Coming soon:
Comfort and Modernity
Cologne 1918–1926

A hundred years ago, after Germany’s defeat in the First World War, the Rhineland was occupied by French, Belgian and British troops.
In 1925, so-called “Thousandth Anniversary Celebrations” marked what was claimed to be the region’s thousand-year bond with the German Reich. The largest of these events – initiated by Mayor Konrad Adenauer – drew 1.4 million visitors to the Cologne Trade Fair.

What shaped life in Cologne during these tumultuous years?

The exhibition takes a look behind the scenes: from the end of the war and the British occupation to city life, leisure and the arts. Cologne is a city on the move yet still rooted in tradition, oscillating between a cosy local identity and big-city modernity. Much like today.

After the British withdrawal in early 1926, Butzweilerhof Airport develops into the “Air Hub of the West”. When the Cologne–Paris air route opens in May 1926, Adenauer lets himself be photographed in the cockpit – a striking image of a city embracing the future. Despite its challenges, the Weimar Republic promises progress. The global economic crisis is still years away, the Nazis just a tiny fringe group. Much that once seemed impossible now looks within reach – also and especially in Cologne. This young democracy’s future collapse is by no means a foregone conclusion.