The Akademie för uns Kölsche Sproch (Academy for our Cologne language) was established in 1983 by the Stadtsparkasse Köln (Cologne Savings and Loan Association). As part of the bank's foundation for culture, this academy campaigns for the preservation and promotion of the Kölsch dialect as a language. The academy considers itself the only one of its kind in Europe.
The academy has five main areas of activity: studying the Cologne dialect, holding seminars, running a library and dialect archive, holding events and producing publications.
While the centre does not teach the Cologne dialect as a foreign language, the seminars cover the themes of language use, linguistics and literature, as well as looking into the history of the dialect. Written and oral Kölsch examinations are held, with successful candidates receiving a certificate signed by the city mayor. The library is divided into five sections, the main section being "Cologne" with 7,000 books. The academy acts as a publisher, with 25 books in and on the Kölsch dialect and on the history of the town currently in print. It has also produced an interactive CD-ROM dialect dictionary.
