The first piece of history you come across on the tour is a cardboard box with photographs and writing on it. It was created in the late 70's / early 80's by a citizen of Cologne upset over what he perceived as a lack of justice for the Nazis living in Cologne. He had heard that the EL DE house was once the Gestapo headquarters and that in the basement there still remained the jail cells of former prisoners. On the walls remained small passages written by the various prisoners. The man convinced someone to let him into the basement, where he snapped some photos, pasted them on his cardboard box, and then wore it around town preaching to the patrons. He soon gained more attention, and the rest I guess is history.
Though somewhat small, the museum is highly informative and took a couple hours to walk through. About half of the history is prior knowledge any novice historian is aware of. The other half though focused on the city of Cologne, and how Nazi policies affected the city. I loved the maps and pictures of the old town during the time. Although many streets were recognizable, you could tell that they really changed a few things during the rebuilding process.
One of my favorite parts of the tour was the room dedicated to highlighting the Nazi leaders in Cologne during the period. I was surprised to find out that the top official was just 29 when he first took the post in the early 30's. He survived the war, and only got four years of jail time after. He became a businessman in Cologne, and died of old age in his home which is not too far from my flat. That seemed to be the common theme for all the high ranking officials here in Cologne. After the war, they were hardly prosecuted, and had the chance to live a normal life after a small punishment. This after they contributed to the persecution of so many people, and their actions brought on the destruction of their city.
The last leg of the tour shows pictures of Cologne at the end of the war. I mentioned before that 90% of the city center was destroyed by allied bombing. A picture from 1949 still shows the city in ruins. Before I left, I took a walk through the basement. There were multiple jail cells (pictured) in the in the cold dark tavern, and on the walls the writing of the prisoners that were housed inside. One of the writings was posted towards the end of the war, and documented the hangings that were taking place. Underneath, the prisoner counted his own final days by writing the date. He got about six days in before it stopped.Impressed with what the EL DE house offered me, I walked over to the famous Cologne cathedral (Dom) to bravely scale the steps and get a true bird’s eye view of the city. I had to mentally prepare myself as I was told the climb was a bit strenuous. There is no lift, only a narrow spiral staircase with two-way traffic.
During the climb my friend and I were behind a heavier set English speaking fellow. He had to stop about half way up to catch his breath and we gladly scooted past him. We crossed paths with him later at the top. He could see that we were trying to take a picture of ourselves, and he kindly offered to snap the photo for us. As he held my camera, his hand was shaking so much I thought he was going to keel over right there. I thought to myself, JC man are you going to make it?
The view from the top was great (pictured), but I didn't venture too close to the edge. I have a slight phobia of heights so I try not to push my limits. As we descended down the spiral staircase, we caught a glimpse of the huge bells before finally reaching ground. One more tour through the inside of the church, and I said a final goodbye to Cologne's tourist icon.
To cap off my final tour, I visited the town of Bruhl which is just one train stop away from Cologne (between Cologne and Bonn). I was told that there is a chateau there so I figured I would give it a look. I was pleasantly surprised when I arrived. The chateau (pictured) instantly reminded me of a miniature Versailles, complete with front gate and gardens. As I walked around the side of the chateau, there looked to be a wedding reception going on. It was complete with men in suits and women in gigantic hats. I thought it would be the perfect place to get married.I didn't go inside the chateau as it didn't look like it housed any tours. I did walk around the grounds though, and enjoyed the peace and quite, along with the finely trimmed trees, rows of flowers, and small streams with ducks, fish, and turtles. I took a short walk through the small city center of Bruhl, and then hopped a train back to Cologne happy with my find.
Afterwards, I sat at an outdoor cafe in Cologne and had some lunch and a beer. I relaxed and reflected on the places I had visited and came to grips with the fact that my travels were over for right now. I've been fortunate to see so many people, places, and things over the past four months. It's a bit sad, but gratifying at the same time.
I return to the US soon, but I have one last post left in me, so please stayed tuned!
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