Districts of Cologne within city limits), while 174,87 km² (43.2 percent) lie right of the Rhine. In regard to population, Cologne is the largest city in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth largest city in Germany. Since the city's foundation in 38 BC, Cologne grew through numerous extensions and incorporation of surrounding municipalities. Since the construction of the Medieval wall in 1180, the area of the old imperial city of Cologne has not changed for more than 600 years and was only extended over the old city walls in 1794, just short before the arrival of French troops and Cologne's incorporation
History of the Jews in Cologne 6 synagogues and other community and meeting places in Cologne, which were all violated in the Kristallnacht on 9 November 1938 and were completely destroyed after the war, until the reconstruction of the synagogue in Roonstraße. Also in Cologne there were Nazi and antisemitic attitudes in the population and society. In fact Cologne politicians like Konrad Adenauer or writers like Heinrich Böll demonstrated a spirit of defiance and sovereignty that "no tyrant, no dictator can feel well in Cologne". A few Cologne people made an open opposition to Nazism or hid Jews (a known example of this is the Ehrenfeld