View source for Viva Colonia

{{Short description|2003 song and album by De Höhner}}
{{unreferenced|date=March 2016}}
[[Image:De Höhner - Demonstration „Köln stellt sich quer“ (4752).jpg|thumb|De Höhner]]
"'''Viva Colonia'''" ({{IPA|de|ˈviːvaː koˈloːni̯a}}, "Live Cologne") is a 2003 song and [[album]] by the [[Germany|German]] band [[De Höhner]]. The song is sung in a language which resembles the local [[Ripuarian language|Ripuarian]] dialect of [[Cologne]], the [[Colognian dialect|Kölsch]], but differs in that the lyrics and refrain do not have many particularly Kölsch words; the last two lines of the catchy refrain are written in [[Standard German]]. Thus the text is relatively easily understood by all German-language speakers.

The song's Latin title refers to the city of Cologne, whose old Latin name is [[Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium|Colonia]]. The song is especially popular at [[carnival]] time, but can be heard throughout the country the year, not solely in Cologne. For example in [[Munich]], ([[Bavaria]]), during carnival and [[Oktoberfest]] the song is heard with "Viva Bavaria!" as substitution for "Viva Colonia!".

The football team [[1. FC Köln]] and ice hockey team [[Kölner Haie]], both from Cologne, play the song frequently during their games.

== See also ==
*[[Cologne Carnival]]

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw5HmEjSyM4 The song being performed at Cologne Carnival]
*[https://hoehner.com/songtexte/viva-colonia/ German text]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Culture in Cologne]]
[[Category:Carnival songs]]
[[Category:2003 songs]]
[[Category:Songs in German]]


{{Germany-music-stub}}
{{folk-song-stub}}