This year's Open Monument Day events throughout Germany are being held under the motto "True Signs. Witnesses to history" There will be around 600 events on more than 160 different topics - including in Cologne, where the Open Monument Day will be celebrated on September 7 and 8 this year. Especially in times when falsification and manipulation by AI increasingly determine our everyday lives, architectural monuments make an important contribution to finding the truth by bringing the history of the city and its landmarks to life. Anyone who sets out to get to know the city will be amazed at the diversity of Cologne's monument landscape, which is not only defined by the well-known church buildings: Roman monuments can be found not only in the museum, but also along the old city wall and outside the boundaries of Roman Cologne. Despite the heavy destruction during the Second World War, numerous buildings from the Middle Ages have also been preserved: The historic town hall will open its doors, as will the Gürzenich, Haus Balchem and the Wirtshaus an der Frankenwerft provide a glimpse into the city's distant past, and some of the preserved gates and towers of the medieval city wall can also be visited. The residential buildings and villas in the former suburbs of Cologne date from more recent times. Political statements such as the Bismarck Column characterize their surroundings, as do halls and towers of industrial architecture, most of which have a different use today so that the buildings that shape the cityscape can be preserved. The 'youngest' monument in Cologne's family of monuments was only registered this summer: the Deutschlandradio high-rise building in Cologne-Raderthal.

www.stadt-koeln.de/leben-in-koeln/kultur/tag-des-offenen-denkmals