History of Cologne 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 destroyed in the bombing of Cologne in World War II, so it was of limited importance in post-war West Germany. It had returned to its pre-war
History of the Jews in Cologne Group). The agitation against Judaism and Cologne Jews found no contrast, so in the antisemitic pieces of the Hänneschen-Theater or in Cologne Carnival, in which no clear criticism against National Socialism was exhibited. Carnival carriages in the Rosenmontag parade showed antisemitic themes and a carnival song mocked the Jews: ""Metz dä Jüdde es jetz Schluß, Se wandere langsam uss. (...) Mir laachen uns für Freud noch halv kapott. Der Itzig und die Sahra trecke fott"" (translation: ""With the Jews it is finished, they emigrate slowly… We laugh with joy. The Itzig and the Sarah move away"", The so-called Aryanization proceeded