Roman central power broke down in the 5th century in Cologne and the Rhineland. The political power that had held control over the region for five centuries was gone. Time to look back on Cologne's first 500 years of existence. How does the Roman heritage up until today influence modern-day city of Cologne?

Dive into the second half of the 5th century. This period marks the end of the Roman era of Cologne. The Roman Empire is declining in the west of Europe. Our beloved city of Cologne, however, did not. It continues to exist and will enter a new era.

In this episode, we return to the realm of legends. This time we meet Ursula, a Breton princess. With her eleven or eleven thousand (!) virgin girlfriends, she is on her way back from a pilgrimage to Rome. This pilgrimage was supposed to be her bachelorette party for the strictly devout Christian princess from northwestern Gaul. On the way back home, she also passes Cologne by ship. But the Huns are besieging the city at this time. And no one less than Attila the Hun has an eye on the beautiful Ursula. What happens then is well known to every child growing up in Cologne. So it's time you learned it, too.

Dive with me into the time of the "Migration Period." The time from 375 to about 570, because not only in the Far East of the Roman Empire people are experiencing the effects of this time. Our Cologne on the Rhine will also soon realize that significant upheavals are about to take place. But until now, Cologne is still a safe place. Time to look at two men that left their footprint on late antique Cologne: the military commander Arbogast and the Christian bishop Severin of Cologne.

The short Frankish rule over the Roman colony of Cologne ended after only one year in 356. We want to look as far as possible from the sources to see how late antique Cologne developed at the end of the 4th century. Many are tempted to see the end of Roman rule in late antiquity, both in general and regionally, as a stringent downward spiral that was ultimately to culminate in the fall of Rome in 475.
Surprisingly, the area around Cologne was supposed to remain comparatively quiet in the late 4th century.

Cologne, at the beginning of the year 356. The Franks plundered and conquered Cologne. Thus, the northern border of the Roman Empire is open wide for the Germanic enemies. How did it come about that the city could be conquered at all, although it had such mighty stone walls? And how did the Roman central power react to the fall of its colony on the Rhine? You can find out in this episode. The Frankish rule was not to last long in Cologne, but it clearly showed the weakness of the Roman Empire.

In the year 355 Cologne is again on the world stage of history. Invasions of the Germanic tribes shake the region, with Cologne as a Roman island in the midst of chaos. Rome's power once again seems to wobble on the Rhine. If that were not enough, another usurper in Cologne rises to become a counter-emperor. The former Roman emperor Constantius II then sends an undercover murder squad to the Rhine. Among them is the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, who experiences and reports everything first hand. All this only happens in the year 355 and should lead to the greatest misfortune in the history of Cologne. But listen to it yourself.

Cologne at the beginning of the 4th century. After the crisis of the third century, the Rhineland has never been at rest again. But in the year 306, one man gradually secured power in the Rhine and led the Roman Empire into its last thirty-year bloom. And where is the beginning? On the Rhine, of course. Admittedly, the emperor, whom one will later call "the Great", resides primarily in Trier. But Constantine, like hardly any other emperor, left visible traces in Cologne through his decrees. The incorporation of the present-day Old Town on the Rhine and the founding of Deutz, an important district of Cologne's city center on the other bank of the Rhine, can be traced back to his imitation. Through Constantine's turning to Christianity, Cologne became the center of early Christianity in the Germanic-Gallic border region.

In this episode, we again leave the strict chronological narrative. We take a look at religion in ancient Cologne in Roman times. But here we have to speak in the plural. For not only is the Roman state religion predominant here, but a local cult of the Ubians is also extremely popular in the Colonia, dethroning even gods like Jupiter and Juno in terms of popularity. And then there are the many small, often exclusive cults from the Orient, which are introduced to the Rhine by soldiers who have traveled far and wide. We look at the oldest Jewish community in Europe north of the Alps, which is said to have existed around the year 300 at the latest. And we take a look at the early followers of a religion that is so completely different, a religion that knows only one God, but at the same time worships an executed Jewish carpenter as the savior of the world: the early Christians.

At the height of the Crisis of the Third Century, the Gallic Empire (260-274) emerges. An empire separated from the actual Roman Empire but still with all Roman characteristics. Except with having the city of Rome in it. With territories of all of Gaul, Spain, half of Germany, and the Roman province of Britain, it takes one-third of the Roman Empire away. And guess what. Our Cologne will be the capital of this Gallic Empire. It is turbulent but sadly with only a few written sources. But we will do our best to decipher this time in the best possible way. Why it lived on for 14 years and why it collapsed anyway, we will learn in this episode.