COLOGNE.- Kölnisches Stadtmuseum presents today Post-colonial Cologne, on view through February 21, 2009. The general public was for a long time relatively unaware of German colonial history. The prevailing opinion was that it was brief and of little importance. Up to now Cologne's colonial and neo-colonial history has likewise been unresearched. This is all the more surprising as Cologne – itself a “colonia” of the Roman empire – may be regarded as the colonial metropolis in the west of Germany, comparable to Hamburg or Berlin in its colonial interests and activities.

Today Cologne is an international city in which people of many nations live together. However, behaviour and attitudes towards “foreigners” are still marked by images and prejudices which date from colonial times. “Köln Postkolonial” is devoted to researching this history and its continued influence to the present day.