The city, not the fragrant liquid.  Established in the first century AD, Cologne began as a Roman provincial capital and became an important trade route in the middle ages.  During WWII, this was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Germany, resulting in loss and evacuation of around 95% of the city’s population.  Fortunately, the Cologne cathedral survived the devastation.  Construction of the cathedral began in the 13th century, but was not completed until the 1880s.  At a height of over 500 ft (to the tallest spire), this is one of the largest churches in the world.

Very near the cathedral is the Hohenzollern Bridge, once used for both rail and road traffic over the Rhine river, but is now only a railway bridge.  This is a spectacular structure on its own, without even considering the hundreds of thousands (millions??) of locks attached to the lower bridge panels!

Jean