Vom dreissigjahrigen Krieg ins preussische Jahrhundert: Koeln in der Neuzeit

In modern times, Cologne is experiencing the severe loss of political independence, first creeping, then abrupt. In the 16th century, the power of the territorial princes grew and again the desire of the archbishops to dominate the metropolis of their archdiocese. Religious disputes are now becoming part of the political game. Cologne remains Catholic as a free imperial city. Two attempts by archbishops to transform their archdiocese into a Protestant principality fail after long and sometimes bloody battles. The ever-flimsing inner-city disputes over the constitution and the abuse of power by the rulers culminate in the revolution of Nikolaus Gulich. He fails on the imperial appeal. In 1794, the troops of the French Revolution invaded Cologne. For two decades, the free imperial city becomes a French provincial city. After four centuries, the constitution of the Composite Letter falls victim to this as well as discrimination against Protestants and Jews. Under Prussian rule, change continues at all levels: in the cityscape, transport, trade and industry, in administration and culture, a new, modern Cologne is being created, and the population is growing rapidly. An upswing and developments that are eventually stopped and destroyed by the First World War.