The term Schäl Sick is used by people on the left bank of the Rhine to jokingly describe the other side of the river as the “wrong side”. After all, that is where you will find places such as Deutz, Mülheim, Leverkusen and even Düsseldorf. Yet districts on the right bank, including Kalk and Mülheim, played an important role in Cologne’s industrial growth and prosperity. Where the name Schäl Sick actually comes from is still debated. One story goes back to the days when barges were pulled upstream by horses. The sunlight reflecting off the Rhine could dazzle the horses walking along the left bank, and some were even said to lose the sight in one eye. To protect them, a blinker was placed over the eye facing the river. In Kölsch, schäl can mean something like “poor sighted”, and according to the story, this is how the right side of the Rhine got its nickname. But Cologne would not be Cologne without turning the joke around. Today, many people living on the right bank wear the name Schäl Sick almost like a badge of honour.