Cologne - Helios

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 "Helios AG für elektrisches Licht und Telegraphenanlagenbau" was a company founded in 1882, had its headquarters in the city of Ehrenfeld, which was incorporated into Cologne in 1888. The company, named after the Greek God, was very innovative in electrical engineering but entered financial difficulties after the turn of the century. Siemens and AEG took over Helios. Later the company was aquired by aviation pioneer Arthur Delfosse, renamed "Kölner Industrie-Werke", and cars were produced here. The company finally closed down in 1930.

The lighthouse towering over the factory buildings was a kind of trademark for die Helios AG. The logo can still be seen on the walls here. Actually Helios AG has indeed constructed lighthouses on the North Frisian Islands and the mouth of the Weser river.