Köln

Cologne is Germany's oldest major city and the largest in the state of Rhine-Westphalia. For almost 2,000 years it has been one of the most important European trade junctions, once forming a key intersection of the major roads of the Roman Empire as well as medieval trade routes. With a population of around 1 million people, Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany.

The name "Cologne" comes from the Roman empress Agrippina. The wife of Emperor Claudius was born on the banks of the Rhine and elevated her "Colonia" (the Ubier settlement Oppidum Ubiorum) to the status of a city in 50 A.D., namely Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. Around 90 A.D, Roman Cologne became the capital of Lower Germania, and between 420 and 460 A.D. the Franks took the city from the Romans.

Some interesting facts about Cologne:

• The original Roman road network is still reflected in the layout of the city's streets


• It took 632 years to build the Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom), which was finished in 1880


• By the end of the Second World War, more than 90% of the city centre had been destroyed by Allied bombers and the number of inhabitants decreased from 800,000 to around 40,000


• "Cologne" (the perfume) comes from "Kölnisch Wasser" or "Eau de Cologne", which was produced by the traditional Cologne (the city) company Muelhens for over 300 years


• 20 million people live within an hour's drive of the city

Cologne's official website:
http://www.koeln.de/

A nice visual history of the historic city:
http://www.koeln.de/portrait/e/history6.html

Look a little closer at that bottle, buddy. Are you sure you're wearing cologne?

Are you wearing perfume or eau de parfum? Perfume is the strongest-smelling, longest lasting, and most expensive fragrance option. If you are wearing perfume, a very little dab on the throat or wrist will do ya.

Are you wearing eau de toilette? Eau de toilette is less expensive and slightly weaker than perfume. Eau de toilette can be sprayed on the wrists and throat without being offensively strong.

Are you wearing cologne or eau de cologne? These weak scents will not last long on your skin, and will need to be reapplied every four hours. If cologne is worn at the ankle as well as the wrist or throat, the scent will waft up and last a bit longer.

Other considerations to take when wearing fragrance:
Scent lasts longer on people who have dry skin. Oily skins tend to sweat scent off rather quickly.
No scent can be expected to last longer than 6-8 hours.
Scent tends to mix with one's own body chemistry, and on your skin it will not smell as it does in the bottle. Some may smell not-so-nice on your skin.
Good places for applying scent besides the wrists, throat, and ankles are behind the ears and on the backs of the knees. Some people also like to spray scent in their hair.

Modified and moved from its original location at Dem Bones' request.

Co*logne" (?), n. [Originally made in Cologne, the French name of Koln, a city in Germany.]

A perfumed liquid, composed of alcohol and certain aromatic oils, used in the toilet; -- called also cologne water and eau de cologne.

© Webster 1913.