As you saunter from square to square in the historic centre of the city it’s worth remembering that three quarters of Cologne was obliterated in the war.
It can be humbling to wander a cobblestone alley and think that this would have been rubble just 70 years ago.
And yet the old world atmosphere still shines through on streets and plazas like Heumarkt and Altermarkt, even among the newer concrete constructions from the post-war period.