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
Cologne School of Painting Cologne School of Painting The term Cologne School of Painting was first applied in the 19th century to describe old German paintings generally. It subsequently came to refer more specifically to painters who had their workshops in medieval Cologne and the lower-Rhine region from about 1300 to 1550 (; ). Initially smaller altarpieces such as the Klaren Altar in the Cologne Cathedral from about 1360–70 were created, based on book paintings from around the year 1300 . The mid-15th century is the high-point of this school, when Stefan Lochner (active 1442–1451) created the "Altar of the City Patrons", which is