Editing University of Cologne (section)

===1919–today===
[[File:Hauptgebäude der Universität zu Köln-5634.jpg|thumb|Main building, by architect Adolf Abel, 1934]]
In 1919, the [[Prussia (state)|Prussian]] government endorsed a decision by the [[Cologne City Council]] to re-establish the university. This was considered to be a replacement for the loss of the [[University of Strasbourg]] on the west bank of the [[Rhine]], which contemporaneously reverted to France with the rest of Alsace. On 29 May 1919, the [[List of mayors of Cologne|Cologne Mayor]] [[Konrad Adenauer]] signed the charter of the new university.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 May 2025 |title=Universität zu Köln |url=https://www.konrad-adenauer.de/quellen/fotos/seite/universitaet-zu-koeln-1/ |access-date=12 May 2025 |language=de}}</ref>

At that point, the new university was located in [[Neustadt-Süd]], but relocated to its current campus in [[Lindenthal, Cologne|Lindenthal]] on 2 November 1934. The old premises are now being used for the [[Cologne University of Applied Sciences]].

Initially, the university was composed of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences (successor to the Institutes of Commerce and of Communal and Social Administration) and the Faculty of Medicine (successor to the Academy of Medicine). In 1920, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Arts were added, from which the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences was separated in 1955 to form an independent Faculty.<ref name=":2" /> In 1980, the two Cologne departments of the Rhineland School of Education were attached to the university as the Faculties of Education and of Special Education.<ref name=":2" /> In 1988, the university became a founding member of the [[Community of European Management Schools and International Companies]] (CEMS), today's [[Global Alliance in Management Education]].

The university is regularly ranked at the top of national and international law and business rankings (see [[#Rankings|Rankings]]).