Rheinauhafen

This guide to Rheinauhafen in Cologne centers on Hercules, the red crane still standing on the quay, built in eighteen ninety-seven to swing thirty tons on its own turning base. It follows the harbor from its opening in eighteen ninety-eight, when Cologne's grain trade filled the docks with more than thirty-five cranes, through the dockers who spent shift after shift in Rhine fog and summer heat loading barge after barge, their names never written down. Look up at the iron arm still hanging over the quay as you pass.