Cologne

Cologne is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and over 3.1 million people in the urban region. Centered on the left bank of the Rhine, Cologne is about 35 km southeast of NRW's state capital Düsseldorf and 25 km northwest of Bonn, the former capital of West Germany.

The city's medieval Catholic Cologne Cathedral is the third-tallest church and tallest cathedral in the world. It was constructed to house the Shrine of the Three Kings and is a globally recognized landmark and one of the most visited sights and pilgrimage destinations in Europe. The cityscape is further shaped by the Twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne, and Cologne is famous for Eau de Cologne, that has been produced in the city since 1709, and "cologne" has since come to be a generic term.