, a hospital, bakery, community hall and mikveh (a bath house used for ritual purification) were discovered.  Archaeologists are enthusiastic about the dig, but Cologne residents remain skeptical. 

Of course, Charlie and some of our traveling buddies had to try out the local brew, Kolsch, the local beer brewed in Cologne.

Later tonight, we leave for Koblenz, the Rhine Gorge and Rudesheim.