Editing Cologne (section)

===Post-war and Cold War eras===
[[File:Cologne by Sentinel-2, 2020-05-07.jpg|thumb|Cologne, seen from ESA Sentinel-2]]
Despite Cologne's status as the largest city in the region, nearby [[Düsseldorf]] was chosen as the political capital of the [[States of Germany|federated state]] of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]]. With [[Bonn]] being chosen as the provisional federal capital (''provisorische Bundeshauptstadt'') and seat of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany (then informally [[West Germany]]), Cologne benefited by being sandwiched between two important political centres. The city became–and still is–home to a number of federal agencies and organizations. After reunification in 1990, Berlin was made the capital of Germany.

In 1945 architect and urban planner [[Rudolf Schwarz (architect)|Rudolf Schwarz]] called Cologne the "world's greatest heap of rubble". Schwarz designed the master plan for reconstruction in 1947, which included the construction of several new thoroughfares through the city centre, especially the ''Nord-Süd-Fahrt'' ("North-South-Drive"). The master plan took into consideration the fact that even shortly after the war a large increase in automobile traffic could be anticipated. Plans for new roads had already, to a certain degree, evolved under the Nazi administration, but the actual construction became easier when most of the city centre was in ruins.

The destruction of 95% of the city centre, including the famous [[Twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne|Twelve Romanesque churches]] such as [[St. Gereon's Basilica|St.&nbsp;Gereon]], [[Great St. Martin Church|Great St.&nbsp;Martin]], [[St.&nbsp;Maria im Kapitol]] and several other monuments in World War&nbsp;II, meant a tremendous loss of cultural treasures. The rebuilding of those churches and other landmarks such as the Gürzenich event hall was not undisputed among leading architects and art historians at that time, but in most cases, civil intention prevailed. The reconstruction lasted until the 1990s, when the Romanesque church of [[St. Kunibert (Cologne)|St.&nbsp;Kunibert]] was finished.

In 1959, the city's population reached pre-war numbers again. It then grew steadily, exceeding 1&nbsp;million for about one year from 1975. It remained just below that until mid-2010, when it exceeded 1&nbsp;million again.
[[File:2013-08-10 07-18-55 Ballonfahrt über Köln EH 0626.jpg|thumb|left|Cologne in 2013]]