Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich, and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than 10 million inhabitants.
It is one of the oldest cities in Germany, having been founded by the Romans in the year 38 BC. Cologne was granted the status of a Roman "city" in the year 50 AD.
它是德国最古老的城市.科隆由罗马人于公元前38年建成,在公元50年就被授予罗马"城邦"之名.
Cologne lies on the Rhine. The city's famous Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. The University of Cologne (Universität zu Köln) is one of Europe's oldest universities.
Cologne is a major cultural centre of the Rhineland and has a vibrant art scene.
Cologne counts over 30 museums and hundreds of galleries. Exhibitions range from local ancient Roman archaeological sites to contemporary graphics and sculpture. The city's Trade Fair Grounds are host to a number of trade shows such as the Art Cologne Fair, the International Furniture Fair (IMM) and the Photokina. Cologne is also well known for its celebration of Cologne Carnival and the LGBT festival Christopher Street Day (CSD).
科隆是莱因河畔一个主要的文化中心,并且在艺术方面有着重要的地位.科隆市有超过30个博物馆和数以百计的画廊.陈列品从古代的文物到当代的绘画与雕刻(应有尽有).(国际性)的展会也有许多种:比如科隆艺术展;国际家具展(IMM)等等.(当然),还有科隆最著名的狂欢节及LGBT festival Christopher Street Day (CSD).
Within Germany, Cologne is known as an important media centre. Several radio and television stations, including Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) and RTL, are based in the city. The city also hosts the Cologne Comedy Festival, which is considered to be the largest comedy festival in Mainland Europe.
It is expected that up to 800 of the world's best gamers will fly to Cologne in November, 2008 to participate in the world's most prestigious e-Sports competition.