Kölner Klüngel

The word derives from the Old High German term for "small ball of yarn" – an image for a tangle in which it is impossible to tell from the outside how the individual threads connect. The English word to cling shares the same root. In the Cologne dialect, the meaning is more nuanced than in standard German: the linguist Adam Wrede devotes nearly a full page to the word family in his Neuer kölnischer Sprachschatz. The adjective klüngelich, for instance, can also describe sloppily done work. In everyday life in Cologne, the term carries distinctly positive connotations as well – in the sense of mutual help and connectedness.

Author Frank Überall distinguishes three levels: situational cooperation, networking, and corruption. He argues that Klüngel – particularly in politics – can even contain elements that support democracy. This stands in contrast to the view of Werner Rügemer, who in his book Colonia Corrupta describes the concept as a "national alibi cliché" and, drawing on examples ranging from Adenauer to the collapse of Cologne's Historic Archive, classifies illegal dealings as serious corruption.

As far back as after the Battle of Worringen in 1288, fifteen patrician families took control of the city's government. The so-called Verbundbrief of 1396 forced an initial participation of merchants and craftsmen in politics – yet mayors and councillors continued to be drawn overwhelmingly from the same families. This system persisted until the French occupation of Cologne in 1794. After 1815, under Prussian oversight, new rules applied – for example, that father and son could not hold a council position at the same time.