Jürgen Becker is a Kabarett artist and television host from Cologne. In 2017 he wrote an essay on his city for Aus Politik und Zeitgeschichte, published by the Federal Agency for Civic Education. One sentence reads: Denn im Rheinland hat das Sprechen einen Wert an sich, unabhängig vom Inhalt. In the Rhineland, speaking has a value of its own, whatever the content. Another: Der Rheinländer hört nicht zu. Er redet lieber selbst. The Rhinelander doesn’t listen. He prefers to talk himself. On Brüsseler Platz, he writes, thousands gather zum fröhlichen Quatschen und Trinken, for cheerful chatting and drinking.