History of Cologne City Archive, which was the largest in Germany. Its building collapsed during the construction of an extension to the underground railway system on 3 March 2009. History of Cologne The German city of Cologne was founded in the 1st century as the Roman Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. It was taken by the Franks in the 5th century and became an important city of Medieval Germany, the seat of an Archbishop and a Prince-Elector. As the Free Imperial City of Cologne it was one of the centers of the Hanseatic League in the early modern period. Most of the city was
Districts of Cologne Districts of Cologne Since the last administrative reform in 1975, the City of Cologne is made up of nine Stadtbezirke and 86 Stadtteile. "Stadtbezirk" literally translates as city district, which are further subdivided into "Stadtteile" (city parts). The Stadtteile of Cologne's old and new town ("Alt-" and "Neustadt") further consist of quarters, known as ""Veedel"" in both Kölsch and most often, the Rhinelandic regiolect, as well. City districts are differentiated of being "links-" or "rechtsrheinisch" – "left" or "right of the Rhine", with the old town being left of the Rhine, as are 230,25 km² (56.8 percent of 405,14 km²