City portrait
Cologne – 2,000 years on the Rhine
Roman foundation, Gothic cathedral, lively quarters and Germany's biggest carnival – a portrait of the country's fourth-largest city in numbers, pictures and stories.
At a glance
Key figures
- Cathedral height
- 157 m
- world's tallest building 1880–1884
- Listed monuments
- 7.925
- across the city
- Migration background
- 43 %
- of the population
- Employment rate
- 60 %
- of the working-age population
- Green-space share
- 45 %
- parks, forest & water
- Carnival starts
- 11.11.
- at 11:11 a.m.
History
From Roman administrative seat to a city of a million: Cologne is one of Germany's oldest cities – founded in 38 BC and raised to a colonia as early as AD 50.
Read more →Cathedral & landmarks
Two spires, 157 metres tall, more than six centuries in the making: Cologne Cathedral is the city's emblem and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996.
Read more →Carnival
On 11 November at 11:11 a.m. the „fifth season" begins. Its climax, the Rose Monday parade, is Germany's biggest street festival.
Read more →Rhine & geography
The Rhine splits Cologne into the left bank and right-bank Deutz – lifeline, viewing balcony and identity all at once.
Read more →Quarters & boroughs
Cologne thinks in „Veedel": 9 boroughs, 86 quarters and countless neighbourhoods each with their own character – from Ehrenfeld to the Südstadt.
Read more →Economy & media
Media, trade fairs, insurance: Cologne is a major business and media hub – with Koelnmesse as its global showcase.
Read more →Food & Kölsch
Top-fermented, pale, from the slender „Stange": Kölsch is both a beer and a language – served by the „Köbes" in the brewery tavern.
Read more →A university city
With the long-established University of Cologne and numerous colleges, Cologne is one of Germany's largest places to study – over 90,000 students shape the city.
Read more →Cologne in numbers
Demographics, land use and politics — from official open data.
Cologne first passed one million in the mid-1970s; after a boundary reform it briefly dropped below and has been above again since the 2010s.
Köln: age by sex (as of 31 Dec 2024).
Source: Regionalstatistik (Alter × Geschlecht) · tab. 12411-02-03-5
Source: Cologne neighbourhood monitoring
Köln compared
Köln compared with other major German cities. Tick areas — their values appear as coloured markers on the bars.
Tick areas — their values appear as coloured markers on the bars.
Structure
Source: Regionalstatistik
Land use (2015)
Economy & labour
Education & family (per 10,000 pop.)
Source: OpenStreetMap · facility map
Health & retail (per 10,000 pop.)
Source: OpenStreetMap · facility map
Sport & leisure (per 10,000 pop.)
Source: OpenStreetMap · facility map
Family & children
Mobility
Source: Federal Motor Transport Authority via Regionalstatistik
Municipal & tourism
Tick areas — their values appear as coloured markers on the bars.
Political mood (federal election 23.02.2025)
Source: Regionalstatistik · federal election (tab. 14111-01-04-4)
2,000 years in brief
- 38 v. Chr.The Romans found the Oppidum Ubiorum on the Rhine.
- 795Cologne becomes the seat of an archbishopric.
- 1248Foundation stone of the Gothic cathedral is laid.
© Thomas Wolf ( Der Wolf im Wald ) · CC BY-SA 3.0 - 1880The cathedral is completed after 632 years.
- 1945Severe destruction in the Second World War.
- 2005World Youth Day with over a million guests.
Did you know?
Cologne Cathedral was the tallest building in the world from 1880 to 1884.
„Eau de Cologne" made the city's name a global synonym for fragrance. The famous „4711" is named after its house number.
Almost half of the city – around 45 % – is green space.
Cologne has more than 7,900 listed monuments.
With over 90,000 students, Cologne is one of Germany's largest university cities.
Kölsch is both a beer and a language – both only „original" in Cologne.
Now explore the city
Sources & links
- offenedaten-koeln.de (retrieved 2026-06-30)
- offenedaten-koeln.de (retrieved 2026-06-30)
- Wikipedia (retrieved 2026-06-30)
- geoportal.stadt-koeln.de
- openstreetmap.org
How this page is made
This page draws on open sources — Wikipedia, Wikidata, official websites and the city’s open data. Every statement is checked against the sources linked here, and pages are refreshed regularly.
Spotted a mistake anyway? Tell us below — we read every submission.
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