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 there were violent attacks by the SA and SS against Jewish lawyers in the Justice building on Reichensperger Platz. Judges and lawyers were arrested, partly mistreated, then loaded on garbage trucks and taken around the city. In October 1935 Jews were excluded from the benefits of the "Winterhelp of the German People", and a "Jewish Winterhelp" was organized as an autonomous organization. It collected money,food, clothing, furniture and fuel and in winter 1937/38 the organisation supported 2,300 indigent people, a fifth of Jewish community. Although already in 1925 Cologne was the capital of the NSDAP-Gau of Cologne-Aachen, many didn't realize