Cologne belonged to the Roman Catholic Church, the largest religious body, and 15.5% to the Evangelical Church. Cologne is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cologne. There are several mosques, including the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs run Cologne Central Mosque. Cologne also has one of the oldest and largest Jewish communities in Germany. The city's administration is headed by the mayor and the three deputy mayors. The long tradition of a free imperial city, which long dominated an exclusively Catholic population and the age-old conflict between the church and the bourgeoisie (and within it between the patricians and
History of the Jews in Cologne of Mühlheim on the Rhine had sought civic rights from the Magistracy of Cologne. Since he presented favorable evidence of his previous conduct and also proved that he would not become a burden to the city because of poverty, permission was granted to him on March 16, 1798 to settle in Cologne. The rest of his requests for civic rights were refused because French regulations had not yet come into force. He was followed by Samuel Benjamin Cohen of Bonn, son of the Chief Rabbi Simha Brunem. At the same time, the 17-year-old Salomon Oppenheim, Jr. moved his businesses from