In the city of Cologne, Germany.

 "The river Rhine, it is well known, doth wash your city of Cologne."

-- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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(in Germany's most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia) From coal and steel to high-tech, fashion, and theater, "NRW" (the largest industrial area in Germany) is becoming a megalopolis for culture and research. The state boasts the densest research network in Europe and (along with New York and Paris) has been named one of the most important cultural regions in the world by UNESCO.

+ Cologne (Köln), this country's fourth-largest city,was founded by Romans in 38 BCE when it had the name Colonia Claudia Ara Aggripinensium, and grew to be a major trading center (a tradition solidified in the Middle Ages) that is still upheld. One of the key inland ports of Europe, it is the historic, cultural, and economic capital of the Rhineland. Located some 21 miles (~34 km) northwest of Bonn and 25 miles southeast of Düsseldorf, Cologne lies just below where the Rhine River enters the North German Plain. The hills of the Bergisches Land lie to the east; on the west is another group of hills forming a chain called the Ville. The semicircular shape of the Inner City was originally determined by a defensive wall, four miles (~6 km) long, which was completed in about 1200. The wall enclosed several formerly separate parishes and afforded protection for many people. The flat side of the semicircle was formed by the Rhine. In the 1880s the medieval fortifications were demolished and replaced by a chain of ring roads, called the Ringstrassen. Though Cologne has spread far beyond the confines of the Ringstrassen, its focal point is still within the Inner City area, where the main shopping and business streets (and the city’s historic buildings) are found. Several bridges span the Rhine at Cologne; five of which were rebuilt after World War II.

+ Much of Cologne’s area consists of parkland, woods, lakes, sports facilities, and open areas. Two major park systems follow roughly the concentric patterns of old fortifications around the Inner City. The first is just outside the Ringstrassen and includes zoological and botanical gardens, the Stadtgarten, and the Volksgarten. The second, the Outer Greenbelt, is a wooded area that stretches around the western and southern edge of the city and contains recreation grounds and the Müngersdorfer Stadium. On the right bank of the river is the Rhine Park, a large green area adjacent to the KölnMesse, a convention center. Also located on the right bank is a covered multiuse arena offering space for sporting events and musical concerts. Cologne's importance never really diminished, and today, the city remains one of Germany's most important cultural centers. It is home to many art and entertainment facilities, along with more than 100 galleries and at least three dozen museums.

+ Pictured here, is the Hohenzollern rail and pedestrian bridge over the Rhine River in Cologne, with the city's cathedral in the background: