Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than 12 million inhabitants. It is one of the oldest cities in Germany, having been founded by the Romans in A.D. 50.
Cologne lies at the River Rhine and the city's world famous Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is seat to a Roman Catholic Archdiocese, just as important to the city as its specially brewed Kölsch beer. Cologne University is one of Europe's oldest universities and internationally renowned for its departments of economics and computer science.
Cologne is the economic and cultural capital of the Rhineland and has a vibrant and thriving art scene. Cologne counts over 30 museums and hundreds of galleries. Exhibitions range from local Ancient Roman archaeological findings to contemporary graphics and sculpture. The city's Trade Fair Grounds are host to a number of trade shows such as the Art Cologne Fair, the International Furniture Fair (IMM) and the Photokina. Cologne is also well known for its celebration of Cologne Carnival.
In 2005 Cologne hosted the 20th Roman Catholic World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI and one of the largest ever meetings of over a million participants.

Landmarks

The centre of Cologne was completely destroyed during World War II. The reconstruction of the city followed the style of the 1950s, while respecting the old layout and naming of the streets. Thus, the city today is characterised by simple and modest post-war buildings, with few interspersed pre-war buildings which were reconstructed due to their historical importance. Some buildings of the "Wiederaufbauzeit" (era of reconstruction), for example the opera house by Wilhelm Riphahn, are nowadays regarded as classics in modern architecture. Nevertheless, the uncompromising style of the opera house and other modern buildings has remained controversial.

• Cologne Cathedral (German: Kölner Dom) is the city's famous landmark and unofficial symbol. It is a Gothic church, started in 1248, and completed in 1880. In 1996, it was designated a World Heritage site; it claims to house the relics of the Three Magi. It is interesting to note, that the residents of Cologne call the cathedral "the eternal construction site". They predict that by the time the renovation of the building has finished the end of the world will be upon us!
• Twelve Romanesque Churches: These buildings are outstanding examples of medieval sacral architecture. The roots of some of the churches date back as far as Roman times, like St. Gereon, which originally was a chapel on a Roman graveyard. With the exception of St. Maria Lyskirchen all of these churches were very badly damaged during World War II. Reconstruction was only finished in the 1990s.
• Cologne University, with approx. 44,000 students as of 2005, is one of the largest universities in Germany.
• Fragrance-Museum Farina House, the birthplace of Eau de Cologne.
• Römisch-Germanisches Museum
• Wallraf-Richartz Museum
• Museum Ludwig
• EL-DE Haus the former local headquarters of the Gestapo houses a museum documenting the Nazi rule in Cologne with a special focus on the prosecution of political dissenters and minorities.
• Kölner Philharmonie
• Colonius - a telecommunication tower with an observation deck.
• Colonia-Hochhaus - Germany's tallest residential building.
• Rheinseilbahn - an aerial tramway crossing the Rhine.
• Messe Köln (English: Cologne Fair). Exhibition area of 100000m².
• Messeturm Köln (English: Exhibition Tower Cologne).
• Historic Ringe boulevards (such as Hohenzollernring, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring, Hansaring) with their medieval city gates (such as Hahnentorburg on Rudolfplatz) are also known for their night life.
• German Sports & Olympic Museum, with expositions about sports from antiquity until the present.
• Schokoladenmuseum (Chocolatemuseum) officially called Imhoff-Stollwerck-Museum.