Cologne

Cologne's cathedral took 632 years to finish—construction began in 1248 and ended in 1880—and that timeline captures something essential about the city itself: Cologne builds slowly, endures catastrophically, and rebuilds stubbornly. Allied bombing destroyed 90% of the city center during World War II, killing 20,000 residents and leaving the cathedral standing amid rubble as the only recognizable landmark. The city rebuilt in a modernist style that Cologne residents love to hate.

Germany's fourth-largest city sits on the Rhine at the intersection of Europe's busiest inland waterway and the Autobahn network connecting the Ruhr industrial region to the Benelux countries and France. This logistics position made Cologne a Roman colony (Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, founded 50 AD), a medieval trading powerhouse, and today a center for media, insurance, and logistics. The city hosts the headquarters of Lufthansa, REWE Group (one of Europe's largest retailers), and RTL Group (Europe's largest broadcaster).

Cologne's economy is deliberately diversified in a way that distinguishes it from single-industry German cities. Media employs over 20,000 people. The insurance sector—anchored by Generali Deutschland and AXA Germany—generates billions. The trade fair industry (Koelnmesse) hosts dozens of international exhibitions annually. The chemical industry (centered on the Leverkusen Bayer complex just north of the city) adds another layer. No single sector dominates.

The city's cultural economy punches above its weight. Cologne Carnival is Germany's largest street festival, drawing over a million participants. The city's art market, anchored by Art Cologne (the world's oldest art fair, founded 1967), and its brewery culture (Kölsch beer can only legally be brewed within sight of the cathedral) create a lifestyle economy that attracts the young workers that German industry needs but struggles to recruit.