Cologne, Minnesota Cologne, Minnesota Cologne is a city in Carver County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,519 at the 2010 census. The city is about 30 miles from Minneapolis. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water. U.S. Highway 212 and Minnesota State Highway 284 are two of the main routes in Cologne. Cologne was platted in 1880, and incorporated in 1881. The community was named for Cologne, Germany. In 1939, the town of Cologne was preserved on film in the amateur short subject "", which chronicles
Cologne War 1288. After that, the archbishop and Prince-elector used the smaller cities of Bonn, south of Cologne, and Brühl, south of Cologne, on the Rhine River, as his capital and residence; by 1580, both his residence and the capital were located in Bonn. Although the city of Cologne obtained its status as a free imperial city in 1478, the Archbishop of Cologne retained judicial rights in the city; he acted as a Vogt, or reeve, and reserved the right of blood justice, or "Blutgericht"; only he could impose the so-called blood punishments, which included capital punishments, but also physical punishments that