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    • .cologne

    Generic top-level domainsIDNDNSSEC

    Overview

    • .cologne is a delegated geographic gTLD (geoTLD) intended to represent the city of Cologne.
    • The string was proposed through ICANN's New gTLD Program by the applicant NetCologne.
    • It is listed as a gTLD with geographic subtype and was delegated to the DNS Root Zone on 19 March 2014.

    History

    • Reveal/Application: The applied-for string was revealed during ICANN's New gTLD process (Reveal Day referenced 13 June 2012).
    • Registry Agreement: NetCologne received a Registry Agreement signed by ICANN on 05 February 2014.
    • Delegation: .cologne was delegated to the Root Zone on 19 March 2014, completing the application process.
    • Registry operators/changes:
      • The icannwiki listing shows the registry as RyCE GmbH.
      • The registry was acquired by dotKoeln GmbH in January 2018.

    Usage and Audience

    • The applicant's stated mission was two-fold:
      • To benefit Cologne’s companies, communities and residents, and the city itself.
      • To supplement NetCologne GmbH's business operations as described in the application.
    • The city of Cologne has used the .cologne TLD in its communications and marketing projects.
    • NetCologne continued to support the registry in marketing after delegation and subsequent changes.

    Notable Cases or Examples

    • The municipal use of the string for city communication and marketing projects is noted as a primary use case.
    • The registry operates a nic.koeln website under dotKoeln GmbH (listed as the registry operator after the 2018 acquisition).

    Operator

    dotKoeln GmbH

    Whois

    % IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       COLOGNE

organisation: dotKoeln GmbH
address:      Schoenbrunner Strasse 231
address:      Vienna 1120
address:      Austria

contact:      administrative
name:         Ronald Schwaerzler
organisation: dotKoeln GmbH
address:      Schoenbrunner Strasse 231
address:      Vienna 1120
address:      Austria
phone:        +43 1 98116-700
fax-no:       +43 1 98116-111
e-mail:       ronald.schwaerzler@domainworx.consulting

contact:      technical
name:         Technical Operations
organisation: RyCE GmbH
address:      Schoenbrunner Strasse 231
address:      Vienna 1120
address:      Austria
phone:        +431981160
fax-no:       +43198116111
e-mail:       tech@dns.business

nserver:      DNS.RYCE-RSP.COM 194.0.11.114 2001:678:e:114:0:0:0:53
nserver:      NS1.DNS.BUSINESS 157.90.205.138 2a01:4f8:252:4295:0:0:9d5a:cd8a
nserver:      NS1.RYCE-RSP.COM 193.56.204.111 2a0c:8f40:0:701:0:0:0:111
ds-rdata:     38647 8 2 8d75a1c8e3b04bb3c4d2806b075284ba997383c9a7f9db67499d85d8e600d235

whois:        whois.ryce-rsp.com

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://www.nic.koeln

created:      2014-03-13
changed:      2025-09-01
source:       IANA

    Registrars