These employees let their hair down once a year – understandable, considering that the carnival processions make their way through Cologne each year.

“We Rhinelanders manage to combine fun and clever business like few others,” says branch manager Carsten Berg. The imposing shadow of the cathedral may help to restore respectability quickly once the revellers have left. Incidentally, the World Heritage Site is in no way at odds with the modern architecture, such as the Kranhäuser (“crane houses”) at the Rheinauhafen, that is making its way into “Italy’s most northerly city”, which was influenced by the Romans. Industry focus in “Kölle”: Municipal utilities, automotive suppliers, waste companies, commercial enterprises, print, media and logistics companies.