Well normally yes, but Cologne can be a bit- well le me put it this way. My husband used to work for Coelner Hofbrau Frueh. They had a Stammhaus in the city centre. They wanted to have something done, so they got the building checked over. When they asked about the foundations they received the reply "What foundations- it doesn't have any..."

Not to mention the man who found the top of a roman burial monument in his cellar- the monument now takes up three floors of the Roemisch Germanisch Museum.

Poke around under Cologne and you'd be amazed what you find.

Now if this was a new building ther was no excuse, but if it was built anytime before about 1960 then I can understand why they weren't necessarily too particular about foundations.