Guten Tag Sweet Friends!

I know you’ve heard that song, “Everything Old is New Again” by Peter Allen. It came to mind yesterday when I was touring the Germanische-Romanische museum in Cologne. It’s a history of the Roman Empire in Cologne and filled with mosaics, architectural elements, pottery, jewelry and other items from everyday Roman life in Cologne. This city was once a great jewel in the Roman Empire due to its strategic and economic location on the river.

Cologne’s history can be traced back to a time around the birth of Christ, when the Roman Emperor Augustus and his imperial governor Agrippa decided to found a new city where the Rhine emerges from the narrow river valley into the plain. It was to be the capital city of the planned province of Germania that stretched from across contemporary Switzerland to the Netherlands and to the River Elbe in the east.  After the defeat of Varus in 9 AD, the remaining Roman troops withdrew to the Rhine border. Cologne was turned into the capital city of the military district of Lower Germania

and then moved on to become the capital of the entire province of Lower Germania. Around 50 AD, Emperor Claudius, at the request of his Cologne-born wife Agrippina, elevated the town to a colony with Roman town privileges. From then on, Cologne carried the name COLONIA CLAUDIA ARA AGRIPPINENSIUM. The street I live on today is called Agrippinawerft.

The city of Cologne embraces its Roman heritage and continues to excavate and preserve as much of the Roman remains as possible. The museum I toured yesterday is only one example of this. While its not huge, it is well done and informative.  While not much of the information is translated into English, I gleaned much from the dates printed on the cards and could easily figure out what the objects were just because everything looks pretty much like something you would see today. Everything from the pottery and glass works to the jewelry and furniture

looked like something I would buy in a store today. There was not one piece of jewelry in those cases that I would not wear right now! This is why that song came to mind. There is really nothing “new” out there; it’s all borrowed or copied from some other

century. Even the typeface on the grave stones and markers is something we copied!

I’ve always saved almost every article of clothing that I truly loved because I knew eventually it would come back in style, and I’ve never been wrong. The bell bottoms and platform shoes, the padded shoulders, the high-waist jeans, the fringed vest and peace earrings – all have come full circle. The short skirts, the long skirts, the high heels and flats, they all come in and out of style. The Romans probably copied the Greeks and the Greeks, well, maybe we are all copying the Greeks. But the point is, everything old is new again once some designer tweaks it and puts it on the runway.

But now, with all my moves, I have very few of my old treasures. Well, none actually. But not to worry, I can easily go out and buy something “new” that looks just like my vintage treasures. I just keep wondering when I am going to come back in style! 🙂

I hope you have a stylish day and enjoy your many treasures from the past, including friends and family. They never go out of style. Peace out man.