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Cologne was founded and established in Germanic Ubii territory in the 1st century CE as the Roman Colonia Agrippina, hence its name (Augusta Ubiorum was also used[4]).[5] "Agrippina" was later dropped (except in Latin), and "Colonia" became the name of the city in its own right, which developed into modern German as Köln. "Cologne", the French version of the city's name, has become standard in English as well. Cologne functioned as the capital of the Roman province of Germania Inferior and as the headquarters of the Roman military in the region until occupied by the Franks in 462. During the Middle Ages the city flourished as being located on one of the most important major trade routes between east and western Europe (including the Brabant Road, Via Regia and Publica). Cologne Köln was a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire and one of the major members of the trade union Hanseatic League. It was one of the largest European cities in medieval and renaissance times.

Cologne in the German colonial empire
The city of Cologne was significant to the development of the German colonial empire as a whole. During the period of New Imperialism, Cologne was one of the most important trading cities of the German Empire, and was thus the Rheinland's centre for expeditions and scientific colonialism.