History · Cologne

Cologne’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold just one old photo of Cologne. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

1old images & papers
3historic places
5recent photos
Cologne State Bank (ca. 1915), c. 1915 · Wikimedia Commons

The story

from WikipediaRead it all ↗

Cologne was platted in 1880, and incorporated in 1881. The community was named for Cologne, Germany.

In 1939, the town of Cologne was preserved on film in the amateur short subject Cologne: From the Diary of Ray and Esther, which chronicles aspects of life in the German-American community prior to the American engagement in World War II. The film was named to the National Film Registry in 2001, and is one of only a half-dozen amateur works to be included on the list.

In March 2015 the city of Cologne, Minnesota hired Jesse Dickson as their city administrator.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

built from the dates on the items below
c. 1915Cologne State Bank (ca. 1915)Commons
1920–1999Nothing yet. Family albums go here.
Be one of the first

Start Cologne’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Cologne’s history is told.

1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewCologne State Bank (ca. 1915), c. 1915: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from CologneWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Cologne.Meet them →
By decade

Cologne, decade by decade

1920s–
1990s
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

3 historic places in Cologne

3 places in Cologne are on the National Register of Historic Places, the country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

#79
In Minnesotaby listings · most towns there have none
3places listed3 buildings
0National Historic LandmarksNone here yet
4historic buildings protectedcounting each building in a district
1980first listedJohn Knotz House · newest: Philip Guettler House, 1980

Where they are

Tap a dot for a photo and link. Districts show at their center.
Buildings

When they were listed

The Register began in 1966.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places (05/22/2026) · styles from the National Archives catalog · photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place

Then & now

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Cologne State Bank (ca. 1915) (c. 1915) and it appears here side by side.

🔁 Retake this view · +15

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history

From Wikimedia Commons (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

We left the porch light on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Cologne, MNView boundary

Nearby

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/18 · 2025-01-01