About this experience
My goal is to show you the two-thousand-year-old city on the Rhine like a layered pie of eras. I deliberately avoid well-known places and want to reveal unexpected corners to you: we will wander through the streets and squares in search of stone baroque reliefs and beautiful ladies captured in stone for centuries. By paying attention to such details, listening to legends and quite true facts, you will get to know the city more deeply.
What to Expect
Custom Walk
In Cologne, different eras harmoniously coexist—Roman traces, Napoleonic remnants, and a German imprint can be found on the same streets. They are hidden in the baroque stone heads, statues, fountains. To decipher them, I suggest that you become "head" hunters for a while and embark on their search. I will tell you myths, legends, as well as historical facts related to our characters, and thus show you the city.
Legends of the Terracotta Heads of Archbishop Anno
How did these reliefs appear, what do they mean? There are many legends about this. For example, how the poor widow Adelheid made an honest deal with a merchant. The merchant turned out to be dishonest and deceived her. And the corrupt judges she turned to justified the fraudster. Then Adelheid turned to Archbishop Anno. I will tell you about what he did to teach people a lesson on the tour. We will also talk about the scientific perspective on the reliefs.
Look for the Woman
And of course, no adventure is complete without beautiful ladies!
Women will have a special place on the tour. You will hear about Agrippina—a powerful and despotic wife of Roman Emperor Claudius, without whom the city would not be called Cologne today. I will tell you about Cologne's patron saint, Saint Ursula, and the unrequited love of Jan and Greta. You will also learn about other women in the city's history, their love and cunning.
You will see:
- The town hall and its tower with figures of characters from different eras
- The old market and the fountain monument. This is also the place where the keys to the city are handed over on the day the carnival begins.
- The heroes of local folklore Tünnes and Schäl and the puppet theater from which they emerged—the oldest puppet theater in Germany
- A composition with offended gnomes and a curious woman, the legend of whom has even been translated into Russian as a children's book "Magical Helpers"
- The "Women" fountain—a monument to the women of Cologne
- 9 stone baroque reliefs
- And much more
Organizational Details
- The tour is suitable for adults and children from 10 years old
- Be prepared for an intensive route (we will walk about 6-8 km)
