The bustling metropolis on the Rhine

Whether visiting the Roman-Germanic Museum, the tour of the Roman Praetorium or on a stroll along the medieval city gates - the 2000-year history of Cologne is evident everywhere. But also the modern Cologne is always in vibration - more intense than ever. Looking at the event calender of recent years, a clear trend is obvious: greater, more international, more important. In recent years, many major events have been visiting the city – so the 2010 IIHF World Championship will join an illustrious list of the most important international (sports) events in Cologne.

But also recurring events such as the Cologne Carnival, the Cologne lights, the Cologne Pride or the Christmas markets are major crowd-pullers. Annually unique sights, big and small events and the "Kölsche feeling" draw more than 110 million day guests. In 2007, 2.5 million arrivals and 4.5 million overnight stays in Cologne were registered.

With over one million inhabitants, centrally located in Western Europe, the Rhine metropolis developes to one of the most important economic centres in Europe. Examples: Cologne's main railway station as a central railway junction of Europe, the Cologne Bonn Airport as an important site for low-cost carrier, easy access to the national highway network and the second-largest German inland port ensure optimum accessibility.