Being the northernmost city in Italy – that’s what people in Germany like to claim as their motto. Regensburg does it, Munich does it and Cologne does it too. Of course, we Cologne natives know that one of the three above deserves this title in particular – and that is Bella Colonia!
Because Italy is not just about how the ice cream vendors smear the gelato into the cup, whether you drink the espresso standing up and how many imposing historic buildings and Italian restaurants a city has.
It’s all about one thing: the people and the attitude towards life. And sorry dear Bavarians, you may be a lot closer to Italy geographically, but the Italian spirit – we Cologners have perfected that.
The people of Cologne make it easy for you to feel comfortable here.
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Nowhere else is it so easy to start a conversation with people. It starts with the cashier and the Köbes and doesn’t end with the many acquaintances that you can make during a wild night of partying.
The people of Cologne make it easy to feel comfortable here – because they (usually) welcome strangers with open arms. And if there is a brief scolding about newcomers, then it’s usually not about the newcomers themselves, but about rising rents and gentrification.
But it’s not just the open nature that the people of Cologne share with the Italians – it’s also the ability to enjoy the dolce vita.
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But it’s not just the open nature that the people of Cologne share with the Italians – it’s also the ability to celebrate the dolce vita. That is showing right now. Because at the latest when the thermometer scratches the 25-degree mark, the people of Cologne also move life outside.
Terraces are bursting at the seams, orange Aperol Spritz glasses are sparkling everywhere, parks and green spaces are being filled with picnic blankets, little walls and squares are being converted into outdoor meeting places, sprightly pensioners are meeting up to play boules and long queues are forming in front of the ice cream parlors. And that we celebrate all of this with a good portion of local patriotism – yes, even that is somehow Italian.
One gets the impression that the people of Cologne tend not to take the rules seriously. There is a pleasant side to this: the un-German nonchalance that many people envy the city for.
The world –
In the past, politicians in Cologne were also repeatedly accused of Italian conditions – except that they don’t call it the “mafia” here, but rather the “Kölner Klüngel”. “You know each other, you help each other” – that’s how it works here and probably also beyond the Brenner.
Construction botch and Mediterranean punctuality? Can we! Hardly a construction project that moves into the country without delay and cost explosion. The cathedral is shaking, the city archive is collapsing, the opera is only getting more expensive but isn’t finished, and the Musical Dome has long since mutated from a temporary to a permanent solution.
So it’s fitting that the Welt once came to the following verdict on Cologne’s politics: “One gets the impression that the people of Cologne tend not to take the rules seriously. That has a pleasant side: the un-German casualness that many people envy the city for. And one unpleasant: You muddle through according to the motto ‘It would still have been nice’. Most of the time it’s fine, but sometimes it’s not.”
Yes, Cologne is actually the northernmost city in Italy – in both positive and negative ways.
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