{"id":23221,"date":"2020-09-18T17:22:24","date_gmt":"2020-09-18T15:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/echt-koeln.de\/about-me\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T15:21:52","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T14:21:52","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/echt-koeln.de\/en\/about-me\/","title":{"rendered":"About me"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-bca3c72b\"><div class=\"gb-inside-container\">\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I am Markus Zens and I am a passionate city guide in Cologne. I was born just outside Cologne in the Bergisches Land region, which means I&#8217;m not really a local for the people of Cologne. But our dialect and our mentality were already very close to Cologne.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-4192cf96 gb-headline-text\">Reason for homesickness<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cologne is more than just the cathedral, Cologne &#8211; it&#8217;s 2000 years of history, it&#8217;s the people who live here, it&#8217;s the joie de vivre that you can feel on every street corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And even though I actually come from the Bergisch region and lived abroad in the Rhineland for quite some time, I often felt homesick for my city, the Cologne attitude to life, the lightness of being, the open and cheerful togetherness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cologne is certainly not beautiful at every turn, and many things could be done better, but I am passionate about being a city guide in the cathedral city because it is simply unique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"gb-headline gb-headline-d1bf0c5d gb-headline-text\">Because the stories make the city<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That&#8217;s why I don&#8217;t just show buildings and give facts and figures on my tours, but tell stories that are just like the people who live here: exciting, tragic, sad, happy &#8211; and sometimes everything at once. These stories can be found not only at the cathedral and in the large squares, but also in the small corners and streets. Above all, you can find them by listening to people, their hardships, joys and memories, and by looking at where they live and have lived.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You will notice this on my tours: My heart beats for Cologne, I&#8217;m really at home here. And if I manage to make you leave with a smile on your face and the feeling that you are now a little bit at home here, then I have achieved my goal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I can&#8217;t do all the tours myself. But I have been able to recruit experienced and wonderful colleagues who will show you Cologne with the same passion. <\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"gb-container gb-container-b291cbbd\"><div class=\"gb-inside-container\">\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"348\" src=\"https:\/\/echt-koeln.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1097746436_jr-philips-1-1024x348.jpg\" alt=\"Tour through Cologne\" class=\"wp-image-19986\" srcset=\"https:\/\/echt-koeln.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1097746436_jr-philips-1-1024x348.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/echt-koeln.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1097746436_jr-philips-1-600x204.jpg 600w, https:\/\/echt-koeln.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1097746436_jr-philips-1-150x51.jpg 150w, https:\/\/echt-koeln.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1097746436_jr-philips-1-768x261.jpg 768w, https:\/\/echt-koeln.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1097746436_jr-philips-1-1536x522.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/echt-koeln.de\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1097746436_jr-philips-1-2048x696.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"gb-container gb-container-ae7ed514\"><div class=\"gb-inside-container\">\n<div class=\"gb-button-wrapper gb-button-wrapper-7a0848c5\">\n\n<a class=\"gb-button gb-button-72a24413 gb-button-text\" href=\"https:\/\/echt-koeln.de\/en\/tours\/\">Get to know the tours<\/a>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am Markus Zens and I am a passionate city guide in Cologne. I was born just outside Cologne in the Bergisches Land region, which means I&#8217;m not really a local for the people of Cologne. But our dialect and our mentality were already very close to Cologne. Reason for homesickness Cologne is more than &#8230; <a title=\"About me\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/echt-koeln.de\/en\/about-me\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about About me\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21469,"parent":0,"menu_order":145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-23221","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>About me - echt K\u00f6ln Stadtf\u00fchrungen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I am Markus Zens and I am a passionate city guide in Cologne. 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