IN the days of Roman dominion, a city called Civitas Ubiorum was built by the Rhine upon the site where now stands the fortified mediÆval town of Cologne. Remains of the Roman occupation are still to be traced in the city in the bases of walls, but the amphitheatre was demolished long ago. Agrippina was born here, and Trajan ruled in the fortress.

In the Middle Ages Cologne was a prosperous city, with a wide trading repute, and celebrated for its arts and learning. William Caxton came here to learn printing, an industry which he introduced into England. Militarism and clerical domination appear to have been the chief causes of the long spell of misfortune that fell later upon Cologne. Persecution was one of the principal occupations of a number of the people at this period; and much zeal was expended in expelling heretics, Jews and Protestants from the city.

Cologne also suffered decline through the closing of the Rhine as a navigable waterway by the Dutch, and it was not until 1837 that the river was re-opened to trading vessels plying to foreign ports. To-day the city is an important commercial and industrial centre.

Perhaps the best general view of Cologne is from the opposite bank of the Rhine. The city is a forest of spires and towers; there were at one time over two thousand clerics within the walls, and religious buildings were more numerous then than to-day.

The wide river is spanned by two bridges; the more important is a wonderful structure, over thirteen hundred feet in length, and made of iron.

The Cathedral was begun in the thirteenth century, but it remained for a considerable time in an unfinished state, and portions fell into decay. Frederick William III. restored the building, and added to it; and since this time the work has been continued in several parts of the edifice. Externally the Cathedral is a stately building with its flying buttresses, host of pinnacles, and splendid south doorway. The architecture is French—rather German—Gothic.

COLOGNE. ST. MARTIN’S CHURCH, 1826.
COLOGNE.
ST. MARTIN’S CHURCH, 1826.

In the choir are very brilliant stained windows, some mural pictures, and numerous statues of Scriptural characters. The painted windows here, and in the aisles, are extremely gorgeous examples of this art. Among the objects of interest in the chapels are memorials of the archbishops of the city, and an early painting, known as the Dombild, depicting the saints of Cologne.

The Church of St Ursula and of the Eleven Thousand Virgins is remarkable for its treasury of the bones of the adventurous virgins of the famous legend. These relics are embedded in the walls of the choir. There are a few pictures, but none of note, in this church.

St Maria Himmelfahrt, the church of the Jesuits, is highly flamboyant in its embellishments. Amongst its treasures are the rosary of St Ignatius and the crozier of St Francis Xavier. In St Gereon’s Church is a collection of the bones of the martyrs killed during the persecution by the Romans. Architecturally, this church deserves careful attention for it has ancient portions, and presents several styles. The baptistery and sacristy are very ornate in design.

One of the works of Rubens is in St Peter’s Church. This is the well-known altar picture of “The Crucifixion of St Peter.” Sir Joshua Reynolds and Wilkie have both recorded their impressions of this great work. Rubens esteemed this as the best picture that he ever painted; but Reynolds thought the drawing feeble, and surmised that it was finished by one of the pupils of Rubens, after the master’s death.

The Church of Santa Maria is on the site of the Roman capital, and on the same ground stood a palace at a later date. It is interesting for its decorated choir, and the old doorways. There are several other churches in Cologne that should be visited.

In the museum there are many pictures, including one by Durer, “St Francis,” by Rubens, “A Madonna,” by Titian, and a work by Vandyk.

The paintings of the Cologne school are numerous, and demand attention, as they represent the art of the period when painting began to flourish in Germany. Some of the pictures were painted as early as the thirteenth century. There are many modern paintings in the museum. A number of Roman antiquities, statuary, and pottery, are also preserved here.

Among the secular buildings of note are the Rathaus, with varied architectural styles, and the Kaufhaus, where the Imperial councils were held in former days.

The noble historic stream upon which the city stands, “Father Rhine,” flows through its finest scenery above Cologne, among the Siebengebirge heights.

So wrote Byron in his verses upon the majestic river, whose “castle crags,” and wooded glens have been described again and again by poets of many nations.

The Rhine has a life and a population of its own. On its banks are the homesteads of vine-growers and farmers, while fishermen ply their craft in its prolific waters. Upon the river itself float the voyagers in sea vessels, and the enormous timber-rafts, which are one of the curious sights of the Rhine. A steamboat trip on the river will delight the tourist, but he should leave the boat at Bonn, for below that old town the stream flows through a tame, featureless country.

I must not forget the celebrated perfume for which Cologne is famous. The spirit known as Eau de Cologne was the invention of Farina in the seventeenth century. It is still manufactured in the city, and provides an industry for a large number of people. George Meredith’s novel, “Farina,” comes to mind as we wander in Cologne, and note the name of the discoverer of the world-famous scent.

Every visitor to the city should read “Farina,” for its vivid description of the life there, “in those lusty ages when the Kaisers lifted high the golden goblet of Aachen, and drank, elbow upward, the green-eyed wine of old romance.”

Here is Meredith’s picture of Cologne, on the eve of battle: “The market-places were crowded with buyers and sellers, mixed with a loitering swarm of soldiery, for whose thirsty natures wine-stalls had been tumbled up. Barons and knights of the empire, bravely mounted and thickly followed, poured hourly into Cologne from South Germany and North. Here staring Suabians, and red-featured warriors of the East Kingdom, swaggered up and down, patting what horses came across them, for lack of occupation for their hands. Yonder huge Pomeranians, with bosks of beard stiffened out square from the chin, hurtled mountainous among the peaceable inhabitants.”