Editing History of Cologne (section)

=== Printed in Cologne ===
[[File:Köln - Koelhoffsche Chronik Titelblatt mit Stadtwappen, Petrus und Kölner Heiligen, 1499, RBA.jpg|thumb|City arms and saints: title page of Koelhoff's Chronicle 1499]]
The emerging technology of letterpress printing quickly was adopted in Cologne; as early as 1464, [[Ulrich Zell]] printed the first book. Until the end of the 15th century, there was evidence of 20 printing works in Cologne, producing more than 1200 different editions. This made Cologne &ndash; after Venice, Paris and Rome &ndash; a leading book printing center in Europe.<ref>Wolfgang Schmitz: Eine Verlagsstadt von europäischem Rang: Köln im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert; in: [[Dagmar Täube]], Miriam Fleck (eds.): Glanz und Größe des Mittelalters: Kölner Meisterwerke aus den großen Sammlungen der Welt, Cologne 2012, pp. 220-231, here p. 222</ref> For the families involved in the printing and publishing business, such as the Quentel, Birckmann and Gymnich, it was a prospering venture. Many of them expanded to other metropolises in Europe and formed cross-city cooperatives. Peter Quentel, the busiest in the new industry, was re-elected as a Cologne councilman for many years.<ref>Wolfgang Schmitz: Die Überlieferung deutscher Texte im Kölner Buchdruck des 15. und 16. Jahrhunderts. Habil.-Schrift Cologne 1990, p. 439</ref> In 1524, Quentel published an edition in Low German language of [[Luther's Bible|Luther’s]] New Testament translation; from the late 1520s, however, the printing and distribution of Lutheran books was banned by the Cologne Council. Again, it was Peter Quentel who published the first complete German translation of the Bible by [[Johann Dietenberger]] (the so-called Dietenberger Bible), which was printed in Mainz in 1534 and eventually gained recognition as one of the Catholic correction Bibles.<ref>Gérald Chaix: Köln im Zeitalter von Reformation und Katholischer Reform 1512/13-1688, Cologne 2021, pp. 170, 172, 174</ref>

By developing into a leading publishing place for Latin-language works Cologne gained an exceptional position compared to all other book printing centers of the empire. The Cologne publishers aimed at nationwide distribution and unleashed a program including primarily religious, scientific, and humanistic works. For example, along with Basel, Cologne was the leading printing center to publish the writings of the humanist [[Erasmus of Rotterdam]]. Moreover, Cologne remained the only one of the major imperial cities to remain Catholic, and thus offered a comprehensive book program of counter-Reformation works that continued to argue in Latin.<ref>Gérald Chaix: Köln im Zeitalter von Reformation und Katholischer Reform 1512/13-1688, Cologne 2021, pp. 168, 175</ref> The book that, from today's perspective, most prominently represents the Cologne printing industry, however, is the Koelhoff Chronicle with the title "Die Cronica van der hilliger Stat van Coellen" (Chronicle of the Holy City of Cologne): the work written in the Ripuarian dialect of Cologne region was published in 1499 by Johann Koelhoff the Younger. Today, it is considered the high point of late medieval Cologne city history.<ref>{{NDB|12|319|319|Koelhoff, Johann d. J.|[[Hans Lülfing]]|121980782}}</ref>