Cologne - Weltstadthaus

Cologne is the fourth-largest city in Germany - and one of the oldest. A Germanic tribe, the Ubii, had a settlement here, this was named by the Romans "Oppidum Ubiorum". In 50 AD, the Romans founded "Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium", the city then became the provincial capital of "Germania Inferior".

The Weltstadthaus, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, was completed in 2005, following a lengthy legal battle concerning structural engineering. It faces (on the opposite side) the "Schildergasse", what is said to be Europe's most frequented shopping mile. The building is operated by Peek & Cloppenburg, who operated a chain of retail clothing stores in Germany.

The Weltstadthaus covers one of the main traffic arteries, the "Nord-Süd-Fahrt", a wide, 3,3km long road that cuts right through the old city of Cologne, partly underground.