Published December 20, 2011
The word for darkness in German is 'dunkel'. Darkness is 'dunkelheit' and today dawned very 'dunkel' in the Rhine city of Cologne. The farther north in Europe the shorter the days, as the northern hemisphere approaches the winter solstice. After the dunkel of night comes the gray dawn and this morning I will visit the Gothic cathedral of Koln. Somehow this massive structure avoided the destruction visited on Germany during the allied bombing campaigns of WWII, although that wasn't for lack of trying, Old photos reveal that the 8th Army Air Force had leveled the city surrounding the famed cathedral and the photos revealed it had been relentlessly targeted, even though the Air force swore they were avoiding the cathedral. Hardly.
The city was hit 262 times by saturation air raids and the population was reduced to 95% by the war's end.
Few if any of the older buildings survived the catastrophe intact, but the cobblestones remained untouched by the explosions and they are very slippery under foot in the night damp.
Koln rose like an eagle to become Germany's fourth largest city.
Not bad, but still very dunkel.
Koln is a long way from summer this time of year, but this evening I'll be flying from Dusseldorf to Thailand to see my kids, get some sun, and drink some beer.
Happy Holidays.
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