Romance isn’t everything. Cologne (Köln—pronounced “kurln”—in German) is an urban Jacuzzi that keeps the Rhine churning. It’s home to Germany’s greatest Gothic cathedral, one of the country’s best collections of Roman artifacts, a world-class art museum, and a healthy dose of German urban playfulness.
Peaceful Bonn, which offers good people-watching and fun pedestrian streets, used to be the capital of West Germany. The small town of Remagen had a bridge that helped defeat Hitler in World War II, and unassuming Aachen, near the Belgian border, was once the capital of Europe.
Germany’s fourth-largest city, Cologne has a compact, lively center. The Rhine was the northern boundary of the Roman Empire, and, 1,700 years ago, Constantine—the first Christian emperor—made what was then called “Colonia” the seat of a bishopric. (Five hundred years later, under Charlemagne, Cologne became the seat of an archbishopric.) With 40,000 people within its walls, Cologne was the largest German city and an important cultural and religious center throughout the Middle Ages. Today, the city is most famous for its toilet water: Eau de Cologne was first made here by an Italian chemist in 1709.
During World War II, bombs destroyed 95 percent of Cologne—driving its population from 800,000 down to an estimated 30,000 at its lowest ebb. But with the end of the war, the city immediately began putting itself back together (the population rebounded to about 400,000 by Christmas 1945). Today, it’s a bustling commercial and cultural center that still respects its rich past.
Cologne makes an ideal on-the-way stop; it’s a major rail junction, and its top sights are clustered near the train station. With a couple of hours, you can toss your bag in a locker, take my self-guided town walk, zip through the cathedral, and make it back to the station for your train. If you’re planning that short of a stop, make sure you’ll be here when the whole church is open (in between its services—times are listed on here). More time (or an overnight) allows you to delve into a few of the city’s fine museums and take in an old-time beer pub.
Cologne’s core was bombed out, then rebuilt in mostly modern style with a sprinkling of quaint. The city has two areas that matter to visitors: One is the section right around the train station and cathedral. Here you’ll find most sights, all my recommended hotels, plus the TI and plenty of eateries and services. Hohe Strasse, Cologne’s pedestrian shopping street, begins near the cathedral. The other area—called the “old town”—is between the river and the Alter Markt, a few blocks to the south. After the war, this section was rebuilt in the old style, and today pubs and music clubs pack the restored buildings.
Cologne’s energetic TI is opposite the cathedral entrance (Mon-Sat 9:00-20:00, Sun 10:00-17:00, basic €0.50 city map, Kardinal-Höffner-Platz 1, tel. 0221/2213-0400, www.koelntourismus.de). For information on Cologne’s museums, visit www.museenkoeln.de.
City Bus Tours: The TI sells tickets and is the departure point for city bus tours offered by two competing companies (€13 for 1.5-hour round-trip tour; €15 for hop-on, hop-off tour; departures at least hourly in summer, most have recorded commentary in both German and English, but Kölner CityTour has live guides every 2 hours—see www.cityfahrten.de).
Cologne couldn’t be easier to visit—its three important sights cluster within two blocks of the TI and train station. This super pedestrian zone is a constant carnival of people.
By Train: Cologne’s busy train station has everything you need: drugstore, bookstore, food court, juice bar, grocery store, pricey 24-hour “McClean” pay WC with showers, travel center (Reisezentrum, long hours daily), and high-tech lockers (next to Reisezentrum; insert coins or bills and wait for door to open; your luggage—up to four pieces—is transferred to storage via an underground conveyor belt and retrieved when you reinsert your ticket). Exiting the front of the station (the end near track 1), you’ll find yourself smack-dab in the shadow of the cathedral. Up the steps and to the right is the cathedral’s main entrance (TI across street).
By Car: Drivers should follow signs to Zentrum, then continue to the huge Parkhaus am Dom garage under the cathedral (€1.80/hour, €18/day). The lot outside the garage has a cheaper day rate (€4/hour, €14/day). There’s also the Parkhaus am Heumarkt, centrally located at the south end of the old town area (€2.50/hour, €16/day).
By Boat: If you’re arriving on a K-D Line boat, exit the boat to the right, then walk along the waterside park until just before the train bridge, when the cathedral comes into view on the left.
Closed Day: Note that most museums are closed on Monday (though the cathedral remains open). The cathedral is off-limits to sightseers during services, which are more frequent on Sundays.
Sightseeing Cards: The MuseumCard is valid for two consecutive days (or a Sun and Tue, as museums close Mon). It covers all local public transportation on the first day and includes the Roman-Germanic Museum, Museum Ludwig, and Wallraf-Richartz Museum, plus several lesser museums (but not the cathedral sights). If you’re visiting all three of these museums, this card will save you money (€18/person, €30 family pass includes 2 adults and 2 kids up to age 18, sold at participating museums, www.museenkoeln.de). Skip the KölnCard, offering small discounts on some museums.
Festivals: Though Carnival is celebrated all over Germany, Cologne’s celebration is famously exuberant. Join the locals as they dress up, feast, and exchange Bützje—innocent pursed-lip kisses. Festivities start on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday and culminate with a huge parade on the following Monday (“Rose Monday,” or Rosenmontag). The parade draws musicians from all over Germany, and families line the parade route to grab pieces of candy tossed off the floats (www.koelnerkarneval.de). Cologne’s annual Kölner Lichter festival lights up the sky for a weekend in mid-July, with fireworks, music, and lots of boats on the river (www.koelner-lichter.de). It’s part of the Rhein in Flammen regional festival (see here).
Bike Rentals and Tours: Convenient bike rental is available at two branches of the friendly Radstation (€5/3 hours, €10/day; tel. 0221/139-7190, mobile 0171-629-8796, www.radstationkoeln.de). One branch is tucked under the train-track arcade (long hours daily, ID and €50 deposit required; from the station, exit out the back by track 11 to Breslauer Platz, turn right, cross street, and look toward the train tracks). The other is along the river a 10-minute walk from the station, on Markmannsgasse, 100 yards upstream from the K-D Line dock (daily April-Oct 10:00-18:00, leave photo ID as security deposit). Consider biking the path along the Rhine River up past the convention center (Messe) to the Rheinpark for a picnic.
Radstation also offers German/English guided city tours by bike (€17.50, 3 hours, April-Oct daily at 13:30, includes bike rental, about 10 people per guide, reservations smart).
(See “Cologne” map, here.)
Cologne lends itself to a fine orientation walk, worth ▲▲. The old town, towering cathedral, and most of the sights cluster near the train station. Starting at the train station, this self-guided walk takes less than an hour and provides a good introduction.
Bahnhofsvorplatz: Stepping out of the train station, you’re confronted with a modern hodgepodge of post-WWII architecture and the towering icon of Cologne, its cathedral. The city feels rebuilt—because it was. The Allies bombed Cologne hard in retaliation for Germany’s bombing of London. Your gaze is grabbed by the cathedral. While it was built according to the original 13th-century plans, and the left (east) part was completed in the 13th century, the right half wasn’t built until after German unification, in the 1880s.
• Climb the steps and circle right, to the people-filled square facing the cathedral.
Roncalliplatz (Roncalli Square): In centuries past, a clutter of half-timbered huts crowded around the cathedral. They were all cleared out in the late 1800s so the great building would have a suitable approach; in the late 1960s the plaza was pedestrianized.
This has been a busy commercial zone since ancient times. The Roman arch was discovered nearby and set up here as a reminder of the town’s Roman roots. This north gate of the Roman city, from A.D. 50, marks the start of Cologne’s nearly 2,000-year-old main shopping street, Hohe Strasse.
Look for the life-size replica tip of a spire. The real thing is 515 feet above you. The cathedral facade, while finished in the 1880s, is exactly what was envisioned by the original church planners in 1280. (For more on the cathedral, see here.)
• Continue around the right side of the church, passing modern buildings and public spaces. Step up to the window of the Roman-Germanic Museum to see a...
Roman Mosaic: Through the Roman-Germanic Museum’s generous window, you can get a free look at the museum’s prize piece—a fine mosaic floor. Once the dining-room floor of a rich Roman merchant, this is actually in its original position (the museum was built around it). It shows scenes from the life of Dionysus...wine, women, and song, Roman-style. The mosaic is quite sexy, with several scenes showing a satyr seducing and ultimately disrobing a half-goddess, half-human maenad. First he offers her grapes, then he turns on the music. After further wining and dining—all with an agenda—the horny satyr finally scores. The cupid on a lion’s back symbolizes the triumph of physical love.
The mosaic is at the original Roman street level. The tall monument above and left of the mosaic is the mausoleum of a first-century Roman army officer. Directly across from you (at eye level, beyond the mosaic) are beautifully carved stone reliefs—an indication of what a fine city Roman Cologne must have been. If you’d like to visit the Roman-Germanic Museum’s good collection, see the listing under “Sights in Cologne.”
• Walk 20 steps beyond the mosaic farther along the cathedral and look down to see the...
Cathedral Workshop: Any church of this size is a work in progress, requiring constant renovation, repair, and care. Sandstone blocks are stacked and waiting to be shaped and plugged in wherever needed. The buttresses above are the church’s showiest, because they face the bishop’s palace, city center, and original entrance (south transept). For 500 years, the church was left unfinished, simply capped off midway. You’re facing the functional part of the church, where services were held from the 1300s until the late 1800s.
• From the cathedral, walk past the Museum Ludwig (described later, under “Sights in Cologne,” and with a convenient WC in the lobby); continue left onto the...
Hohenzollern Bridge (Hohenzollernbrücke): This is the busiest railway bridge in the world (30 trains an hour all day long). A classic Industrial Age design from around 1900, the bridge was destroyed in World War II and later rebuilt in its original style. These days, the bridge is a landmark for its “love locks”—couples come here, mark a little padlock with their names and the date, chain it to the bridge railing, and throw away the key as proof of their everlasting love. Citing safety concerns, officials had threatened to remove the locks, but eventually gave in to public demands to let the love-tokens stay.
• Walk back in the direction of Museum Ludwig, then head down the stairs toward the river.
Riverfront: The statue (to your left) honors Kaiser Wilhelm II, who paid for the Hohenzollernbrücke (named after his family). Stairs lead down to a people-friendly riverside park. This is urban planning from the 1970s: Real and forward-looking. The riverside, once a noisy highway, is now a peaceful park. All that traffic still courses through the city, but flows unnoticed below you in a tunnel. A bike-and-pedestrian path follows the riverside in each direction, and families let their children frolic in the fountain.
Turn right, and walk away from the bridge for a few blocks along the Frankenwerft, Cologne’s riverside restaurant district, until you are even with the tower of the Romanesque church. (Cologne’s famous chocolate museum, described later, is a five-minute walk farther downstream.)
Notice a strip of sockets for a metal flood wall (on the inland side of the grassy stretch; an eight-foot-high structure can be erected here when needed). Locals see a definite climate change: They say that “floods of the century” now happen every decade, thunderstorms are 10 times more prevalent, and for the first time, this part of Europe has witnessed small tornadoes.
• At the foot of the church is the Fischmarkt, a tiny square.
Fischmarkt and “Old Town”: Right below Great St. Martin Church, this little square—once the fish market—faces the river. It’s ringed by medieval-looking buildings from the 1930s. In the early 20th century, Cologne’s entire old town was a scruffy, half-timbered, prostitute-ridden slum. To the disgusted Nazis, prostitutes were human dirt. Their vision for old towns all over Germany: Clear out the clutter, boot the riffraff, and rebuild in the clean, tidy, stone-and-stucco style you see here. After World War II, Cologne decided to rebuild in a faux-medieval style to approximate what had once been. This square and the streets around the church are from that period.
• Walk inland, circling around the right (downstream) side of the church. From the church’s front door, a passageway leads away from the river directly to Alter Markt (Old Market Square).
Alter Markt and City Hall: The ornate City Hall tower symbolized civic spirit standing strong against the power of the bishops in the 15th century. Circle around the tower to see the City Hall’s fine Renaissance porch—the only historic facade left standing after the 1945 bombings. Its carvings stress civic independence. The busts of emperors bring to mind Cologne’s strong Roman past; the lions symbolize the evil aspect of church authority. Above the door, the mayor kills the lion (thus establishing independence from church government for his city). This scene is flanked by Biblical parallels: the angel saving Daniel from the lions (on right), and Samson fighting lions (on left). Beware of flying rice—the City Hall is often busy with civil wedding parties.
• From the City Hall, pass through Laurenzplatz and walk two blocks farther away from the river to Hohe Strasse.
Shopping, Church Art, and Eau de Cologne: Jog left onto the town’s busy pedestrian shopping street. Hohe Strasse thrived during the Middle Ages, when Cologne was a major player in the heavyweight Hanseatic League of northern European merchant towns. The street was rebuilt after its complete destruction in World War II and was Germany’s first pedestrian shopping mall. Today it’s a rather soulless string of chain stores—most interesting for its seas of shoppers (the big MediaMarkt electronics store, Germany’s version of Best Buy, is ahead on the left).
Now take your first right on Brückenstrasse to the modern white building, set atop the ruins of a bombed-out Gothic church. This is the Kolumba Diocesan Museum (described later). Inside, from the corner, you can grab a free peek at what was the church interior.
Across busy Tunisstrasse stands Cologne’s circa-1960s Opera House (a big deal in Germany when built). And across the street from that, on the right, is a historic building at Glockengasse 4. When Cologne’s houses were renumbered in a single series during the Napoleonic era in 1796, this building was given the number 4711—which the perfume-making firm based here later adopted as its trademark. A shop on the ground floor has Cologne water running in a fountain by the door—sample this year’s new fragrances for free at the counter. A small, free exhibit is upstairs (Mon-Sat 9:30-18:00, closed Sun, tel. 0221/2709-9910, www.glockengasse.de).
▲▲Roman-Germanic Museum (Römisch-Germanisches Museum)
▲Imhoff Chocolate Museum (Schokoladenmuseum)
(See “Cologne Cathedral” map, here.)
The Gothic Dom—Germany’s most exciting church—looms immediately up from the train station in one of the country’s starkest juxtapositions of the modern and the medieval. The church is so big and so important that it has its own information office, the Domforum, in a separate building across the street (described later).
Cost and Hours: Free, Mon-Sat 9:30-11:30 & 12:30-16:30, Sun 12:30-16:30; closed to tourists during services (generally Mon-Sat at 6:30, 7:15, 8:00, 9:00, 12:00, and 18:30; Sun at 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 12:00, 17:00, and 19:00; confirm times at Domforum office or at www.koelner-dom.de).
Tours: The one-hour English-only tours are reliably excellent (€8, Mon-Sat at 10:30 and 14:30, Sun at 14:30, meet inside front door of Dom, tel. 0221/9258-4730). Your tour ticket also covers the 20-minute English video in the Domforum directly following the tour.
Self-Guided Tour: If you don’t take the guided tour, follow this seven-stop walk (note that stops 3-7 are closed off during confession Sat 14:00-18:00, and any time services are underway).
1 Cathedral Exterior: The cathedral—the most ambitious Gothic building project north of France in the 13th century—was stalled in the Middle Ages and not finished until 1880. Even though most of it was built in the 19th century, it’s still technically a Gothic church (not “Neo-Gothic”) because it was finished according to its original plans.
• Step inside the church. Grab a pew in the center of the nave.
2 Nave: If you feel small, that’s because you’re supposed to. The 140-foot-tall ceiling reminds us of our place in the vast scheme of things. Lots of stained glass—enough to cover three football fields—fills the church with light, which represents God.
The church was begun in 1248. The choir—the lofty area from the center altar to the far end ahead of you—was inaugurated in 1322. Later, during the tumultuous wars of religious reformation, Catholic pilgrims stopped coming. This dried up funds, and eventually construction stopped. For 300 years, the finished end of the church was walled off and functioned as a church, while the unfinished nave (where you now sit) waited. For centuries, the symbol of Cologne’s skyline was a huge crane that sat atop the unfinished west spire.
With the rise of German patriotism in the early 1800s, Cologne became a symbol of German unity. And the Prussians—the movers and shakers behind German unity—mistakenly considered Gothic (which actually originated in France) a German style. They paid for the speedy completion of this gloriously Gothic German church. With nearly 700 workers going at full speed, the church was finished in just 38 years (1842-1880). The great train station was built in the shadow of the cathedral’s towering spire.
The glass windows at the east end of the church (in the chapels and high above) are medieval. The glass surrounding you in the nave is not as old, but it’s precious nevertheless. The glass on the left is early Renaissance. Notice the many coats of arms, which depict the lineage of the donors. One of these windows would have cost as much as two large townhouses. The glass on the right—a gift from Ludwig I, grandfather of the “Mad” King Ludwig who built the fairy-tale castles—is 19th-century Bavarian. Compare both the colors and the realism of the faces between the windows to see how techniques advanced and tastes changed over the centuries.
While 95 percent of Cologne was destroyed by WWII bombs, the cathedral held up fairly well. (It was hit by 15 bombs, but the skeletal Gothic structure flexed, and it remained standing.) In anticipation of the bombing, the glass and art treasures were taken to shelters and saved.
The “swallow’s nest” organ above you was installed to celebrate the cathedral’s 750th birthday in 1998. Attaching it to the wall would have compromised the cathedral’s architectural integrity, so the organ is actually suspended from precarious-looking steel wires.
The guys in the red robes are cathedral cops, called Schweizer (after the Swiss guard at the Vatican); if a service is getting ready to start, they hustle tourists out (but you can stay for the service if you like).
• Leave the nave to the left and step through the gate at the far end (beside the transept), into the oldest part of the church.
As you enter, look down at the 19th-century mosaic showing a saint holding the Carolingian Cathedral, which stood on this spot for several centuries before this one was built. Ahead of you on the left is the...
3 Gero-Crucifix: The Chapel of the Cross features the oldest surviving monumental crucifix north of the Alps. Carved in the 970s with a sensitivity 300 years ahead of its time, it shows Jesus not suffering and not triumphant—but with eyes closed...dead. He paid the price for our sins. It’s quite a twofer: great art and powerful theology in one. The cathedral has three big pilgrim stops: this crucifix, the Shrine of the Magi, and the Madonna of Milan.
• Continue to the front end of the church, stopping to look at the big golden reliquary in the glass case behind the high altar.
4 Shrine of the Magi: Relics were a big deal in the Middle Ages. Cologne’s acquisition of the bones of the Three Kings in the 12th century put it on the pilgrimage map and brought in enough money to justify the construction of this magnificent place. By some stretch of medieval Christian logic, these relics also justified the secular power of the German king. This reliquary, made in about 1200 of gilded silver, jewels, and enamel, is the biggest and most splendid I’ve seen. On the long sides, Old Testament prophets line the bottom, and 12 New Testament apostles—with a wingless angel in the center—line the top. The front looks like three stacked coffins, showing scenes of Christ’s flagellation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection.
Inside sit the bones of the Magi...three skulls with golden crowns. So what’s the big deal about these three kings (of Christmas-carol fame)? They were the first to recognize Jesus as the Savior and the first to come as pilgrims to worship him—inspiring medieval pilgrims and countless pilgrims since. For a thousand years, a theme of this cathedral has been that life is a pilgrimage...a search for God.
• Opposite the shrine, at the far-east end of the church, is the...
5 Chapel of the Three Magi: The center chapel, at the church’s far end, is the oldest. It also features the church’s oldest window (center, from 1265). The design is typical: a strip of Old Testament scenes on the left with a parallel strip of New Testament scenes on the right that matches theologically and visually (such as, on bottom panels: to the left, the birth of Eve; to the right, the birth of Mary with her mother Anne on the bed).
Later glass windows (which you saw lining the nave) were made from panes of clear glass that were painted and glazed. This medieval window, however, is actually colored glass, which is assembled like a mosaic. It was very expensive. The size was limited to what pilgrim donations could support. Notice the plain, budget design higher up.
• Peek into the center zone between the high altar and the carved wooden central stalls. (You can’t usually get inside, unless you take the tour.)
6 Choir: The choir is surrounded by 13th- and 14th-century art with carved oak stalls, frescoed walls, statues painted as they would have been, and original stained glass high above. Study the fanciful oak carvings. The woman cutting the man’s hair is a Samson-and-Delilah warning to the sexist men of the early Church.
• The nearby chapel holds one of the most precious paintings of the important Gothic School of Cologne.
7 Chapel of the Virgin: The Patron Saints of Cologne was painted around 1440, probably by Stefan Lochner. Notice the photographic realism and believable depth. There are literally dozens of identifiable herbs in the grassy foreground. During the 19th century, the city fought to move the painting to a museum. The Church went to court to keep it. The judge ruled that it could stay in the cathedral—as long as a Mass was said before it every day. For more than a hundred years, that happened at 18:30. Now, 21st-century comfort has trumped 19th-century law: In winter, services take place in the warmer Sacrament Chapel instead. (If you like this painting, you’ll enjoy the many other fine works from the School of Cologne at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, described later.)
Overlooking the same chapel (between the windows), the delicate Madonna of Milan sculpture (1290), associated with miracles, was a focus of pilgrims for centuries. Its colors, scepter, and crown were likely added during a restoration in 1900. The reclining medieval knight in the cage at the back of the chapel (just before the gate) is a wealthy but childless patron who donated his entire county to the cathedral.
As you head for the exit, look into the transept on your left. The stained-glass windows above you are a random and abstract pattern of 80 colors, “sampled” from the church’s more-historic windows. The local artist Gerhard Richter designed these windows to create a “harmony of colors” in 2007.
Before leaving, look above the tomb with the cage and find the statue of St. Christopher (with Jesus on his shoulder and the pilgrim’s staff). He’s facing the original south transept entry to the church. Since 1470, pilgrims and travelers have looked up at him and taken solace in the hope that their patron saint is looking out for them.
• Go in peace.
An exterior entry (to the right of the church as you face the west facade) takes you into a modern excavation site, where you can see an arch and the foundations from the cathedral’s predecessor (free), and pay to climb the cathedral’s dizzying south tower. For a workout of 509 steps, you can enjoy a fine city view. From the belfry (Glockenstube; only 400 steps up), you can see the Dom’s nine huge bells, including Dicke Peter (24-ton Fat Peter), claimed to be the largest free-swinging church bell in the world.
Cost and Hours: €4, €8 combo-ticket includes treasury, daily 9:00-18:00, closes earlier in off-season.
The treasury sits outside the cathedral’s left transept (when you exit through the front door, turn right and continue right around the building to the gold pillar marked Schatzkammer). The six dim, hushed rooms are housed in the cathedral’s 13th-century stone cellar vaults. Spotlights shine on black cases filled with gilded chalices and crosses, medieval reliquaries (bits of chain, bone, cross, and cloth in gold-crusted glass capsules), and plenty of fancy bishop garb: intricately embroidered miters and vestments, rings with fat gemstones, and six-foot gold crosiers. Displays come with brief English descriptions; the little €4.50 Cologne Cathedral book sold inside the adjacent cathedral shop (Domladen) provides extra information.
Cost and Hours: €6, €8 combo-ticket includes spire climb, daily 10:00-18:00, tel. 0221/1794-0530.
This helpful visitors center, across from the cathedral’s entrance, is a good place to support the Vatican Bank (notice the Pax Bank ATM just outside the entrance), or just to take a break from the crowds outside. The staff offers plenty of cathedral info, and the welcoming lounge has inexpensive coffee and juice. The English “multivision” video about the church starts slow but gets a little better.
Cost and Hours: Visitors center-free, Mon-Fri 9:30-18:00, Sat until 17:00, Sun 13:00-17:00, may close for special events, clean WC downstairs; video-€2, included with church tour, runs Mon-Sat at 11:30 and 15:30, Sun at 15:30 only, 20 minutes; tel. 0221/9258-4720, www.domforum.de.
This museum contains some of the cathedral’s finest art. Built around the Madonna in the Ruins church, the museum is conceived as a place of reflection. There are no tours or information or noise. It’s just you and the art in a modern building built upon the rubble of war. The daring modernist rebuild is a statement: We lost the war. Just accept it.
Cost and Hours: €5, Wed-Mon 12:00-17:00, closed Tue; on Kolumbastrasse, which runs between Minoritenstrasse and Brückenstrasse, a few blocks southwest of the cathedral; tel. 0221/933-1930, www.kolumba.de.
One of Germany’s top Roman museums offers minimal English information among its elegant and fascinating display of Roman artifacts: glassware, jewelry, and mosaics. All these pieces are evidence of Cologne’s status as an important site of civilization long before the cathedral was ever imagined. Temporary exhibits are on the ground floor. Upstairs, you’ll see an original, reassembled arched gate to the Roman city with the Roman initials for the town, CCAA, still legible, and incredible glassware that Roman Cologne was famous for producing. The museum’s main attraction, described near the start of my self-guided walk, is the in-situ Roman-mosaic floor—which you can see from the street for free through the large window.
Cost and Hours: €6.50; Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00, first Thu of month until 22:00, closed Mon; Roncalliplatz 4, tel. 0221/2212-4438, www.roemisch-germanisches-museum.de.
Next door and more enjoyable, this museum—in a slick and modern building—offers a stimulating trip through the art of the last century, including American Pop and post-WWII art. The ground floor shows special exhibits. Upstairs (on the right) is the Haubrich collection. Josef Haubrich managed to keep his impressive collection of German Expressionist art out of Nazi hands (they considered it “decadent art”) and eventually gave it to the city. The collection includes works by the great German Expressionists Max Beckmann, Otto Dix, and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Their paintings capture the loss of idealism and innocence following World War I and helped take art into the no-holds-barred modern world. The first floor also has a fine Picasso collection. The top floor is mostly contemporary and abstract paintings.
Cost and Hours: €12; Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, first Thu of month until 22:00, closed Mon; audioguide-€3, free WC in entry hall, pricey cafeteria, Heinrich-Böll-Platz, tel. 0221/2212-6165, www.museum-ludwig.de.
These museums are several blocks south of the cathedral.
Housed in a cinderblock of a building near the City Hall, this minimalist museum features a world-class collection of old masters, from medieval to northern Baroque and Impressionist. You’ll see the best collection anywhere of Gothic School of Cologne paintings (1300-1550), offering an intimate peek into those times. Also included are German, Dutch, Flemish, and French works by masters such as Albrecht Dürer, Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Jan Steen, Vincent van Gogh, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet, Edvard Munch, and Paul Cézanne.
Cost and Hours: €8-13 depending on special exhibits; Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, first and third Thu until 22:00, closed Mon; on Obenmarspforten, tel. 0221/2212-1119, www.wallraf.museum.
Chocoholics love this place, cleverly billed as the “MMMuseum.” Three levels of displays follow the cocoa bean from its origin to the finished product. Local historians, noting the “dumbing-down” of this generation of tourists, complain that this museum gets more visitors than all of Cologne’s other museums combined. You’ll see displays on the history, culture, and business of chocolate from the Aztecs onward, step into a hot and muggy greenhouse to watch the beans grow, and follow sweet little treats as they trundle down the conveyor belt in the functioning chocolate factory, the museum’s highlight. The top-floor exhibit on chocolate advertising is fun. Some find that the museum takes chocolate too seriously, and wish the free samples weren’t so meager—you’ll have to do your indulging in the fragrant, choc-full gift shop.
Cost and Hours: €11.50; Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat-Sun 11:00-19:00, last entry one hour before closing; Am Schokoladenmuseum 1a, tel. 0221/931-8880, www.schokoladenmuseum.de. It’s a pleasant 10-minute walk south on the riverfront, between the Deutzer and Severins bridges.
This museum contains the largest collection of the artist’s powerful Expressionist art, welling from her experiences living in Berlin during the tumultuous first half of the 20th century.
Cost and Hours: €5; Tue-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat-Sun 11:00-18:00, closed Mon; Neumarkt 18, tel. 0221/227-2899, www.kollwitz.de. From Hohe Strasse, walk west on Schildergasse for about 10 minutes to Neumarkt; go past the Neumarkt Gallerie shopping center to Neumarkt Passage, enter Neumarkt Passage, and walk to the glass-domed center courtyard, where you’ll take the glass elevator to the fifth floor.
Cologne is the convention town in Germany. Consequently, hotels are either jam-packed (rates double or even triple), or they’re empty and hungry for guests. An updated list of convention dates is posted at www.koelnmesse.de (choose English, then “Trade fairs and events,” then “Trade fairs in Cologne”). Unlisted smaller conventions can also lead to small price increases, and big conventions in nearby Düsseldorf can fill rooms and raise rates in Cologne. Outside of convention times, prices are soft, so ask the hotel for its best offer.
All the options listed here are an easy roll from the train station with your luggage.
$$$ Hotel Ibis Köln am Dom, a 71-room chain hotel, offers predictability and tidiness, and you can’t beat the location—inside the station building—though it lacks personality (breakfast extra, air-con, elevator, Bahnhofsvorplatz, entry across from station’s Reisezentrum, tel. 0221/912-8580, www.ibishotel.com, h0739@accor.com).
$$ Classic Hotel Harmonie’s 72 business-class rooms include some very small, nicely priced singles as well as luxurious “superior” rooms, which have hardwoods and swanky bathrooms with heated floors. It’s plenty pricey during conventions, but becomes affordable on weekends and is a downright steal when business is slow (more expensive rooms have air-con, elevator, limited pay parking, Ursulaplatz 13, tel. 0221/16570, www.classic-hotel-harmonie.de, info@classic-hotel-harmonie.com). It’s a five-minute walk northwest of the station: Exit by track 1 and walk straight to the roundabout, then go right on Marzellenstrasse and bear left on Ursulaplatz, toward the church.
$$ Hotel Domstern is a 16-room boutique hotel with fresh, pleasant rooms above a colorful lobby, located in a fine townhouse just steps from the station (elevator, pay parking; from the train station, take the Breslauer Platz exit by track 11 and walk two blocks up Domstrasse to #26; tel. 0221/168-0080, www.hotel-domstern.de, info@hotel-domstern.de).
$$ Hotel Domspitzen is the 30-room sister hotel to the Domstern (listed above). Its convenient location, whimsical wallpapered rooms, and sun terrace with a peek-a-boo view of the cathedral make it a good value (elevator, pay parking; from the train station, take the Breslauer Platz exit by track 11 and walk a half-block up Domstrasse to #23; tel. 0221/998-930, www.hotel-domspitzen.de, info@hotel-domspitzen.de).
¢ Station Hostel is a five-minute walk from the train station (private rooms available, breakfast extra, elevator, next-door restaurant, no curfew, tel. 0221/912-5301; exit station on cathedral side, walk straight one block, turn right on Marzellenstrasse to #44; www.hostel-cologne.de, station@hostel-cologne.de).
$$ Stern am Rathaus has nine new rooms on three floors over a small, modern restaurant in a quiet location just around the corner from Alter Markt and the City Hall (family room, air-con, no elevator, pay parking; Bürgerstrasse 6, tel. 0221/2225-1750, www.stern-am-rathaus.com, hotelstern@mailbox.org).
$$ Lint Hotel, a small place with 18 modern rooms and hardwood floors, is comfortably located in a little alley between Fischmarkt and Alter Markt. It’s expensive during conventions and in high season, but offers affordable deals at other times (includes breakfast with homemade Bircher Muesli, no elevator, pay parking, Lintgasse 7, tel. 0221/920-550, www.lint-hotel.de, contact@lint-hotel.de).
$ Hotel Engelbertz is a fine, family-run, 40-room enterprise. It’s an eight-minute walk from the station and cathedral at the end of the pedestrian mall (RS%, elevator, public pay parking; just off Hohe Strasse at Obenmarspforten 1, coming from station turn left at Hohe Strasse 96; tel. 0221/257-8994, www.hotel-engelbertz.de, info@hotel-engelbertz.de).
The city’s distinct type of beer, called Kölsch, is pale, hoppy, and fermented in a way more typical of wheat-based beers, lending it a slight sweetness. Beer halls tend to have similar menus but distinguish themselves by which brand of beer they serve (usually Gaffel, Päffgen, Peters, or Früh). Beers come in delicate glasses (by Bavarian standards) and are shuttled around in small wreath-like trays (Bierkränze). Cologne’s waiters, called Köbes, have a reputation for grumpiness, and some beer halls have a sloppy, sticky-tabled feeling, but others have helpful and attentive service and attractive interiors. This is the place to satisfy your cravings for blood sausage (Blutwurst) and kidneys (Nierchen)...or, for something a little more mainstream, look for the tasty Rheinischer Sauerbraten with Klössen (dumplings) and applesauce. Pub after pub advertise yard-high beer glasses and yard-long bratwurst.
(See “Cologne” map, here.)
The area around Alter Markt, a square a few blocks from the cathedral, is home to dozens of beer halls, most with both outdoor and indoor seating. Wander from Alter Markt through Heumarkt (an adjacent square) and down Salzgasse to Frankenwerft (along the river) to catch the flavor.
$$$ Bierhaus en d’r Salzgass, cozy and stylishly decorated, is where locals have been coming for beer since the 19th century. Today it belongs to Päffgen brewery and serves authentic German dishes (Mon-Thu 16:00-24:00, Fri-Sun 12:00-24:00, Salzgasse 5, tel. 0221/800-1900). Päffgen’s nearby $$$ Bierhaus am Rhein has the same menu and offers views of the Rhine and park at Frankenwerft (daily 12:00-24:00, Frankenwerft 27, tel. 0221/800-1902).
If you’re more interested in music and beer than in food, check out $$ Papa Joe’s Klimperkasten, a dark pub packed with memorabilia and live jazz daily (Gaffel on tap, live piano jazz Sun-Thu from 20:00, none June-Aug, Alter Markt 50, tel. 0221/258-2132). A couple of minutes’ walk away is its rowdier sibling, Papa Joe’s Jazzlokal (live bands Mon-Sat from 20:30, Sun from 19:30 except closed Sun June-Aug, Buttermarkt 37, tel. 0221/257-7931, www.papajoes.de for jazz schedule—American jazz and Dixieland have a big following in Germany). The pubs on the Frankenwerft, along the river across from the K-D boat dock, tend to be a bit more expensive.
(See “Cologne” map, here.)
$$ Holtmann’s im MAKK, a museum café with sophisticated locals enjoying light fare, is a good option for a non-Brauhaus lunch. If you eat here on a Sunday morning, be sure to sit outside and enjoy a free organ concert al fresco—the courtyard abuts a church (Tue-Sun 11:00-17:00, closed Mon, on other side of Hohe Strasse from the cathedral in Museum of Applied Arts—Museum für Angewandte Kunst—at An der Rechtschule 1, inside front door and down the stairs, no museum ticket needed, tel. 0221/2779-8860).
$ Café Eigel, just off Hohe Strasse near the recommended Hotel Engelbertz, is a good option for Kaffee und Kuchen (afternoon cake and coffee) or for a light lunch (including salads and omelets). In the same location for 50 years, it’s been remodeled in a fresh, sleek, modern style. Enjoy delicious pastries in the airy atrium, and be sure to pick up some homemade chocolates (Mon-Sat 9:00-18:00, Sun from 14:00, Brückenstrasse 1, tel. 0221/257-5858).
$$ Früh am Dom, near the cathedral, is the closest beer hall to the station. Popular with both locals and tourists, it offers three floors of traditional German drinking and dining options. In the adjoining delicatessen on the left, check out a painting of what the city looked like in 1531 (daily 8:00-24:00, Am Hof 12, tel. 0221/261-3211).
$$ Schreckenskammer is a down-home joint and might be the least touristy beer hall in central Cologne. It’s located just behind the St. Ursula church, near the recommended Harmonie hotel. The sand on the floor, swept out and replaced each morning, buffs the hardwood and also keeps it clean. The kammer is small and cozy, so be prepared to share a table and make new friends over a Kölsch or two. Most meals (choose from the Tageskarte, or daily specials) start with a complimentary cup of Brühe (broth). Don’t mistake this as an act of hospitality—it only serves to make you thirstier. This eatery is really popular, so arrive early or make a reservation (Tue-Sat 11:00-13:45 & 16:30-22:30, closed Sun-Mon, Ursulagartenstrasse 11, tel. 0221/132-581, www.schreckenskammer.com).
From Cologne by Train to: Bonn (5/hour, 30 minutes), Remagen (2-3/hour, 50 minutes), Aachen (2-3/hour, 1 hour), Frankfurt (direct ICE trains almost hourly, most leave from Cologne’s Köln-Messe-Deutz station—a 2-minute trip across river by S-Bahn, 1.5 hours; slower, cheaper, less frequent IC trains along Rhine are better for enjoying scenery, 2.5 hours), Frankfurt Airport (1-2/hour, 1 hour; trains along Rhine go less often and take 2.5 hours), Bacharach/St. Goar (hourly; 2 hours with change in Koblenz, 2.5 hours direct), Cochem (hourly, 2.5 hours; most change in Koblenz), Trier (at least hourly, 3 hours, some change in Koblenz), Würzburg (hourly, 2.5 hours, some with change in Frankfurt), Hamburg (hourly direct, 4 hours), Munich (2/hour, 4.5 hours, some with 1 change), Berlin (hourly, 5 hours, night train possible), Paris (5/day direct, 3.5 hours, Thalys train—requires seat reservation), Amsterdam (7/day direct, 3 hours). Train info: Toll tel. 0180-699-6633, www.bahn.com.
Bonn was chosen for its sleepy, cultured, and peaceful nature as a good place to plant West Germany’s first post-Hitler government. Since the two Germanys became one again in 1989, Berlin has taken back its position as the capital.
Today, Bonn is sleek, modern, and, by big-city standards, remarkably pleasant and easygoing. The pedestrian-only old town stretching out from the station will make you wonder why the US can’t trade in its malls for real, people-friendly cities. The market square and Münsterplatz—filled with street musicians—are a joy. People-watching doesn’t get much better, though the actual sights are disappointing.
The TI is a five-minute walk from the station (Mon-Fri 10:00-18:00, Sat until 16:00, Sun until 14:00, go straight on Windeckstrasse, next to Karstadt department store, tel. 0228/775-000, www.bonn.de).
If you’re a classical-music fan, you can stop by Beethoven’s Birthplace, with its sparse exhibits (€6; daily 10:00-18:00, shorter hours Nov-March; free tours run Mon, Thu, and Sat at 14:30; Bonngasse 18, tel. 0228/981-7525, www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de).
Midway between Koblenz and Cologne are the scant remains of the Bridge at Remagen, of WWII (and movie) fame. But the memorial and the bridge stubs are enough to stir the emotions of Americans who remember when, in 1945, it was the only bridge still standing on the Rhine, allowing the Allies to pour across the river and race toward Berlin. The bridge was built during World War I to help supply the German forces on the Western Front. (Ironically, one war later, General Eisenhower said the bridge was worth its weight in gold for its service against Germany.) An American unit captured the bridge on March 7, 1945, just after two failed attempts to demolish it (Hitler executed four generals for this failure). Ten days after US forces arrived, the bridge did collapse, killing 28 American soldiers. Today you can pay your respects here and visit the Peace Museum, which tells the bridge’s fascinating story (€3.50, daily 10:00-18:00, off-season until 17:00, closed mid-Nov-early March; it’s on the Rhine’s west bank, south side of Remagen town, follow Brücke von Remagen signs; tel. 02642/20159, www.bruecke-remagen.de). Remagen TI: Tel. 02642/20187.
This city was the capital of Europe in A.D. 800, when Charles the Great (Charlemagne) called it Aix-la-Chapelle. The remains of his rule include an impressive Byzantine- and Ravenna-inspired church, with his sarcophagus and throne. Enjoy the town’s charming historic pedestrian center and festive Christmas market. See the headliner newspaper museum and great fountains, including a clever arrange-’em-yourself version.
This famous old university town attracts hordes of Americans. Any surviving charm is stained almost beyond recognition by commercialism. It doesn’t make it into Germany’s top three weeks.
These towns are all too big or too famous. They’re not worth your time. Mainz’s Gutenberg Museum is also a disappointment.