Hidden Cologne 2020

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URBAN ART & CULTURE • ARCHITECTURE • FOOD • MUSIC • NEW WORK • DESIGN

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Editorial This is the Cologne we love to call home

It feels a little strange to be bringing out a guide to Cologne in a year like this. As we are finishing up this issue, in autumn 2020, the number of coronavirus cases is rising and fears the city has gone into lockdown. However, Cologne seems to have got off relatively lightly so far and the people here have weathered the storm well and showed great solidarity, with many locals helping out their neighbours, donating money and practising caution to protect others.

But if you’re holding this guide in your hands, then there’s a good chance that not even a global pandemic could stop you from making your way to Cologne – whether you’ve moved here for love, are starting a new job or just enjoying a short city trip. The Cologne that we want to present to you in this issue of Hidden Cologne is different from the one you might know from the postcards. A Cologne where artists are experimenting with new forms of urban planning, where a young generation of techno producers is working on new soundscapes and where indie game developers are winning awards for their multifaceted games. This is the Cologne we love to call home. And we hope that our beloved city makes it safely through the pandemic in the coming months.

Wishing you a warm welcome. Stay healthy!

The Hidden Cologne team

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free // NO 3

URBAN ART & CULTUR

E • ARCHITECTURE

• FOOD • MUSIC • NEW

WORK • DESIGN

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Contents

Seasonal highlights

Lively chaos

The best events for lovers of books, music, art and video games and the most interesting meet-up for digital natives

Cologne is famous for its modernist architecture. and a heterogeneity that mirrors the city’s turbulent history

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Beyond the clichés

A day in the life of Sonja Baumann

There are many stereo­ types about Cologne and some even happen to be true

6 Seasonal highlights There’s always something going on in the city, but here’s our pick of the events you won’t want to miss

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A day in the life of Stawrula Panagiotaki The dramatic advisor at the Schauspiel Köln is a big fan of modernist architec­ ture and the Rhine river

12 Lively chaos Cologne’s architecture displays a heterogeneity of styles

14 Eating out in Cologne: Breakfast and brunch Start the day off right with shakshuka, sweet pancakes or German bread at the city’s best breakfast spots

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Shopping in Cologne These quirky stores are well worth a visit

18 Eating out in Cologne: Lunch restaurants From lentil soup to Miche­ lin-starred cuisine and a vegan buffet: our lunch break tips for Cologne

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On her days off, the ­Michelin-starred chef enjoys strolls in the park, fine dining and day trips to nearby palaces

22 Start-ups in Cologne – A co-working story Cologne’s start-up scene is thriving, which has a lot to do with its co-working hubs

24 Co-working and conversations Inside three of Cologne’s co-working hubs

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Out in the open air For a truly authentic Cologne experience, head outside

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Game on Find out more about Cologne’s indie gaming scene

42 A day in the life of Martin Bechler The singer tells us how he likes to spend a hungover day in his beloved Ehren­ feld

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28 A home (office) away from home The best co-working spaces in Cologne

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Coffee and cake time in Cologne Indulge your sweet tooth with Kaffee und Kuchen at the city’s best cafés

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Serious gaming

A better Cologne

A day in the life of ...

Cologne’s indie gaming scene is thriving and its most successful games aren’t shying away from hard-hitting subjects

New urban initiatives are using Cologne’s industrial heritage to change the city for the common good

What’s the best way to spend a day in Cologne? We asked seven locals in our series “A day in the life of...”

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A day in the life of Eva Schuderer For the literature festival organiser, a perfect day in Cologne starts with a hearty breakfast and ends with a game of boules

54 Awakened from a deep slumber Urban initiatives are finding ways to change the city for the better

56 New spaces Cologne’s art scene is ex­ ploring new niches in the most unlikely of places

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Cologne goes green The city is setting an example of how urban living can be combined with eco-awareness

66 Kiln time in Cologne The best addresses in the city for pottery workshops, sustainable ceramics and eclectic creations

72 Pretty little things Our round-up of Cologne’s best design stores

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A day in the life of Michael Mayer

Take a culinary tour around the world without having to leave Cologne

The city’s Belgian Quarter is where you’ll usually find the DJ and producer

80 A day in the life of Erik Scheffler The Michelin-starred chef’s tips for Cologne include a bike ride, street art and a walk in the woods

A short guide to annual LGBTIQ* events in the city

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Where to stay From hostel beds to arty hotels: the best places to bed down for the night

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Cologne’s four on the floor Cologne’s electronic music scene has seen an injection of new momentum in recent years

Cocktail hour in Cologne Raising the rainbow flag

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A day in the life of Yilmaz Dziewor When he’s not at work, the Director of the Museum Ludwig enjoys cycling along the Rhine and ­shopping for books

Eating out in Cologne: Dinner restaurants

If sipping cocktails is your thing, you’ll be spoilt for choice here

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Good to know Useful information for your next trip to Cologne

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Beyond the clichés People in Germany have many preconceptions about C ­ ologne – both positive and negative. And although some are rather far from the mark, there is arguably a grain of truth in them all

Text Christian Werthschulte Photography Thomas Schäkel

The biggest cliché regarding Cologne – i.e. that it is an ugly city with a big church at its centre, but that its people are warm and friendly – is not all that far from the truth. Anyone who comes here expecting to see quaint half-timbered houses or the kind of wide roads built during the great economic upswing of the mid-19th century will be sorely disappointed to find tiled houses and narrow streets filled with parked cars. Having said that, the tiles do have a certain charm and, in their own way, can be said to be little architectural works of art. You can’t judge a book by its cover, but it turns out you can judge a house by its façade! If you’re still in two minds, take a look at the @kachelsofkoeln (tiles of Cologne) Instagram profile and marvel at all the mix-and-match colours, façades and street art. And if you travel on the underground in Cologne, you will appreciate the sheer variety of tile patterns in the various tram stations – to the point that each one can be recognised even before its name comes into view.

So it’s often worth taking a closer look.

Not just at the walls of Cologne’s buildings but at many areas of the city, which still has its own endearing aesthetic. And after all, this “closer look” is what our magazine is all about.

Take the art scene, for instance. ­Cologne has been one of the epicentres of the international art world since the 1950s. And no one embodies this better than Gerhard Richter, who lives in the south of the city. With his photo-paintings and collaborations, he shaped post-war German art as well as being hugely successful on a commercial level, his works fetching some of the highest prices of any of this period. Art Cologne, for instance, is still committed to this legacy, focusing as it does on the modern art trade. However, a young scene has been developing in the shadow of this longstanding art tradition for quite some time now – a scene that is

interested in a different approach to art. It comes together in small art rooms and galleries, which themselves are every bit as interesting as the artists who exhibit there.

Broad access to art, from collages to music videos, is the order of the day here.

And the scene is also involved in city politics, organising anti-racist events or lending its voice to urban planning debates, for example.

In other words, the art scene is a prime example of something that affects Cologne as a whole. In many cases, the city is associated so strongly with one thing that it obscures everything else that is happening. For instance, the electronic music scene is afforded far less media coverage than it was during the “Sound of Cologne” era in the 1990s, even though it covers a broader stylistic palette today. And director Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay’s take on Cologne is every bit as interesting as what Rainer Werner Fassbinder captured on celluloid back in the 1970s.

And then there is Cologne’s start-up scene and its growing influence on the local economy. While the tech giants prefer to base their headquarters in Berlin or Hamburg, many start-ups have set up in Cologne with a view to serving mid-size companies or the local insurance scene, right in the heart of Rhineland capitalism – hardly a glamorous claim to fame. This is only half the story, though. After all, a new start-up centre – The Ship – also serves as a hub for New Work and tech, something that you really wouldn’t expect to find in the unassuming surroundings of Cologne-Bickendorf.

And how about the famous warmth and friendliness of the locals? This is one cliché that can actually be taken at face value. In a place where people in their 30s and 40s are still addressed as “young man” or “young lady”, it’s hard to imagine anything else!

Cologne might not be the most attractive city but its locals are warm and friendly

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Seasonal highlights Cologne has something to offer all year round Text Christian Werthschulte Illustration Kati Michaelis

literature festival

start-up scene

gaming festival

Litcologne

Pirate Summit

Gamescom

At Litcologne, authors are fêted like rock stars. Small wonder, then, that the literature festival has already held an event in the city’s huge Lanxess Arena or that readings at the Philharmonie concert hall sell out every year. While the festival is a great place to see well-known authors like Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood live on stage, its real selling point is the unusual choice of venues for its events. So if you fancy hearing a crime story unfold at the local police headquarters, Litcologne is the place to come.

If you want to dance in the open air until the sun goes down, Cologne club Odonien is the place to come. Except for one weekend in August, when this cool sculpture park is taken over by coders and tech entrepreneurs. This is when the Pirate Summit – the most extravagant get-together in the start-up scene – comes to town.

Founders rub shoulders with start-up pros and industry veterans share their valuable knowledge. Questions are asked and experiences are shared – and it’s all rounded off by tours around Cologne’s ever-growing start-up scene.

Gamescom is Germany’s biggest gaming festival, where avid gamers will queue up for hours on end just to have a shot at the newest blockbuster game before its release months later. At the same time, Gamescom is a declaration of love to the medium of video gaming. In the Retro Arena you will find games consoles from the 80s, while the Indie Arena is the place for aspiring young developers to showcase their games in person. But the best thing about Gamescom are the cosplay teenagers who descend on Cologne for three whole days dressed up as their favourite gaming characters. Even if your own gaming skills are nothing to write home about, it’s worth coming here just for that!

30 May–13 June 2021, litcologne.de

August, piratesummit.com

August, gamescom.de

music festival

c/o pop c/o pop is an important fixture in Cologne’s musical calendar. Ever since the festival was launched in the mid-noughties, it has constantly been reinventing itself.

After starting out as a festival for electronic music, the event has evolved into a showcase for aspiring young artists from all over the globe. The supporting programme is also moving away from music industry shop talk and appealing to a wider audience with readings and beat-making workshops. But its most recent reinvention came in 2020 – during the coronavirus crisis, c/o pop took place online for the first time. And even though it was an interesting experience, we hope that its nocturnal events can return to the clubs very soon.

Date TBC, c-o-pop.de

art event

Museum Night (On Tour) Museum Night is an institution in Cologne: once a year, museums and art spaces open their doors until well into the night. As well as exhibitions, you can visit concerts and performances. But coronavirus restrictions have forced the organisers to modify the format: instead of one big tour a year, they are now giving small tours around different museums and other art venues once a month, each one with its own theme. The tour about life in Roman times will take you to one of Cologne’s typical beerhalls, and the tour of independent artist-run spaces is by bicycle, making every event an opportunity to discover an unknown side of the city.

First Thursday of every month, museumsnacht-koeln.de

film festival

Cologne Film Festival Cologne has an international reputation as a TV production hub but can also hold its own as a cinema and film city. And Cologne Film Festival brings the best of these worlds together. Movie fans can look forward to premieres by filmmakers like Kelly Reichardt and an impressive line-up of documentaries, while TV fans can relish watching series on the big screen rather than on the sofa at home – particularly since many of these won’t be available to stream until months later. And film buffs and TV addicts alike will enjoy the Artist Talks featuring international stars like Mads Mikkelsen and German director Dominik Graf, who effortlessly transcends the line between TV and cinema like no one else.

October, filmfestival.cologne

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Eating out in Cologne: Breakfast and brunch Kölns Gastro Guide 2020/2021

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Neobiota Not too big on etiquette or tradition, the team at Neobiota focuses on great food. Sonja Baumann and Erik Scheffler opened their restaurant in 2018 and have been laying claim to the “world’s best breakfast” ever since. An ace up their sleeve is that they bake their own breads, which make the perfect base for eggs, salmon or mushrooms. Those with a sweet tooth can opt for the homemade Bircher muesli or pancakes – or if a heartier breakfast is more your thing, the shakshuka or corned beef. If you have a little time to spare, you should try the fluffy Japanese-style pancakes with stewed mango and passion fruit, which take half an hour to prepare. Breakfast is served between 10 am and 2:30 pm. In the evening, Neobiota transforms into a top restaurant, which was awarded its first Michelin star in 2019.

Ehrenstr. 43, 50672 Cologne, restaurant-neobiota.de

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Feynsinn

Hanimeli

Feynsinn on Rathenauplatz is an ideal breakfast spot for people who like a lie-in. Here, a wide range of specialities are served from 9 am to as late as 4 pm, with guests invited to tick the boxes on the menu to make their choices. They range from individual items such as wholemeal bread, yoghurt or guacamole, or pre-set breakfast options such as Israeli shakshuka with eggs from the nearby Bergisches Land region to the bountiful Tous les fromages French cheese platter.

Served with maple syrup, homemade jam and fresh fruit aplenty, the French toast is vegan, cinnamony and irresistibly creamy. For an extra caffeine boost, order a premium Moxxa latte. And if you’re breakfasting alone, you can take a break from your smartphone and read the literature in the menu instead.

It’s easy to miss Hanimeli amid the overblown shop window displays that are par for the course on Keupstrasse. Yet it is home to one of the most impressive breakfast buffets in the city. Owner Elif Tali greets all guests personally and it’s hard to imagine how she finds the time to sleep. The price for the breakfast buffet includes as much çay (Turkish tea) as you like – as well as fresh salads with bulgur, noodles or pulses, olives, spreads and grilled vegetables. And there are no fewer than three hot Turkish breakfast classics: simit, sucuk and menemen, a spicy scrambled egg dish with tomatoes.

Not to mention fried bread made from yeast dough and fluffy, filled poğaça. Or the homemade halva – a sweet semolina pudding with spices, nuts and coconut flakes that will leave you coming back for more.

Rathenauplatz 7, 50674 Cologne, cafe-feynsinn.de

Keupstr. 33, 51063 Cologne, hanimeli.koeln

Hinz & Kunz | Photo: Daniel Grünfeld

Hinz & Kunz

Schlechtrimen

Dürener Strasse is not exactly where it’s all happening in Cologne. In fact, it only gets interesting when you take a seat in the ever-busy Hinz & Kunz, and lose yourself in the hustle and bustle around you. The team of chefs whip up delectable mueslis such as the Power Amaranth with yoghurt, extra-fine oats, coconut flakes and plenty of fruit – or the Freche Früchtchen pancakes with dark maple syrup, pineapple, blueberries, bananas and plums. With industrial chic lamps, dark-grey walls and super-speedy service staff, this is a popular haunt among younger guests in particular. Those who prefer more quiet surroundings will prefer to sit at the back on the right, behind the kitchen. Here, the concrete aesthetic is replaced by wood on the walls – and the tables by the windows are the perfect spot to relax and watch the world go by.

“Slow baker” Engelbert Schlechtrimen runs the family bakery and café that has borne his name for three generations. His superb bread can be bought at the counter – which is framed by an impressive array of certificates – or savoured in what may well be the cosiest café on the other side of the Rhine. With a choice of scrambled egg either with or without bacon, the Sunday breakfast buffet is a real treat for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

The savoury delicacies on offer – including salmon, Mett (ground pork with onion), smoked trout and a wide range of cheeses – are perfect on the mild rye Graubrot and the fabulously nutty Nussbrot. Included in the price is the orange juice from the self-service juicer, powered entirely by elbow grease. The lattes are served in giant cups and fairly priced.

Schallstraße 34, 50931 Cologne, hinzundkunz.cafe

Kalker Hauptstr. 210, 51103 Cologne, schlechtrimen.de

From pancakes and French toast to shakshuka and sausage, Cologne has you covered

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Photo: Dörthe Boxberg

A day in the life of …

… Stawrula Panagiotaki

For me, an ideal day in Cologne begins with a lie-in. And because the weather here is usually quite good in summer, I like to take a stroll by the Rhine river. I start at the Bastei, a modernist building from the 1920s and former café, which was designed by Wilhelm Riphahn. From there I head northwards towards the AXA high-rise, the city’s tallest building. In its shadows you will find the Schwimmbad, a cosy beer garden located where an outdoor swimming pool used to be. It attracts a mixed crowd, everyone from families to walkers and cyclists. I like to have a coffee, or a Kölsch, and they also serve up the biggest portion of fries that I’ve ever seen. It really is huge!

After this, I head over the Mülheim Bridge to the right-hand side of the Rhine to pay a visit to Italian supermarket Nadia in the Schanzenviertel district, where I buy Italian sausage, cheese and a bottle of wine before going to the Carlswerk.

This is not only where I work, but also a great spot for my next break: the Carlsgarten. Originally created by Schauspiel Köln as a community garden for people to grow vegetables together, it has since become the hangout of choice for the entire neighbourhood. It attracts all kinds of people – from us theatre folk to those who work at the Bastei Lübbe publishing house or the IT companies in the neighbouring buildings. And a few kids from Keupstrasse like to come here too.

When evening falls and I’m working at Schauspiel Köln, I like to watch a theatre

show. But I also recommend the guest dance performances. But however I choose to begin the evening, the best way to end it is sitting on the Mülheimer Mäuerchen, a wall next to the little St. Clemens church, right next to the Mülheim Bridge. A few years ago, Schauspiel Köln even staged a show under the bridge and it has become a real meeting place for the neighbourhood’s young, alternative scene. At dusk, it’s a great spot to wander along the banks of the river with a beer in your hand. Or you can follow my lead and take a seat, unpack the wine, cheese and sausage and watch the sun setting and the moon rising behind the Mülheim Bridge, the AXA high-rise and Cologne Cathedral.

However, when my in-laws come to visit or if I’m in a mother-in-law kind of mood myself, I will take a different route through the district of Lindenthal. I will walk from the Museum for East-Asian Art along the Clarenbach canal towards the Christi Auferstehung church. Designed in Brutalist style, its architect ­Gottfried Böhm hid the Jesus crucifix in a corner of the huge interior and you really have to look for it. From there I like to walk over the Lindenthal canal in the direction of the Stadtwald forest, where I stroll around the Kahnweiher, a little artificial lake, before heading to another lake, the Adenauerweiher, where there’s a good place for coffee and cake. All very civilised indeed – my inner motherin-law would certainly approve!

An ideal day in Cologne begins with a lie-in

Stawrula Panagiotaki works as a dramatic advisor at the Schauspiel Köln theatre.

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Lively chaos

Cologne is in a constant state of flux. The city might not always be easy on the eye, but its wide range of architectural gems and monstrosities is what makes it so vibrant Text Hans-Christoph Zimmermann Photography Dรถrthe Boxberg

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You won’t find any buildings by historical architects like Francesco Borromini, Karl Friedrich Schinkel or Gottfried Semper here in Cologne. There was no call for fancy mansions and palaces in this people’s city. And very few of the classic modernist architecture buildings

by Bruno Paul, Dominikus Böhm or Paul Bonatz survived the widespread destruction of the city during the Second World War. Which means that any big names in Cologne’s architectural who’s who invariably come after 1945. One of these great architects was Wilhelm Riphahn, who was born in 1889. Among his most prominent works was the Opera House on Offenbachplatz, built between 1954 and 1957.

Very few buildings convey their function to the outside world as clearly as this one: the polygonal auditorium towers over the cubic foyer area with its five windows, and above the auditorium is a blunted pyramid housing the stage area and workshops. As prestigious as the Opera House Form follows function: Cologne Opera House

may look, Wilhelm Riphahn had other strings to his bow as well. By 1945, he had already been commissioned by the City of Cologne to redesign the east-west axis that the Nazis had originally envisaged on a gigantic scale running through the city, a project that only the outbreak of war had scuppered. Instead of this, Riphahn built a stunning series of single-storey structures with a delicate yet rigorous elegance along Hahnenstrasse, complete with pavilions. This includes what may well be the most attractive of Riphahn’s buildings in Cologne: Die Brücke, consisting of two flat structures and a two-storey main building with an overhanging roof and bay windows. Today, it is home to the Kölnische Kunstverein (Cologne Art Association).

Even though Cologne’s architecture is contemporary for the most part, most of its street layout harks back to medieval times. Which is why the city centre still boasts an enormous density of residential

Cologne’s architecture is modern and its street layout medieval

Residential housing at its most attractive: Haus Wefers

There was no call for fancy mansions and palaces in this people’s city

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Books and brutalism: Cologne University library

houses to this day. Of these, two of the most attractive specimens could well be twins: Haus Wefers at the old city wall (1956) and Haus König on Ehrenstrasse (1980/81). Haus Wefers has no fewer than three completely different façades: a closed brick wall, the main façade with spacious window fronts and the rather intricate north façade. The recessed entrance to the shop on the ground floor includes a prominent sculptural pylon in its design. The corner of Haus König is also set back with a variety of façades: the ground floor is either open and the upper floors closed, or the other way around.

And where Haus Wefers has a pylon, Haus König – as befits a bookshop – has a sculpture of books “tumbling” down its outside wall.

However, Cologne’s urban density has also forced even Brutalist structures with their striking exposed concrete surfaces and sculptural shape to fit into inner-city ensembles. Built between 1962 and 1965 to the designs of Gottfried Böhm, the St. Gertrud church on Krefelder Strasse is a veritable masterpiece wedged in between two residential houses. The three chapel buildings with pointed gables and the slim church tower with a pointed cap give the façade its own distinct rhythm.

In the interior, the walls run directly into

the roof to form a cavernous space. And the Cologne University of Music and Dance in the nearby Kunibertsviertel district also adapts perfectly to its surroundings. Although the architecture offices Werkraum7 and Bauturm had an entire block to build on, they still took on board the patchwork feel of the district when designing the rhythmised façades. The colourful abandon and open spatial design of the interior very clearly reflect the spirit of the 1970s. Just a few minutes’ walk away is the third Brutalist specimen, Ebertplatz, the square that bookends the inner-city ring road to the north of Cologne. Having been largely destroyed in the Second World War, it was opened again in 1977. Engulfed by a pair of two-lane roads, the square itself is below street level and has a water fountain.

The design is rounded off by pavilions on one side and an entrance to the underground station on the other. General neglect and a lack of appreciation for 1970s aesthetics led the square to be rejected by the locals – even now, this unloved city landmark is still the subject of contentious debates about how to preserve or redesign it.

By contrast, Museum Ludwig, which opened its doors in 1986 with the subterranean Philharmonie concert hall, was

welcomed with open arms. However, the assignment to build on the sloping area between the cathedral and the Rhine couldn’t have been more complex for architectural firm Busmann+Haberer. This gave rise to an impressively rhythmised building landscape, whose elaborate saw-tooth roof construction not only reflects the patchwork nature of the Old Town but also creates fascinating light effects. In stark contrast to this is the Maternushaus complex, a conference centre for the Archdiocese of Cologne, designed by architects Hans Schilling and Peter Kulka. Here, the shapes of the individual buildings vary almost as if for the sheer fun of it: The Maternussaal hall is octagonal, the guest house is cuboid, the terrace construction is half-round, the chapel is a cube and the staircases are designed in cylindrical form. The same diversity can also be found in the roof designs, tempered only by the dark-red brick common to the outer surface of all the roofs. “A city cannot be a work of art”, wrote Jane

Rhythm in architecture: Museum Ludwig

| Photo: Thomas Robbin / CC BY-SA 3.0 DE

Jacobs, the grande dame of American urban research, who firmly rejected any attempts to homogenise urban planning.

After all, the heterogeneity of usage and forms is what makes a city come alive.

And what better example of this than ­Cologne?

Shopping in Cologne

Photo: Marie Koehler

Photo: Thomas Schäkel

Photo: Thomas Schäkel

Text Katja Peglow

Siebter Himmel

Cologne’s eclectic mix of designer boutiques, music shops and vintage clothing stores makes it a ­popular shopping destination

Books – fashion – design. Belonging to Cologne publishing house Bastei Lübbe, this concept store (the name of which means ‘Seventh Heaven’ in English) is one of the few stylish bookshops in the city. Located in its Belgian Quarter, it appeals to both avid readers and design enthusiasts. As well as an original selection of reading material, you’ll find tasteful gifts, an impressive children’s book department and Scandinavian interior accessories. Besides the ever-attentive and well-informed staff, a particular highlight is the Büdchen display in the style of a Cologne newsagent’s or ’kiosk’ stocking everything from magazines to bargain paperbacks and the finest Danish liquorice. Seventh heaven for bookworms!

Brüsseler Str. 67, 50672 Cologne, siebterhimmel.de

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Balkhausen Where in Cologne can you marvel at Germany’s bread culture in all its variety? Balkhausen.

But don’t say we didn’t warn you: at peak times you should expect long queues outside these old-fashioned bakery.

They are waiting to get their hands on a loaf with history: in 1915, shortly before he was elected Lord Mayor of the City of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer invented a method for making a type of ’Rhineland-style dark rye bread’ and had the recipe patented. And even though the food shortages of the First World War are long behind us now, the traditional bread is still a firm favourite at the popular bakery. Another tip: if you have a sweet tooth, make sure you try the delicious Domspitzen – little ‘cathedral spires’ made of marzipan and chocolate.

Apostelnstr. 27, 50667 Cologne

Photo: Thomas Schäkel

Photo: Anna-Maria Langer

Funk Magazine Is print dead? Far from it! If you ask store owner and magazine enthusiast Olga Funk, magazines are still very much alive.

Which presumably explains why the Cologne local decided to take the plunge and open the city’s first store for independent print publications right in the middle of the coronavirus and its ensuing retail crisis. Not far from Hansaring, you will find rows and rows of carefully curated magazines (mostly in English) about art, design, society, literature and business. The range of topics is varied and very international. Opening the store is a dream come true for the qualified graphic designer, who has created her very own magazine treasure trove that is set to become a favourite in the Rhine metropolis.

Krefelder Str. 7–9, 50670 Cologne

Kleiderei

Parallel Schallplatten

Strictly speaking, Kleiderei doesn’t really belong in this list.

That’s because the clothing store, which is managed by vintage and slow-fashion fan Lena Schröder, is a place where people come to rent rather than buy. For a fixed monthly fee, you can take all the garments home that your vintage heart desires.

Since 2016, Kleiderei has been supplying the people of Cologne with chic second-hand fashion and unique accessories, while flying the flag for sustainable fashion consumption at the same time. And if you discover a favourite rental piece that you can’t bear to part with, there’s a good chance that the store’s friendly assistants will let you purchase it!

Fortunately, Cologne is blessed with plenty of great record stores. But you won’t find a wider selection spanning all genres than at Parallel Schallplatten in the Belgian Quarter. Whether rock, indie, soul, jazz, hip-hop, country, electro, folk from all over the world or obscure soundtracks: their selection of records – both new and old – is excellent and includes sinfully priced rarities that will make any collector weak at the knees.

And the store has even enticed one or two celebrity customers, such as former Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore, who would regularly come here to stock up on records for his collection whenever he was performing in Cologne.

Venloer Str. 459, 50825 Cologne, kleiderei.com

Brabanter Str. 2–4, 50674 Cologne, parallel-schallplatten.de

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Eating out in Cologne: Lunch restaurants Kölns Gastro Guide 2020/2021

OLD FASHIONED 020 Guide 2019/2 Bars zurück an der Spitze

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Here, in the shadows of the extraordinary architecture of the Kolumba art museum, you’ll find a buffet with a colourful mix of dishes: from soy stroganoff to goulash and mango curry. Simply choose a plate size and help yourself. For just five euros you can get a bowl of soup with two slices of bread. The downside of the buffet concept here is that the dishes are often not as hot as they could be, but the sheer variety more than makes up for it. Most dishes are based on classic recipes but given a unique twist. Like the stroganoff, which uses gherkins to give a slightly sour tang to its creamy sauce and black salsify for a slightly nutty taste. The roasted cauliflower florets are covered in a tahini and lime sauce, turning the golden-brown veg into a hearty treat. But be warned: tables are hard to come by at lunchtime.

Ludwigstr. 11, 50667 Cologne, sattgruen.com

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Kebapland For many Cologne locals, Kebapland is the culinary highlight of Ehrenfeld – comedian Jan Böhmermann even once urged his Twitter followers to “Bury my heart in Kebapland!”. The only bone of contention here is the signature charcoal smell that wafts in all directions.

The officers from the police station opposite aren’t always impressed, but the thought of a mouthwatering Adana platter or sandwich is usually enough to keep the peace. These house specialities are ordered by a constant stream of people from all walks of life – from gangster types with tattooed necks to young boys, senior citizens and regular workers on their lunch breaks. The meat is juicy and generously portioned.

And the soup of the day – “lentil, as always!” – is served with a flatbread from the grill, which gives it its signature smoky flavour. In a word: delicious!

Venloer Str. 385, 50825 Cologne

Astrein Astrein is the new restaurant run by Michelin-starred chef Eric Werner, whose style is classic, precise and perhaps a touch conservative. With a vegetarian option also available, the set meal starts off on an indulgent note: the veal terrine with duck liver was sumptuous, while the black salsify, green apple and Périgord truffle salad provide a fresh touch. This is promptly followed by char baked in puff pastry and positioned before a small pond of beurre blanc, held in place by two pieces of glazed spring lox and a very decadent helping of caviar.

Next up is an excellent filet of Breton mullet, flanked by sobrassada risotto – with preserved limequat for a fruity, bitter contrast. But the undisputed highlight is the aromatic duck breast, accompanied by a tender, vanilla-tinged gratin of ­Jerusalem artichoke.

Krefelder Str. 37, 50670 Cologne, astrein-restaurant.de

Chum Chay | Photo: Daniel Grünfeld

Mevlana There are many restaurants that contribute to the typical grill aroma on Keupstrasse. But particularly worthy of a mention is this one.

Family-run restaurant Mevlana is always busy – and rightly so. But hospitality is always the order of the day. Once seated, you will be brought a generous portion of fluffy pita bread and two dips to start.

Main courses include the grilled rack of lamb, which is cooked on the charcoal grill and seasoned with paprika which gives it its red colour, or the tender roast lamb in a delectable tomato sauce. At the end of your meal, you’ll be treated to a çay (Turkish tea) on the house. If you are interested in discovering more about Turkish cuisine, the restaurant changes its daily menus during the week, allowing you to embark on a culinary tour of Turkey without ever leaving Cologne.

Keupstr. 47, 51063 Cologne, ­mevlanakoeln.de

Chum Chay This small restaurant is living proof that vegetarian cuisine can also be exciting and varied enough to appeal to a mainstream audience. If the weather is good, try and get a table outside on the leafy patio. Although small for a Vietnamese restaurant, the menu is great and includes delights like green curry with peanuts, tofu, lime leaves, coconut, chilli, mushrooms and beans. You can’t go wrong with the daily specials either, such as tofu with fried vegetables on a bed of thin, yellow ribbon noodles with a pleasant hint of turmeric and topped with fried onion, fresh herbs and a slightly spicy lime and chilli dressing. The soup with rice noodles, tofu, shiitake mushrooms and eggs is also a very well-rounded affair. And if you want to up the flavour stakes a little more, why not finish up with one of the sweetened teas on offer? But don’t forget: it’s cash only here.

You’ll find everything from lentil soup and green curry to Michelin-starred cuisine

Friesenwall 29, 50672 Cologne, chum-chay.de

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Photo: Thomas Schäkel

A day in the life of …

… Sonja Baumann When I don’t have to work, there are plenty of things to do, places to eat and ways to relax in Cologne. I’m someone who enjoys being outside in the fresh air – weather permitting, of course.

As I live in the city centre, I’m lucky to have everything I need just a short walk away. One place I like to go to relax is the Pantaleonspark in the south part of town.

It’s not far from my apartment, which is why I often head there when the weather is good and sit on one of the benches to read a book or listen to an audiobook while soaking up the sun. The Pantaleonspark, which was created after the war, has its roots in an old monastery of the same name. For a few years now it has also been home to a little community garden, where local residents can plant their own vegetables. It’s probably not the most attractive park in Cologne, but that also means it’s less crowded.

Whenever I want to go for a stroll, I usually head further into the Südstadt, across Chlodwigplatz and down to the Rhine promenade. Between the Severinstrasse and Bonner Strasse streets you’ll find a whole host of small cafés that also roast their own coffee. Try them out – there’s something for everyone!

I like walking by the water, which is why the Rhine promenade is a perfect spot. But it does get rather overrun in the summer and then it’s not quite so ­relaxing.

My route usually takes me along the upside-down L-shaped Kranhäuser office and apartment buildings, past the Chocolate Museum and towards Heumarkt.

This is also where the boat trips start – something else that I can really recommend. Making my way through the hustle and bustle of the Rhine promenade, I

continue straight ahead to the cathedral, an absolute must-see for anyone visiting ­Cologne for the first time. But even though I’ve lived here for a few years now, I still enjoy walking past and admiring it from up close. Even just looking at it gives me a real sense of home.

When I have time to eat out, I usually visit the restaurants of my chef friends. I can really recommend MaiBeck down by the Rhine, where the focus is on regional cuisine. Taku at the Hotel Excelsior Ernst serves up East-Asian cuisine and Metzger & Marie in the Agnesviertel district do the best meat dishes.

Needless to say, I also like to pay a visit to one of Cologne’s typical beer­ halls every now and again: my favourite Brauhaus is the Brauerei zur Malzmühle at Heumarkt. They brew Mühlen Kölsch there – which, if you ask me, is the best Kölsch in the city. And the food is fantastic too, I recommend a Röggelchen with Mett (ground pork with onion on a crusty rye bread roll) with your first beer.

When I have more time, I also like to venture out of the city. There are some beautiful places to discover – like the Schlosspark in Brühl. Its two palaces, ­Augustusburg and Falkenlust, are among Germany’s most important examples of Baroque and Rococo architecture and can be reached quickly and easily by S-Bahn train.

I can also recommend taking a day trip to my native Bonn. The lively city centre and the green, expansive university grounds are well worth a visit. And if you fancy hiking, you can head to the nearby Drachenfels hill. Or if you want to take things at a more leisurely pace, you can go for a stroll or a cycle around the Rheinaue park.

Looking at the cathedral gives me a real sense of home

Sonja Baumann

is one half of the Michelin-starred chef duo behind Cologne restaurant Neobiota.

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Start-ups in Cologne A co-working story

into a start-up city – Almost unnoticed, Cologne has evolved co-working scene due, in no small part, to its dynamic Text Thomas Riedel | Photography Thomas Sch äke

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Until now, Cologne has been a small, easily overlooked dot on the world map of start-ups. But with translation service DeepL – which is hot on the heels of Google Translate – and the Eyeo team behind AdBlock Plus, there’s no denying that Cologne can hold its own with the best of them. And with the pioneering construction of The Ship, the city has been promoted to the premier league.

Anyone looking to locate the Ehrenspace in Cologne’s Ehrenfeld district will really need to know what they’re looking for. There’s no big sign announcing what lies behind this nondescript door tucked away in the entrance of the building on the bustling Venloer Strasse. On entering, you’ll find a small, brightly lit co-working space in the rear courtyard of a former artist’s studio, where ten creatives and developers work from.

“The initial goal was to have an attractive workspace with nice, creative people, who I enjoy spending time with”, explained Felix Schürholz to me shortly after the opening in 2016. Back then the developer was looking for a space where he could work in peace and quiet and, after visiting other co-working spaces, decided to take the plunge and open one of his own. And he well and truly struck gold with the location. His dream of having his own workspace became the springboard for his SoSafe start-up, which set up shop at the Ehrenspace for a short while before relocating to the University of Cologne’s start-up incubator Gateway. But after passing the 60-employee mark, they outgrew the space and had to move into their own premises. SoSafe runs an awareness platform offering employees engaging, fun training on IT security topics. An idea that also impressed Acton Capital, which recently invested a seven-digit figure in the young company.

Cologne has many start-up stories like this to tell and co-working spaces play an important role in most of them – which makes a lot of sense because they are usually hotbeds for creative ideas, business models and communities.

Apparently the first attempt at shared working spaces in Cologne was made by local start-up founders Ibrahim Evsan and Thomas Bachem, who established Sevenload, the German equivalent to YouTube.

After leaving there in 2009, they founded United Prototype, which was known mainly for its social game Fliplife. As well as running their own company from their offices at Friesenplatz, they rented out free spaces to local freelancers and start-ups. Today, ten years later, you will find the first branch of WeWork in North Rhine-Westphalia just one door down from there.

And it was surrounding this start-up hype that the first co-working space, ­Co­working Cologne, was also created.

The former gas engine factory on the other side of the Rhine in Deutz mainly attracted developers, but also paved the way for numerous start-ups. And just under a decade later, Railslove, the agency resulting from that, is still a very active part of the scene. With Veedelsretter, they established a start-up to support local retailers during the coronavirus crisis. And with the Recover app, they digitalised the whole track and trace system for cafés and restaurants. They are also actively involved with the co-working space Kalkspace, one of the few to be found on the other side of the Rhine.

Once Coworking Cologne had opened the floodgates, co-working spaces started popping up all over the city. Some, such as Desksurfing and the Coworking WG, weren’t around for very long, while Betahaus and others were instrumental in driving the start-up momentum in Cologne. It was Anu Beck who established the Cologne branch of Betahaus in 2011. After visiting the Berlin space, which had been in the German capital since 2009, she was so impressed that she decided to put together a team to help her. But she eventually ended up opening the space on her own, opposite the new central mosque in Ehrenfeld. And following talks with potential partners, she also set up Solution Space, which started out very small and,

Cologne has many start-up stories to tell

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Co-working spaces are hotbeds for creative ideas, and communities

Cologne is home to the “Interactive Cologne – Hack Tech Biz Creativity” festival

until 2018, enjoyed a prime location over seven floors near the cathedral.

Betahaus provided another boost to Cologne’s start-up scene. It was here that a hobby project was taken to the next level. Since 2006, Wladimir Palant had been working on the browser extension AdBlock Plus, now one of the most used ad blockers in the world. After bringing investors on board, he set up a company and rented a Betahaus workspace. But once things there became too cramped, he relocated to Clusterhaus, a start-up hub over seven floors, right next to Friesenplatz.

These days, 220 people work for the company – now established and operat-

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ing under the name Eyeo – from their own office space. “Our office is the beating heart of the company,” explains COO ­Jutta Horstman, while describing it as remote-friendly. And the beauty of this setup is that 40 percent of Eyeo’s employees work in places where it doesn’t have an office. But they can move to Malmö, Berlin or Cologne if they want to – an option chosen by over 30 percent of all new recruits, which has the effect of bringing new, international blood to Cologne’s start-up scene.

Since starting life at Betahaus, the company has become an important part of Cologne’s digital scene. As the host of numerous events like the Agile QR or the R Meetup, Eyeo is cultivating the developer scene and sending out an important signal with its Girls’ Day. With women accounting for 50 percent of the company’s managerial positions, they are demonstrating that things can be done differently – provided, of course, that the will is there.

So if you want to immerse yourself in Cologne’s start-up scene you’d be well advised to set up shop in one of the city’s co-working spaces and take advantage of the myriad events on offer. And who knows, maybe it could be the start of your very own success story?

Co-working and conversations Inside three of Cologne’s working hubs Photography and text Daniel Grünfeld

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Kalkspace Kalkspace is a small, grassroots co-working community of tech people and creatives in the district of Kalk.

Apart from providing a working space, they regularly host talks and events and engage with various social projects.

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As a programmer, I was afraid of becoming too nerdy, a “Fachidiot” as we say in Germany. In the tech scene you quickly find your niche and then you’re like “Well, I only do PHP and I only talk to people who do PHP, or I only do JavaScript and everyone else is an idiot”. Tech people can benefit tremendously from talking to designers, users and all sorts of people from entirely different fields. It not only enriches you personally, but also makes you a better programmer. I’ve always wanted to work in a place that encourages these different kinds of input on a daily basis.

Christine Gotthardt (co-founder)

Cowoki Cowoki is a coworking space in the central Belgian Quarter of Cologne. It is aimed at both freelancers and companies and offers its members not only the facilities of a modern and comfortable office environment, but also a nursery for children aged 0-3, which is housed in the same building. We spoke to Eva Mohr, who runs the online store for urban ­cycling culture allthatiwant.com, about the benefits of having a nursery and an office in the same building.

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“It’s great that we have both the office and the nursery under the same roof. It’s so efficient, purely in terms of time management. I go straight to work in the morning with my son and don’t have to drive all over the city again and waste another hour or so. If something happens during the day, I can quickly go down and check on him. But more than efficiency, it makes it easier for me, as a mother, to have this feeling that going to work is something I am doing together with my son. I don’t feel quite as guilty that by going to work, I am somehow abandoning him.

Which by the way, is one of many topics I’ve had great conversations about with the other people working here. My situation is a bit different as a self-employed parent with a small child an d it helps to have other people around who are experiencing the same thing.”

Eva Mohr

The Ship — Oliver Steinki Recently opened The Ship is located in Ehrenfeld. It is considered to be Germany’s most digitally advanced office building and while not a co-working space in the classical sense, it does provide a unique working environment for various companies, as well as a state of the art start-up accelerator called xdeck. Inside, The Ship feels like its own highly productive ecosystem. Everyone is free to choose how and where they work as the building offers numerous retreats, lounge areas and garden offices, and the different companies that work here interact with each other a lot.

Oliver Steinki, one of three visionaries behind The Ship, and the co-founding member of bag label Fond Of, said that there were two reasons they chose this name. “One is because of the architecture of the building, when you look at it from above, the floor plan looks like a sailing ship; and second, because of the symbolism of a ship: setting off together, sailing to new shores, starting something new.

And we also had “ship” in mind, as in entrepreneurship, relationship, friendship.”

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The Ship — xdeck — TONI CORE TONI CORE is one of ten start-ups that won the current round of applications at The Ship’s xdeck. Founders Jackie Paul and Felicia Hommel develop versatile, timeless products for women that can also be used during and immediately after pregnancy. The label follows sustainable design guidelines and the capsule wardrobe principle.

Felicia, how do you experience working at the xdeck? “The xdeck really personalises the package so that, as a start-up, we receive exactly the input that is useful to us and moves us forward. The atmosphere here is very positive and founder-friendly.

The people are really helpful, the exchange with other start-ups is also great. We feel that we are starting our collection with a lot of tailwind.”

Oliver Steinki explains how the xdeck works: “There is an application phase. We had the first batch in March with 150 applications from which five start-ups have been selected. Now, for the second batch, we’ve had more than 100 applications again and we have included ten start-ups. Some of them will win a cash prize of up to 25,000 euros. They get to experience this innovative working environment for a period of 4-6 months, and, most importantly maybe, they gain access to knowledge partners such as McKinsey, Deutsche Bank, the HT Gründerfonds, Kienebaum and others. About 90 percent of all start-ups fail. You will never achieve no failure, and probably not even a failure rate of 50 percent, but it’s a big difference if we succeed over time to reduce that to, a 70 percent failure rate. That will create many jobs and bring a lot of innovation to the Rhineland”.

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A playground for kids and adults: Cowoki

A home (office) away from home There are over 60 co-working spaces for Cologne’s start-up scene to get together in. Here’s our round-up of the best five WFH alternatives the city has to offer Text Thomas Riedel | Photography Daniel Grünfeld

Startplatz Köln Start-up incubator and accelerator Startplatz is the first port of call for start-ups in Cologne. Having opened in 2012, the co-working space now covers over 4,500 square metres on three floors. It is home to a well-networked scene that operates in a total of 300 workspaces within five co-working areas and 30 team offices. The sheer number of networking events is particularly impressive – a wide range of symposia and workshops are held here every year. The Rheinland-Pitch can even claim to be Germany’s largest pitch event with thematic offshoots such as Health and InsurTec, whose finals attract many thousands of visitors every year. Since 2015, Startplatz has linked together the Cologne and Düsseldorf tech scenes from its base in Cologne’s Mediapark and its second location in ­Düsseldorf’s Media Harbour.

Im Mediapark 5, 50670 Cologne, startplatz.de

Kalkspace

Wertheim

Cowoki – Co-working with kids

Possibly Cologne’s most aesthetically pleasing co-working space, Wertheim is an oasis amid the hustle and bustle of Hansaring and Christophstrasse. In a refurbished 19th-century mansion, host Oliver Struch and his team have set up a modern, feel-good space that you’ll instantly want to move into. And, theoretically, you can: the two top floors are taken up by stylish lofts with a view of Cologne Cathedral, which are mainly used as locations for shoots, retreats and workshops.

Even leaving aside its rich history, modern furniture and impressive artwork, Wertheim is a fabulous place to knuckle down and tick off that to-do list. And when the working day is done, you can enjoy a relaxing drink with your fellow remote workers at the on-site bar – be sure to ask for the special Spanish beer that can’t be found anywhere else in Cologne.

Located in an extension built onto the Christuskirche church in Cologne’s Belgian Quarter, Cowoki’s special co-working concept has gone from strength to strength since spring 2017. On two floors, the modern space provides co-working options for those who are looking for somewhere “where life isn’t just about work, and where work doesn’t mean dropping everything else that makes life richer”. As well as the children’s crèche, the ground floor has plenty of workspaces where parents can work away while keeping an eye on their offspring. Those who don’t have children – or who simply need a quieter environment to work in – can move upstairs to the first floor.

A second location with just under 20 co-working spaces and 17 team offices of all sizes opened this July in Cologne’s Sülz district.

Hansaring 12, 50670 Cologne, wertheim-cologne.com

Dorothee-Sölle-Platz 2, 50672 Cologne, cowoki.de

Forum Food & Nachhaltigkeit

Kalkspace is a community space in the classic sense of the word. A handful of developers and other creative thinkers joined forces to carry out projects and then decided to set up their own space for their needs. In doing so, they established an association, found a suitable building tucked away in a rear courtyard and set about converting it themselves. Today, Kalkspace is a small but impressive space with a team who is less interested in profitability than they are in community and pursuing shared interests. Soldering, restoring rare computer hardware, debating about feminism or holding communal lunches – all of this is what sets it apart. Not to mention the occasional wild party in the basement! Together with the Cologne Game Haus, the space also happens to be one of the few co-working options available on the other side of the Rhine.

In 2018, the co-working space ­Forum Food & Nachhaltigkeit – which translates as Food & Sustainability Forum – opened in Ehrenfeld, arguably Cologne’s hippest district. The 360 square-metre location houses 50 workspaces in a prime location. The space is mainly geared towards founders of companies that are active in the field of food and sustainable, ecological products. And the Forum is the ideal place for them: after all, founder Annika Schuh, who actively markets sustainable products herself, was singled out last year as one of the Rhineland’s top 40 female entrepreneurs under the age of 40. In the summer, the roof terrace is ideal for tasting sessions of newly developed products. The Forum is also part of an active sustainability scene in Ehrenfeld, which also includes co-working space Colabor.

Olpener Str. 33, 51103 Cologne, kalk.space

Oskar-Jäger-Str. 160, 50825 Cologne, coworking-forum.de

Co-working spaces can provide a change of scenery and help boost productivity

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Out in the open air At the first hint of summer sunshine, the people of Cologne head outdoors, which is where you’ll also find the most authentic experience of the city Text Christian Werthschulte | Photography Manfred Wegener

Cologne is often referred to as “the northernmost city in Italy”, a reputation that its people more than live up to.

As soon as the sun comes out to play, people go outside to join it. Urbanologists refer to this process as ‘Mediterraneanisation’. This is something that was particularly apparent during the coronavirus shutdown. While the pedestrian zones and nightlife hotspots in the city centre were like ghost towns, there were still plenty of locals out and about on the pavements and in the squares and parks right on their doorsteps. So if you want to experience Cologne like one of the locals, one of the city’s many public squares is a good place to start.

Arguably the most interesting of these is Ebertplatz, built in the 1970s to a Brutalist design with concrete surfaces, underground passages and a fountain in an abstract art style. It was neglected for many years before ending up as a hangout for drug dealers. Those are still doing business there, but in 2018, artists joined forces with the city administration to restore civic life to the square: exhibitions, installations and performances were held, the fountain was turned on again and a café was opened on the square itself. As a result, Ebertplatz is undergoing something of a renaissance, with people sitting under the trees until late and children splashing in the fountain in the summer or skating on the ice rink in the winter. It’s well worth a look – especially if you’re an architectural enthusiast. The square is to be given a complete overhaul soon but can still be viewed in its original architectural design for the time being.

In the rest of the city centre, it’s not always so easy to get together in the open air. Due to the coronavirus situation, many public spaces are subject to extremely strict rules about large gatherings of people. To compensate for this, the City of Cologne has freed up kerbside parking spaces in certain areas to allow cafés, bars and restaurants to offer their customers outdoor seating. If you prefer

to bring your own food, Rathenauplatz near the ‘Kwartier Latäng’ (Latin Quarter) is the perfect place to take a break: kids can romp around to their hearts’ content in the playground while the adults enjoy a game of boules. And if you get thirsty, there is a beer garden nearby. On the way there, you should also check out YitzhakRabin-Platz – formerly an asphalt square, it now has a new lease on life as a kind of garden with a long table and raised flower beds.

Cologne has plenty of spots that are ideal for people-watching, each with its own individual charm. Such as Chlodwigplatz in the south of the city, where the alternative scene – admittedly a little long in the tooth these days – holds sway, and where city’s famous friendliness is best experienced with a coffee at weekends. However, a more authentic taste of Cologne can be found on Saturdays right beside the underground station Kalk Post, on the other side of the Rhine. This has evolved into a place for young people to meet up, amble through the neighbouring shopping centre or play football behind it. We recommend stopping for coffee and then taking a stroll down Kalker Hauptstrasse, where there is no end of great Turkish food on offer.

And finally, a tip for those who like to party late into the night: because of the stringent noise regulations in Cologne’s inner-city districts, you’ll be hard pushed to find any open-air nightlife options.

Apart from Odonien, that is. Although very central (ten minutes by bike, five by S-Bahn train), this cool club is located between two railway lines, meaning that there are no neighbours to complain about the noise. And owner Odo Rumpf recently added a new giant steel sculpture to his open-air paradise. During the week, the grounds are a great place for a wander or a beer. And when the wave of new infections has died down, Odonien will once again be the only place in Cologne where you can literally dance the night away until the sun comes up.

Cologne has plenty of spots that are ideal for peoplewatching

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Picture: INDI ARENA

Game on

Cologne’s independent gaming scene An insight into Cologne’s burgeoning scene of indie game developers Text Thomas Riedel

“Every day when I walk down the Keupstrasse to Cologne Game Lab, I pass the place where the nail bomb exploded in 2004”, says Pierre Schlömp, one of three founders of TriTrie Games. Keupstrasse, the scene of the right-wing terrorist attack, is just around the corner from where they went to college in the Mülheim district of Cologne. And on 11 July 2018, the students realised just how close to it they are. It was on this day that Beate Zschäpe, right extremist and member of the National Socialist Underground terror group, was sentenced to life imprisonment. What followed, Pierre and his colleague Seren Besorak tell us, was an intensive introduction to the NSU complex.

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This was the basis upon which they developed ‘Jessika’, an impact game without a feel-good story or a happy ending – but with a poignant tale to tell about radicalisation.

TriTrie Games is one of many indie game studios based at Cologne Game Haus, a co-working space spread over three floors and an area of 2,000 m², directly opposite Cologne’s trade fair and exhibition centre in Deutz. As Seren points out, this is an ideal location for developing indie games given that Gamescom, the world’s biggest trade fair for computer and video games, takes place right across the road every August. Every year, hundreds of thousands of gamers make the pilgrimage to Cologne to visit the booths of the triple-A games and sneak a peek at all the new innovations – which also means hundreds of thousands of potential gamers can check out ‘Jessika’ and other indie games.

In the last few years, the surprise hits from the gaming scene came from small, independent studios, which has led to their popularity extending beyond hardcore gaming enthusiasts. In fact, ‘indie’ could even end up being the new main-

stream. This was also apparent at Gamescom in Cologne: the Indie Arena booth, a consortium of many indie studios from all over the world, has attracted increasing numbers of visitors in recent years and become a meeting place for everyone looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the rest of the event. The vibe here is a lot cosier: it’s easier for gamers to meet the developers and you don’t have to queue for hours just to try out a future blockbuster game for a few minutes.

In 2020, Gamescom and its developer conference Devcom were forced to take place online due to COVID-19 restrictions.

However, this ended up being a blessing in disguise for independent game developers: “This year’s Devcom was a goldmine for indies”, says Stephan Reichart, Managing Director of Devcom and seasoned event organiser from Cologne.

While the big studios did their own digital shows, there was more space online for the indie studios. Even months before the actual event, Devcom’s Twitch channel

was all abuzz with indie founder stories and masterclasses in game design.

Reichart, who had already organised a successful series of indie developer conferences (Respawn) prior to Devcom, praises Cologne as being a particularly indie-friendly location. There are good funding instruments and attractive training options in North Rhine-Westphalia, which stand to benefit young game designers especially. Stefan Schmidt, a passionate gamer and organiser of the indie developer meet-up in Cologne also talks enthusiastically about the city as a gaming hub: “We have an incredibly interesting indie scene in Cologne with a wide cross-section of studios. It’s amazing.” For years now he has been organising the meet-up every two months, which has given him a good insight into the scene.

But if you ask him how many indies there are in Cologne and North Rhine-Westphalia, he’ll be hard pushed to answer: “It’s not so easy to define what an ‘indie’ is.” On the one hand, it’s a question of

‘Jessika’ by TriTrie Games tells a story of online radicalisation

Cologne is home to the world’s biggest trade fair for video games

| Photo: TriTrie Games

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The Indie Arena at Gamescom in EGA graphics | Picture: INDI ARENA

Trie Trie Games trietriegames.com Cologne Game Haus colognegamehaus.com Indie Arena at Gamescom indiearenabooth.de Indie Developer Meet-Up indiedeveloper-­ stammtisch.de Cologne Game Lab colognegamelab.de

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size, but ownership structure is also a factor. Is a studio still an indie when it’s small, but part of a big studio?

In any case, there are at least 46 indies in Cologne on his list. A few of them showcased their innovations at the first Indie Game Fest in Cologne in 2019. The aim of the small show is to shine a spotlight on the indie scene rather than just having it take a back seat at bigger events, explains Stefan. What inspired him to organise such an event was a particular area at Devcom that everyone had to pass by if they wanted to visit a talk. That’s where Stefan Schmidt met two Cologne indies who had never heard of each other, making it clear to him that the scene needed its own event. They had over 50 applications to process and 20 exhibitors ended up making their way to Meltdown Cologne, a gaming bar on Kyffhäuser Strasse. But on the day of the event, the crowds were so big that many visitors had to be turned away. Due to COVID-19, the Indie Game Fest 2020 has been put on ice,

but it will hopefully be continued in 2021 – over three days and with a further developed line-up.

Another key event in Cologne is the Clash of Realities by the Cologne Game Lab (CGL) – an academic conference about computer games and their significance from a social, media and aesthetic perspective. And the CGL’s mission is clear – as Seren Besorak from TriTrie Games puts it: “We don’t train Photoshop idiots. With us you’ll learn an academic approach to games.” And the success of ‘Jessika’ proves that the studio is on the right path. After developing the game as part of their final thesis project at university, they soon found themselves a publisher. Today it is available to buy on the virtual shelf of Steam, a video game digital distribution service. Quite a coup for the young studio, which is already working on its next project – an entertaining platform game with which they are eager to re­create the feeling of playing on old-school home computers like the Amiga.

Photo: Thomas Schäkel

A day in the life of …

… Martin Bechler Good morning, Ehrenfeld!

Famous last words ... We were only planning on going out for a few beers, to the Tag des guten Lebens (Day of Good Life), a street festival where a group of idealists tries to put forward creative counterproposals to the suits from the city’s urban planning office to make life in the neighbourhood more bearable – mainly to try and get rid of all the goddamned cars.

But of course those “few beers” turned into a few more and before we knew it, it was suddenly half five in the morning! If there’s one thing that Ehrenfeld is good for, then it’s staying out late boozing, I can promise you that! Perhaps the best hours in rough-and-ready Ehrenfeld are at the crack of dawn when the takeaways have closed, but the mobile phone stores and 1-euro shops aren’t open yet. As one of my songs goes: “The night paints the hours and the day grinds them down again”. Despite everything, Ehrenfeld is still home for me. It grounds me and, more than any­ thing else, provides me with inspiration.

Always lurking on every corner is the next story that I can turn into a new song.

Like many other gentrified neighbourhoods, Ehrenfeld is undergoing some major changes. Formerly a run-down workers’ district, it was buffed up by immigrants and students into a cultural feelgood supernova that is now well on its way to becoming upmarket, overpriced and – even worse – boring. Just like everywhere else.

But I’m not one of those people who sit bawling on the pavement, staring at the mess that “city planning” has made of our neighbourhood. I’m a firm believer that change always brings opportunity. And most of the valuable time spent trying to improve something is wasted by the supposed non-hipsters pointing the

finger at the actual hipsters and blaming them for all the hipsterrific structural changes that are being made.

But Ehrenfeld still has a few good years left before everyone buggers off to the cheaper neighbouring districts, so let’s send it off with a bang!

Culinary speaking, aside from a few high points, Ehrenfeld is still lagging behind the rest of Germany. But you’ll be pleased to hear that the more motivated places – where long overdue notions of sustainable nutrition are introduced into Cologne life, past the noses of the criminal food lobby – do actually exist. But you don’t need me to tell you where they are – just look online. I think that if you were to ask a bunch of restaurants here if they could guarantee that any of their dishes contained no factory-farmed meat, I would estimate around 95% of them wouldn’t be able to. Smiling politely, you can then tell them that they can eat that crap themselves! Don’t worry, you don’t need to hold back – Colognians have a good sense of humour. After all, only where there is friction can there also be movement, dialogue and art.

Did I mention how great Ehrenfeld is?

If you hammer for long enough on a dilapidated garage door on Körnerstrasse, a guy called Martin will open up his excellently stocked second-hand vinyl store to you. In the corners and side streets, you will still find precious remnants of life without all the franchise shit; rehearsal room rents are expensive enough to deter any Red Hot Chili Peppers cover bands; Ehrenfeld’s popular coffee roastery (Heilandt) sounds like the German word for ‘saviour’ (Heiland); and the self-mixed shot in the local dive bars goes by the name of ‘Rosa Luxemburg’. What could possibly go wrong?

The best hours in Ehrenfeld are at the crack of dawn

Martin Bechler is singer in the band Fortuna Ehrenfeld

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EIN MAGAZIN DER

Coffee and cake time in Cologne Kölns Gastro Guide 2020/2021

OLD FASHIONED 020 Guide 2019/2 Bars zurück an der Spitze

& INTERVIEW

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UND TRI alle Küchen • Frisch getestet: alle Veedel, IN KÖLN

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ISSN 1867-9102

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Vegan

Hibiskus

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ISSN 1867-9102

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Café Wahlen

Café Jansen

Hibiskus has the largest assortment of vegan cakes and tarts in Cologne.

You can choose from around eight different types. As well as more unusual variations such as pumpkin cake, raw cakes and usually a gluten-free option, you’ll generally find vegan takes on classics like Maulwurfkuchen (a chocolate cake base with fresh bananas and cream) or cheesecake. The sponge layers of the tarts are soft, but the creams are pleasantly firm – thanks to the white chocolate that is added to the mix. And the pastry of the cakes is either firm or slightly crumbly, but never rubbery or dry. Liquid refreshments include coffee variations or lemonades and the board also lists a small selection of salads and quiches. Wednesday is ‘Mett Day’: however, the Mett served here is a vegan version prepared with tomato purée and rice waffles.

The city’s best-known coffee and cake emporium attracts hen parties, elderly couples and single gentlemen and is a bit like hopping in a time machine. With coat stands, sparkling water on silver trays and white-aproned serving staff, this is a place where time has truly stood still. But that’s not to say that the café is out of touch: the upper-class ambience and quality of the cakes here are also quite a hit with the younger crowd. Take a seat on one of the small chairs and gaze out at the quiet side street through the elaborately draped net curtains.

The cafe’s speciality is the Savarin, a kind of rum baba. Slightly more substantial, yet just as refined is the Mailänder Torte (with a shortcrust pastry base, alternating layers of sponge and marzipan and a small cherry on the top). Old school at its best!

Café Jansen is the ideal place to indulge in the popular German afternoon ritual of coffee and cake.

“Oh no”, says an elderly lady at the cake counter, “they don’t have the dark chocolate one today”. The gay couple next to her orders another lemon slice and for a moment we feel like we’ve been transported into a comic by local cartoonist Ralf König. From berry crumble to poppyseed cheesecake, the cakes are of a consistently high quality – and you can eavesdrop on people chatting about their latest trip to the hairdresser or comparing photos on their mobile phones. All of which fits in nicely with the interior design of the round main room, which is reminiscent of a cabaret or a circus – the only difference being that the guests are in the ‘ring’ themselves, rather than spectating from the grandstand.

Eigelstein, Ritterstr. 52, 50668 Cologne, cafehibiskus.de

Hohenstaufenring 64, 50674 Cologne, cafe-wahlen.de

Obenmarspforten 7–11, 50667 Cologne, fassbender.de

Café Jansen | Photo: Daniel Grünfeld

Törtchen Törtchen

Café am Königsforst

Upon entering the sweet world of Törtchen Törtchen, you will be enveloped in a sea of pink and florals.

It’s hard to believe that it were grown men who dreamt up this dollhouse-style interior. The perfect introduction to the French-inspired delights served here are the colourful macarons, which are wonderfully light and creamy. The apricot tart with cream, apricots and pistachio crumbles is agreeably moist and the gelatine coating is just thin enough to look appetising. And the elaborately prepared drinks also deserve a mention: the hot elderberry with orange and cinnamon has three layers and the basil lemonade is a delicious, no-fuss thirst-quencher. For anyone who wants to recreate their sweet treats at home, the Törtchen Törtchen crew regularly pass on their expert knowledge in courses and seminars.

This café on the outskirts of the city has been around for 30 years, but with its cosy, inviting vibe, it feels like it’s always been there. City dwellers don’t just come out here for the fresh air but also for the café’s main draw: a whopping 40 different cakes and tarts! The counter display presents classics like apple cake topped with icing and filled with whipped cream, as well as more original options like Krokantfächertorte and red wine marble cake. All cakes are baked on the premises and some, such as the impressive mousse au chocolat cake, are made with a cream that is imported specially from France. The café’s older clientele can park their cars right in front of the door, while everyone else can travel conveniently by tram and then walk off the cake calories in the nearby forest afterwards.

Apostelnstr. 19, 50667 Cologne, toertchentoertchen.de

Rösratherstr. 759, 51107 Cologne, cafe-am-königsforst.de

Indulge in the popular German afternoon ritual of coffee and cake

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What is urbanana? urbanana is not simply a destination

It’s a travel attitude. Curiosity drives travellers to explore this often overlooked mega metropolitan region of ten million people. The constantly transforming Ruhr Area, artsy Düsseldorf and eclectic Cologne make the perfect urban trio for your next adventure!

Take a look at a map and you’ll see the urban heart of North Rhine-Westphalia spread out in the shape of a banana. That’s how this extraordinary project, which gives voice to the creatives and makers of this vibrant conurbation, got its name.

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But what exactly is urbanana?

Whether you come as a tourist or to stay – or come as a tourist and end up staying – the individual and diverse identity of urbanana will inspire you. Let us introduce you to three locals and visitors from urbanana, who are here to tell their story. Who could explain it better than them?

Want to know more about urbanana?

Check us out here: www.urbanana.de and @goingurbanana

Photo: © Tourismus NRW e.V. | Background photo: © Jürgen Brinkmann

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It was at a festival in Hungary where Stefan met his future wife. and ended up leaving his home in the idyllic Austrian Alps to move to the Ruhr Area.

“Living in the Salzburger Land region, I was simply a tradesman. After coming here, I quickly realised that I wanted to do something else. I became a bit of a jackof-all-trades. These days I work with people in all kinds of different social projects.

And the Ruhr Area has become my home.”

Stefan exchanged the mountains for slag heaps and his sledge for a bike.

It’s this melting pot of creativity and wide spectrum of leisure activities that make Stefan so enthusiastic about urbanana. “I live in Essen, which is pretty much at the heart of the Ruhr Area. Going from here in any direction, you sometimes don’t even realise you’re passing through city limits. I travel a lot for my two hobbies: I’ve been the guitarist of many different bands over the past few years. I also play ice hockey and travel

around for matches. Everything is very close in urbanana. Despite living in an urban jungle with more than a million people, you’re never really very far from nature. And there’s the incredible industrial culture, of course. This ongoing transformation still fascinates me.”

After arriving in urbanana, Stefan began working as a backline engineer at concerts and festivals. “It’s exciting, because it takes me to places all over Europe. But very often I’m actually able to return home for the night to sleep. I love it that I never have to go far.-There is so much going on in urbanana and I’m at the centre of it all.”

“I love it that I never have to go far”

Photo: © Stefan Huber

Stefan Huber (36), social worker and backliner living in Essen

Photo: © Tourismus NRW e.V. | Background photo: © Joris Felix

“That was probably when I knew I was going to stay”

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Baldeep (who prefers to use a gender-neutral pronoun) seized the opportunity presented by their university in Mumbai to come to Düsseldorf as an international student. And although it wasn’t all glitz and glamour, the authenticity of the place touched them deeply.

Baldeep decided to stay.

“The nearby library offered so many great books to read. I’d sit in the cafés for hours, just soaking up the creative atmosphere.” Baldeep loved walking around the city too and came to appreciate the freedom the region offers. “The quality of life in urbanana is very high.

Like being able to take a late run at 1 am (which I could never do in Mumbai) and seeing the campus and city so quiet yet also safe at night.”

There was so much to explore within the city. Like the time Baldeep visited Japan Day in Düsseldorf. “Just when I thought I had Düsseldorf figured out, I was overwhelmed by the energy of this festival. I didn’t even know about this facet of the city. Seeing all these people putting so much effort into their costumes —

so authentic, so into the details. The creative vibe was wonderful.”

Baldeep made use of the extensive train network and visited other nearby cities in the urban jungle of urbanana too.

“Probably the nicest day I had was when I visited the Gasometer in Oberhausen. I remember climbing up to the rooftop and having this great view over Oberhausen and the surrounding cities. That was probably when I knew I was going to stay.”

Photo: © Baldeep Grewal

Baldeep Grewal (26), an international student from Punjab, India, spent one semester at the Heinrich-Heine University in Düsseldorf

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“This is the way I want to live”

Photo: © Johannes Hahn

Veronika, known as Nika by her friends, had a two-day layover in urbanana en route to her honeymoon in Spain. It left such a lasting impression that the professional photographer from Moscow came back just a couple of weeks later.

“Whenever I travel, I like to find interesting, unique and authentic places. Even if the place is famous, like Cologne Cathedral, I try to photograph it in an unusual way. But this city is so much more; its streets, its cool bars and cafés and the people who live here. Cologne has stolen my heart.”

The short stopover became one of the most inspiring trips in Nika’s life. “I believe that I fell in love with urbanana not just because of its beauty and architecture, but because I felt as part of a community and I could speak to anyone. It fascinated me that there were so many activities that people had organised themselves. I travel a lot and I’ve never felt like I wanted to stay anywhere for a very long time, but the experience I had in urbanana made me think that this is the way I want to live.”

Even though the cities in urbanana are so well-connected, she finds them all unique in their own way. In Düsseldorf, Nika liked the cool buildings at the Media Harbour and the way modern architecture connects with older styles. “Things look so balanced there.” And there are so many spots in urbanana that she still wants to explore. “I love Wim Wenders’ movies. I’ve seen the documentary film, Pina, so now I want to visit Wuppertal and ride its famous suspension railway. ­ Next time!”

Photo: © Veronika Borisenok

Veronika Borisenok (24), a tourist from Moscow, visited urbanana twice in 2019

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Photo: Dörthe Boxberg

A day in the life of …

… Eva Schuderer If I’m not lucky enough to have poppyseed bread rolls from the Merzenich bakery when I get out of bed, I like to start my day by whisking myself away to the majestic coffeehouse culture of the 1950s. At Café Wahlen on Hohenzollernring, the walls are still covered in silk, chandeliers hang from the ceiling and the menu offers vintage culinary delights such as the maraschino cake.

And because I’m already in the city centre, it’s an ideal opportunity to pay a visit to the Kolumba. Originally built in the year 980 (!), this church was redesigned with a modern façade by architect Peter Zumthor and is now a museum, church and architectural masterpiece all in one. If you’re there, be sure to visit the wood-panelled reading room on the second floor!

And because I’m in Cologne, I can’t not pay my respects to the cathedral. However, rather than climbing the many steps up to the spire, I prefer to go to the underground car park beneath it. Here, you get to experience a typical Cologne moment: there is so much history here that no one knows what to do with it all. In Cologne, the remains of a Roman settlement and the old fountain from the original cathedral structure are on display in this public parking garage. If it were anywhere else, there would be bulletproof glass around it and an admission fee of at least € 7.50.

I have already spent half a day in Cologne without having drunk a single beer – so it’s off to the Brauhaus I go! My absolute favourite brewery pub is Johann Schäfer in the south of the city. This has quite a lot to do with the fact that the chef is a fellow Bavarian and serves up a wonderful cheese spread called Obatzda and fantastic cheese spaetzle – just the ticket when I’m homesick for Munich. I was born

there and never thought I would end up in the Rhineland – which, I hasten to add, I have really grown to love!

Having already polished off some cream cake and visited a museum, it’s now time for some fresh air and exercise.

There are not many decisions to make: do I walk along the right or the left bank of the Rhine? And should I head upstream or downstream? In Cologne, you walk by the Rhine – that much is a given.

Should I decide to head south, I will walk as far as Rodenkirchen and then board the Alte Liebe restaurant boat, rocking to and fro while watching the river cruise ships and barges go by. And if I go north, my destination will be the Schwimmbad beer garden in Riehl. It was built on the site of a former swimming pool (hence the name) and is still painted in a blue wash, with a Balkan-style landscape backdrop and an atmosphere that evokes long summer days and balmy nights. But now that it’s starting to get dark, it’s time to plan some evening activities. This is where Cologne really comes into its own. Should I cross the Zoobrücke bridge and watch a film at the Lichtspiele cinema in Kalk? Or take in a play at the Schauspiel theatre in Mülheim? Or should I stay on this side of the Rhine and stroll over to Clubheim Olympia, where – weather permitting – you can dance outside in the open air under strings of coloured lights? But if all of that isn’t possible at this time of year, I return to the Südstadt and play a round of indoor boules at Hardy Kugel. As months with an ‘r’ in their name are said to be best for mussels, you can’t go wrong in the winter – so I also treat myself to a steaming clay pot of moules-frites there, accompanied by a glass of perfect rosé. Glorious.

In Cologne, you walk by the Rhine – that is a given

Eva Schuderer works as a programme ­planner at international literature festival Litcologne.

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Slogans among the ruins: Raum 13

Awakened from a deep slumber On the outskirts of Cologne, new urban initiatives are imagining a different kind of city Text Anja Albert | Photography Thomas Schäkel

In Cologne, there is a sense of a new awakening: a number of initiatives are working for a kind of sustainable urban development that is geared towards the common good. We paid a visit to these ‘real-life laboratories’ for a closer look.

Anja Kolacek and Marc Leßle are standing in the middle of an enchanted-looking courtyard. Everywhere they look, bushes, grasses and trees shoot up out of the concrete. And in large, eye-catching letters above them, the words: “The art of revolution”. Stretching out behind this are enormous factory buildings, a rusty crane bearing witness to their industrial heritage. This is where Klöckner-Humboldt-Deutz (KHD) developed the world’s first combustion engine 150 years ago, ushering in a global technological revolution. The company finally vacated this site in Mülheim-Süd in the mid-2000s, leaving the giant production halls to steadily deteriorate. As Marc Leßle, Managing Director of artist initiative Raum 13 (Room 13), which moved into the former KHD headquarters in 2011, declares: “Cologne’s Mülheim district was the German Silicon Valley of the 19th century. It needs to be a source of innovation again – it’s time for a new kind of urban development that puts people first!”

The two artists transformed the 250-metre brick façade on Deutz-Mülheimer-Strasse – itself listed as a histori-

cal monument – into the Deutzer Zentralwerk der schönen Künste (Deutz Fine Arts Factory), allowing it to play host to readings, theatre performances, concerts and other artistic and cultural events. Over the past nine years, some 75,000 people have visited the Otto & Langen quarter, which covers an area of six hectares. German cultural association Goethe-Institut even included it on its list of the ten most important former industrial plants in Germany that are now used for cultural purposes. This is where Cologne really exudes its own brand of big-city charm: as rough as London, as romantic as Paris, as underground as Tbilisi. “For me, it’s the secular equivalent of Cologne Cathedral”, says Marc Leßle. Within the long red brick building, the artist duo created a walk-in installation on an area of 10,000 square metres, combining memorabilia with new exhibits. Such as worn-out workers’ shoes and typewritten letters from the 1950s, large-format photographs of dance performances or cords that are stretched in all directions across a room as part of an installation. Some rooms, such as the wood-panelled boardroom or works council office, have been retained in their original condition. Since September 2020, the fine arts factory has played host to renowned exhibitions ‘Stollwerck 1970– 1987’ – the occupation of the disused Stollwerck chocolate factory in Cologne

Urban development geared towards the common good

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“Raum 13 is the secular equivalent to Cologne Cathedral”

A ‘real-life laboratory’ for the 21stcentury city

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(to prevent it from demolition) – and ‘Via Industrialis’, a tour of key locations from Cologne’s industrial past.

However, the initiative does more than bring art to industrial ruins – it also pursues a socio-political agenda: in several “future workshops”, they came together with academics, city planners, preservationists, artists, politicians and local citizens to explore the question of how we want to live in the future. And they were very keen to reach a wide cross-section of people, from university professors to refugees. In a ‘real-life laboratory’, they aim to develop a model district for the 21st-century city, taking into account socially relevant aspects such as housing, work, the environment, mobility, inclusion, participation and democracy. In ­recent years, they have gained hundreds of supporters, including renowned academics, not-for-profit foundations and high-profile politicians. “We have six hectares of land at our disposal for the purposes of convincing society to explore al-

ternative concepts”, says Marc Leßle about the Otto & Langen quarter, which could turn out to be the largest ‘real-life laboratory’ in Germany, and maybe even in Europe.

However, it’s not all plain sailing: at present, the Otto & Langen quarter belongs to two owners, the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and a private investor, both of whom have been dragging their heels so far. By contrast, the City of Cologne has, through a series of declarations of intent and council resolutions, indicated that it would like to acquire the quarter. While continuing to protect buildings with listed status, it aims to set up a district geared towards the common good that will be used on a cultural, social and commercial level. The prestigious administration building on Deutz-Mülheimer-Strasse where the fine arts factory is located is also to remain as a cultural site and an “anchor point for holistic development”. It would appear that the city has learnt from past mis-

A prime example of Cologne’s industrial past: Raum 13

takes: the Otto & Langen quarter is located at the heart of one of the most exciting urban development projects in Cologne, which extends from the trade fair centre in Deutz to the Katzenbuckelbrücke bridge in the Mülheim port area, covering a total of 70 hectares. It is the last unplanned space still to have its future decided. Well-funded investors have bought up the surrounding land, tearing down everything save for a number of listed halls with the intention of building upmarket residential and office complexes there, which people are trying to prevent from happening.

In Cologne, there are already plenty of examples of old factory buildings being successfully repurposed: Carlswerksgelände on Schanzenstrasse, the Hallen Kalk complex on Dillenburger Strasse where, in addition to the existing projects and initiatives, the DOMiD documentation centre and museum on migration in Germany is to be housed from 2023. In Bickendorf, on the other side of the

Rhine, urban cultural association Niehler Freiheit e.v. has created a small biotope within a former industrial site with raised beds and rooftop greenery; film festivals, concerts, workshops and panel discussions can all be held here. Volunteers spent a year converting a food transportation vehicle into a mobile, solar-powered dental surgery that is now providing dental care to internally displaced persons in refugee camps in Syria. The most recent project is Wandel-Werk in Neuehrenfeld: on the site of a former car dealership, Klug e.V. has launched a crowdfunding campaign for a one-year interim usage period. Here, too, a ­creative laboratory for sustainable urban development is to be set up, complete with communal workstations, artist studios, greenhouse, urban gardening projects or a community workshop. All efforts to ensure that, as our city grows, the availability of free space for socially-minded projects grows with it.

Zentralwerk der Schönen Künste Raum 13 Deutz-Mülheimer Str. 147–149, 51063 Cologne, raum13.com Niehler Freiheit Vogelsanger Str. 385B, 50827 Cologne, niehlerfreiheit.de Hallen Kalk Dillenburger Strasse, 51103 Cologne, hallen-kalk.de Wandel-Werk Liebigstrasse 201, 50823 Cologne, wechange.de/group/ wandelwerk/

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© Philipp Gabriel

New spaces

With small art associations leading the way, Cologne’s art scene is exploring new niches Text Dora Cohnen

The art scene in Cologne is the very definition of diversity. Apart from high-­ profile institutions and city-centre fixtures, there is a wealth of other project and art spaces to discover on either side of the Rhine, whether underground or at street level, windowless or flooded with natural light. Throughout the furthest reaches of the city, Cologne’s creative artists are finding the most exciting niches, transforming controversial, previously undiscovered or historically connoted locations into spaces for discourse. This not only makes it possible for people to discover exciting new artistic works, but also to come into contact with little-known places that give them a new perspective, allowing them to view the city in a whole new light.

In the heart of the Südstadt (the south part of the city), next to Chlodwigplatz and Severinstrasse – a busy street dotted with a wide range of small shops – is Kunsthaus KAT18, which consists of a gallery and a workshop. The first thing visitors see is a large glass front encompassing the door to the exhibition space. This bright room with cosy furnishings not only displays art but also serves as a café.

Which means that visitors can admire work by the studio artists while tucking

into a slice of their favourite cake. KAT18 sees itself as a space for interacting with artists, art aficionados and urban society.

There are collaborations with guest artists and curators on a regular basis and guided tours of the studio are given to the general public several times a year. Here, you will find art that is far removed from the art market system – highly personal creations that draw on an inner wisdom and aren’t afraid to break the rules. The KAT18 gallery is an open, vibrant space with a long table at its centre that symbolises the interaction that is made possible here.

Formerly belonging to a brewery complex, in the 1980s it was taken over by squatters with whom it was actually later redesigned and legalised. There are several factors in the leafy backyard and immediate vicinity of Kunsthaus KAT18 that contribute to its creative charm, including a residential project, workshops, a meeting point for the local LGBTIQ* scene and a music and concert space. Another starting point from which to explore the multifaceted involvement of Cologne artists and their cultural scene.

In one of the many narrow streets in the Ehrenfeld district, a bulky, windowless building stands in stark contrast to

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Zitat

Art inside a hexagon: Mélange | Courtesy of Sylbee Kim / Mélange

Cologne boasts a wealth of art spaces: underground or at street level, windowless or flooded with light

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the small cafés surrounding it. The former air raid shelter that once provided protection for thousands of people in the Second World War and later served as a poorhouse is now known as Bunker K101. The remnants of the original floor layout are still visible on the ceiling: families often had to stay put for days in the small rooms with low doorways. Later on, some of the walls were torn down to create a larger space. And the walls tell this story, with several layers of paint, each covering the one that preceded it. The aim here is to change as little as possible, hence the original coat of dark green paint that can still be seen at the very bottom. Today, the space is mostly lit up by light art and media art. As well as the exhibitions, an extensive line-up of performances, plays, film screenings, readings and discussion

formats is designed to attract a wide cross-section of people, who are invited to engage with the venue. Devoid of daylight and with its own very distinct character, Bunker K101 is the opposite of the plain white cube aesthetic. The building makes a statement on what takes place within.

Formerly a fixture on Sudermanstrasse in the north of central Cologne, the Mélange project space is now located in the basement of an office building on Ebertplatz, a central square in the same district. If you press on one of the many doorbells, the doors open as if by magic.

And when you take the stairs down to the basement, you will see the hexagonal floor plan of the new Mélange, divided up like slices of a cake. Light falls from above through small shafts. Mélange is a curated

A piece of history: Bunker K101 | © Philipp Gabriel

project that is not tied to a specific space.

The project is relocated every few years, providing a useful opportunity to rethink and revamp exhibitions. Unlike many other Cologne project spaces, it often reaches out to artists from outside the region, primarily those involved with artistic production. Mélange’s new home on Ebertplatz sits alongside a relic of Brutalist architecture from the 1970s. In recent years, a hotspot for the local art scene has evolved in the underpasses around this once abandoned area, spawning many project spaces.

Simultanhalle is located in Volkhoven, which is in the far north of the city but easily reached by S-Bahn train. In 1979, an architectural model for the new Museum Ludwig building was set up there. The former schoolyard is also home to the city’s

first municipal art studios. At the time, one of the artists campaigned to have the temporary model retained as an exhibition room and its nickname, Simultanhalle (Simultaneous Hall), has stuck. The model-like, moving, sketchy and experimental works in the room cover a wide range of media such as sculpture, video, painting, photography and performance art. For the last two years, it has not been possible to enter the building on account of structural problems, but the young curator team sees this less as a limitation than as an opportunity to go one step further and develop whole new exhibition formats. Simultanhalle, one of the oldest project spaces of its kind, now showcases exciting sculpture and performance projects set up around the outside of the hall like a kind of festival.

KAT18 GALLERY / KAT18 COFFEE BAR Kartäuserwall 18 50678 Cologne kunsthauskat18.de Bunker K101 Körnerstr. 101 50823 Cologne bunkerk101.de Mélange Ebertplatz 23 50668 Cologne megamelange.com Simultanhalle Volkhovener Weg 209-211 50765 Cologne simultanhalle.de

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Photo: Dörthe Boxberg

A day in the life of …

… Yilmaz Dziewior

I love to start the day by heading over to the Emma kiosk at the Südpark in Marienburg in my flip-flops to pick up croissants. It’s a wonderful little place where you can buy freshly squeezed juices, crusty bread rolls with various fillings and a wide range of magazines and newspapers. I usually only manage to go there at weekends, unfortunately, but when I do I can pretty much guarantee that I’ll bump into a neighbour or two.

Whether during the week or at the weekend, hardly a day goes by when I don’t cycle along the Rhine, either to the Museum Ludwig or into the city centre.

Unsurprisingly, my favourite café/restaurant is the museum restaurant, Ludwig im Museum, which has a terrace where you can soak in the wonderful view. But the very best view – which only a few people know about – can be enjoyed from one of the rooftop terraces of the Museum Ludwig. Whenever I’m not having lunch at the museum, I like to go to Lebanese takeaway and restaurant Beirut. Or, if I really want to push the boat out, I’ll dine at maiBeck. Both restaurants are close to the Museum Ludwig and the Rhine.

A lot of my favourite shops are right in the heart of the city centre, such as the Walther König bookstore, where I can browse for hours in a friendly and informal atmosphere. If you are into older books, you should make a beeline for antiquarian bookstore Antiquariat Buchholz. In the rooms to the rear of the store, you will also find Galerie Buchholz, which not only showcases artworks by classic artists like Isa Genzken and Wolfgang Tillmans, but also regularly exhibits work by aspiring young artists.

Another insider tip is the Heimat store on Mauritiuswall, which Andreas Hoyer and Andy Scherpereel have been running for almost 20 years now. There you’ll find fashion collections by Bernhard Willhelm and Walter Van Beirendonk, as well as many other designers.

If you appreciate experimental art formats, I certainly recommend visiting the Akademie der Künste der Welt (Academy of the Arts of the World), whose exhibitions are always in tune with the times.

And in the evening, you will often find me at Hallmackenreuther on Brüsseler Platz or the MD Bar on Marsilstein, which is run by artists and is famous for its whiskey.

My favourite shops are right in the heart of the city centre

Yilmaz Dziewior, Director of the Museum Ludwig

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Cologne goes green In Cologne, there is a growing awareness of how urban living can be combined with ecological sustainability – and it’s also changing the appearance of the city Text Jan Lüke | Photography Dörthe Boxberg

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Leader of the pack(aging-free)!

With more zero-waste shops than Berlin, Hamburg or Munich – more than any other city in Germany, in fact – Cologne can truly claim to be Germany’s zero-­waste capital. Specialist shops such as Veedels­ krämer, Tante Olga and Migori can now be found all over the city, including the recent arrival of U wie unverpackt in Mülheim on the other side of the Rhine.

These shops are more than just local retailers where Cologne locals can buy food and other everyday necessities free of packaging; they are part of a zero-­waste movement that aims to inform urban society about the consequences of packaging waste and draw attention to alternatives for everyday consumption. For instance, they also hold regular workshops where people can learn how to make their own cleaning products or cosmetics – and organise fun ‘Yoga & Cleanup’ events on the banks of the Rhine. The Zero Waste Köln initiative, which brings together many local zero-waste players, was awarded the Environmental Protection Award by the City of Cologne in 2020.

This zero-waste movement is just one high-profile example of the active and varied commitment to sustainability and the environment in Cologne, which has gained momentum in recent years. ­Cologne seems to be taking an ecological U-turn and the further everyday life in the loud, cramped and unhealthy city gets from nature, the more its residents are yearning for more natural surroundings. And this is also manifesting itself in the cityscape.

The places where both the contrast and interaction between city and nature are most obvious are the two best-known

Packagingfree shops Veedelskrämer Körnerstr. 2-4, 50823 Cologne / Neusser Str. 44, 50670 Cologne, veedelskraemer.net Tante Olga Berrenrather Str. 406, 50937 Cologne / Viersener Str. 6, 50733 Cologne, tante-olga.de Migori Bonner Str. 66, 50677 Cologne, migori.de U wie unverpackt Wallstr. 81, 50969 Cologne

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urban gardening projects in Cologne: Neuland and Pflanzstelle were created on brownfield sites and are still surrounded by relics of Cologne’s industrial past. Neuland is located on the grounds of the former Dom Kölsch brewery in Bayenthal, a district in the south of the city. After the construction of a technical college on the grounds fell through in 2011, it was unclear what would happen to the unused federal state-owned land.

However, local residents were quick to reclaim the abandoned site and, over the past ten years, have transformed it into a green oasis where green-fingered amateur gardeners grow fruit and vegetables in raised beds and greenhouses that they built themselves. As well as this, the association that was founded to look after

Neuland holds events where anyone who is interested can learn about the basics of gardening – and also organises open-air film evenings and projects with educational institutions.

Pflanzstelle has an even more symbolic location to its name. This urban garden is situated on the former grounds of KHD – an engine manufacturer founded in 1864, which was instrumental in establishing the district of Kalk as a working-class area and industrial centre in the 20th century. Over the coming years, the area around the listed KHD production buildings – also known as Hallen Kalk (Kalk Halls) – is to be the setting for a new urban quarter complete with school, apartments and offices. Local policymakers have decided to retain Pflanzstelle on

the grounds. In the shade of the giant factory halls where diesel engines once rolled off production lines, people now come together to keep bees, cook and, of course, tend to the gardens.

Environmental protection and sustainability are becoming more of a priori-

ty for policymakers and city administrators, who are actively protecting and promoting ecological projects and initiatives such as Neuland or Pflanzstelle, the most high-profile of around 20 urban community gardens in Cologne.

In some cases, the administration even takes on board the ideas of private players in its own urban strategy. The Ernährungsrat Köln (Cologne Food Policy Council) was set up back in 2015 by notfor-profit association Taste of Heimat and aims to draw up a nutrition strategy for Cologne. The Council’s best-known idea was the Essbare Stadt (Edible City), which grows food for local people and

Urban gardening Neuland Koblenzer Str. 73, 50968 Cologne, neuland-koeln.de Pflanzstelle Neuerburgstr. 4, 51103 Cologne, pflanzstelle.blog­sport.eu

Essbare Stadt essbare-stadt.koeln The Good Food Venloer Str. 414, 50825 Cologne, the-good-food.de

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animals. Also associated with these are ‘Edible Spaces’ in the various districts.

Today, they can already be found in a number of popular locations in the city: figs growing on the edge of Brüsseler Platz in the Belgian Quarter and apple trees on Rathenauplatz in the city centre.

Over the next few years, many other food crops are to be planted at central locations in Cologne. Although sceptical to begin with, the city administration is now putting its weight behind the Edible City’s idea of enabling people to experience nature, learn about the environment and work together as a community in the heart of the city.

At the same time, committed Cologne locals continue to promote the vision of a sustainable city: in 2017, Nicole Klaski opened The Good Food in Ehrenfeld – a small store where consumers can rescue food items that would otherwise go to waste. The Good Food sells food that has passed its best before date or day-old baked goods at cost price. However, it also stocks fresh fruit and vegetables that are too small or too out of shape to be sold at conventional stores and supermarkets.

The Good Food calls it “love at second glance”. Which, if you think about it, is also a fitting description of the City of Cologne’s relationship with nature.

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Stadtrevue is Cologne’s very own city magazine. On 150 pages, it brings you the lowdown on culture, politics and life in the city every month. With countless tips about places to go and things to do, along with the region’s most extensive event calendar, it is your ultimate guide to the urban jungle.

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In the same way that allotment gardens suddenly became all the rage again here in Cologne recently, pottery – having long since shaken off the stuffy image that has clung to it since the 1970s – is currently enjoying something of an unlikely resurgence among the city’s young, trendy crowd. While pottery courses used to be little more than an opportunity for bored housewives to get out of the house, they are now the hobby of choice for stressed-out city dwellers. By all accounts, after working a 60-hour week, even management consultants are preferring to relax at a potter’s wheel rather than cram into a crowded yoga studio.

Back in 2017, the New York Times had already heralded pottery as “the new Pilates” and the trend towards hands-on crafts is clearly also alive and well in Cologne. And as clay is a wholly natural product, pottery is currently leading the way in the arts and crafts movement too.

More and more budding potters are embracing this often overlooked and underappreciated craft. So much so, in fact, that it is difficult to find a free spot on any of the many pottery courses taking place in virtually every part of town. The popular Studioki pottery workshops for absolute beginners in the south of the city are often booked out months in advance. The pottery courses for adults that are regularly organised by Isabella Bilstein in her studio in Deutz are usually full as well.

The rustic ceramic look is very much on trend in bars and restaurants at the moment, with more and more fancy restaurants opting for handmade tableware.

That’s not what’s on offer at Madeleine Degenhardt’s studio in Nippes though, but what you will find are imaginative plant pots and other eclectic creations, all lovingly crafted by hand. Under the name Uhlala, she fashions wonderfully quirky ceramic statues, all modelled and painted by hand, that playfully blur the lines between utility and art. An illustrator and graphic designer by trade, Degenhardt took her hobby to a professional level recently and is now selling her strictly limit-

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Kiln time in Cologne Pottery is the new favourite pastime of stressed-out city dwellers Text Katja Peglow Photography Marcel Kessler

The trend towards hands-on crafts is alive and well

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ed pieces at design markets and via her own online shop.

If your tastes are more purist and functional, why not pay a visit to onomao in Ehrenfeld? The Cologne ceramic label, which was set up by brothers Felix and Arthur Wystrychowski in 2018, blends Portuguese craftsmanship with modern design. On entering the little shop, you will be instantly soothed by the gentle pastel shades of the items on display, which even conjure up something of a holiday atmosphere. This is all the handiwork of a family-run ceramics producer in northern Portugal, which the brothers – both passionate surfers – discovered during a trip to the Atlantic coast. Here, cups, bowls and plates are modelled, fired and glazed by hand, based on the Wystrychowskis’ own designs. The char-

acteristic colour gradients make each piece unique in its own way. Sustainability and respect for the environment feature prominently in the pottery scene. Accordingly, the clay for onomao’s products comes from the local region in Portugal.

And, quite rightly, the brothers use no plastic whatsoever in the packaging and dispatching of their wares.

Incidentally, the finest ceramics can be seen at art book publisher Taschen’s store at Neumarkt. Originally designed in the 1960s for an Italian tile producer, the ceramic tiled floor is one of the visual highlights of the flagship store, which reopened in 2017. And you will also find no end of inspiration for your next pottery course in the pages of the many design books on sale there. Time to get crafty!

Studioki Isabellenstr. 18a, 50678 Cologne, studioki.de Keramikatelier Isabella Bilstein Reischplatz 2, 50679 Cologne, isabellabilsteinceramics.com Uhlala uhlala-potterydesign.com onomao Venloer Str. 501, 50825 Cologne, onomao.com Taschen Store, Neumarkt 3, 50667 Cologne, taschen.com

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Photo: Thomas Schäkel

Pretty little things

Cosita Bonita

From Mexican handicrafts to Scandinavian minimalism – the best design stores in Cologne

Clothing, handicrafts and food from Mexico – bought directly from local producers without any middlemen or wholesalers.

For this Annika Boerm relies on her network of contacts, including Fábrica Social, which distributes hand-embroidered clothing. Boerm lived in Mexico for many years herself. The country’s unique aesthetic is reflected in her small Cologne boutique. The store manages to stock everything from vibrantly coloured figures to lavishly embroidered fabrics, fiery salsa and a selection of mezcal. And picking up a few fresh corn tortillas or a couple of bottles of brightly coloured Mexican Jarritos lemonade is guaranteed to brighten up any grey C ­ ologne day.

Brüsseler Str. 45, 50674 Cologne, cositabonita.de/shop-­cologne

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Tøndel This concept store is worth a visit for the interior inspiration alone. When it comes to modern design and design classics, Gernot Thöndel and Miriam Brühl’s store in Ehrenfeld has you covered. Their love of good design is obvious from their lovely showroom with its long window fronts. Here, design aficionados can browse an array of minimalist office furniture and sofas, Scandinavian textiles by traditional weaving mill Lapuan Kankurit and timeless sideboards by Treku from the north of Spain. Thöndel and Brühl are making an important contribution to the neighbourhood’s shopping culture, focusing primarily on designers whose creations aren’t available in your average online shop.

Siemensstr. 9, 50825 Cologne, toendel.de

Photo: Thomas Schäkel

Design and handicraft enthusiasts will be in their element in these Cologne stores

Herbarium The shop window of Herbarium on Brüsseler Strasse is only very small, but it seems to have a magical attraction for passers-by, who are always stopping to admire the beautiful flower arrangements inside.

These are the calling card of florist Nina Kleinz, who also runs the florist’s opposite. Herbarium is her concept store for plants, pots, homeware, stationery and accessories – and of course dried flowers and grasses, one of the most popular interior trends of late. Once a month she holds workshops teaching the basics so that people can try their hand at making their own bouquets, wreaths and flower arrangements.

Brüsseler Str. 52, 50674 ­Cologne, Instagram: ­@herbarium.cologne

Het Kollektief

Things We Like

From clothing, interior accessories and stationery to cosmetics and food, there’s a lot to discover at Joke Peeters’ store. All products stocked here have been sustainably produced by small labels and come mainly from Europe. Joke Peeters is originally from Belgium and many of her products are sourced from there as well. She also sells handmade clothing and accessories that are produced in Madrid. The bags and rucksacks by Mulinu come from Cologne: the cord hip bag is named after Hennes, the club mascot of the city’s football team. You’ll also find handmade print designs, jewellery and baby clothing and accessories made from a soft bamboo fabric.

Katrin and Philipp Arndt have put together a selection of beautiful items based on their own personal tastes. Behind the large window front, you’ll find a harmonious balance of natural colour tones and materials.

Many of the items on sale are homemade, such as the cowhide furniture handles, the hand-sewn gym bags or the original items made from sea urchins and tillandsia plants. If you’re feeling in a hands-on mood yourself, you’ll also find DIY kits containing everything you need to make a hanging basket or a shelf. And the two handicraft enthusiasts are always on hand with useful advice. But even if you’re just looking for a gift, this is still the place to come.

Zülpicher Str. 218, 50937 ­Cologne, hetkollektief.com

Brabanter Str. 33–35, 50672 ­Cologne, thingswelike.shop

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Raising the rainbow flag

A short guide to annual LGBTIQ* events in Cologne Text Johannes J. Arens

Cologne prides itself on being a gay-friendly city | Photo: Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0

The LGBTIQ* community is more firmly established in Cologne than ever before. So much so that the Greens – the party that has been standing up for the rights of non-heterosexual minorities ever since it was founded – were voted the strongest parliamentary group in the city’s council in autumn 2020. And it’s not only party-independent Cologne Mayor, Henriette Reker, who is seeking to maintain close ties with the community – the other parties have no qualms about reaching out either. Even the conservative CDU ran for the office of mayor with an openly gay candidate in 2009. Of course, that doesn’t automatically mean that all sexual identities are embraced with open arms by the entire population of Cologne, but it’s still impossible to imagine the city without its gay and lesbian infrastructure.

Here’s our round-up of the best LGBTIQ* events Cologne has to offer.

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Events In Cologne there is a whole raft of events that aren’t only important for the LGBTIQ* community but also attract droves of spectators to the city’s streets. And their economic contribution to the city is not to be underestimated. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we are still unable to say how big these events will be and what format they will take in 2021. Even if we don’t yet know exactly what to expect after or during the pandemic, here is a general overview of the LGBTIQ* year in Cologne:

Carnival

Ever since the Rosa Funken, the first gay Carnival association in Germany, was established in 1995, gay and lesbian Carnival sessions and parties have been an integral part of what is known here as the “fifth

Come-Together-Cup

The annual Come-Together-Cup is held at Cologne’s Rheinenergie stadium. This charity football tournament started out in 1994 as a match between the gay team Cream-Team-Cologne and a squad of police officers. Taking place on one of the two public holidays in May, it’s not only about football, mutual understanding and breaking down homophobic prejudices, but also coffee, cake and kicking off the summer of queer celebrations. come-together-cup.de

SC Janus

If you’re looking for other LGBTIQ* sporting events throughout the rest of the year, you’ll find a wide range of activities at SC Janus, the oldest and largest gay and lesbian sports club in Europe. sc-janus.de

Cologne Pride season”. Such as the Röschensitzung in Mülheim, modelled on the legendary Rosa Sitzung (a raucous variety show) – which, in 2021, will be taking place online for the first time – or the various events of the StattGarde Colonia Ahoj. In many places throughout the city, Carnival traditionally ends with the burning of the Nubbel, a lifesized straw figure symbolising all the sins that have been committed during the past few days. And if it’s witty, political humour you’re looking for, don’t miss the straw figure’s entertaining annual eulogy by drag performer Erika Laste in the heart of gay-lesbian epicentre Schaafenstrasse (Carnival Tuesday, from 11 pm). Due to the coronavirus, there won’t be any largescale Carnival events in 2020. Please check the organisers’ websites for further details. roeschensitzung.de stattgarde.de

The city’s events attract rainbow revellers in their droves

For many Colognians, the highlight of the summer is Cologne Pride. Since starting out with waffle-making and choir performances in 1991, it has developed into one of the biggest political demonstrations in Germany, culminating in a huge demo on the first Sunday in July. Disputes regarding commercialisation and exclusion have led to the creation of important smaller marches such as the Dyke March or Transpride. colognepride.de dykemarchcologne.de transpridecologne.wordpress.com

Schwules Netzwerk NRW – Kompassnadel

While many young participants could be heard shouting out clear messages from the floats during the parade in 2019, the CSD party stage at Gürzenich in the Old Town represents a loud and clear statement on minority policy. Since 2001, the Schwules Netzwerk NRW (Gay Network of

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take place in 2020 amid the coronavirus crisis. For a much more charming, authentic experience, however, there are plenty of informal meet-ups in the run-up to Christmas, which sees members of the gay and lesbian community convening at certain mulled wine stalls. But as these are not officially announced, it’s best to ask a friendly local.

Organisations Aidshilfe

The Cologne Pride festivities are loud and proud | Photo: Daniel Poštrak

Cologne is one of the most LGBTIQ*friend­ly destinations in Europe

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North Rhine-Westphalia) has been awarding the Kompassnadel prize to personalities who have made outstanding contributions to promoting the social acceptance of gays and lesbians. schwules-netzwerk.de/kompassnadel

Informal meet-ups

It’s not so much the city’s local community that the Christmas markets are out to impress, but rather the steady flow of tourists. For several years now, Heavenue – situated between Rudolfplatz and Schaafenstrasse – has been providing a more flamboyant alternative to the regular festive offering. And after drawing up a hygiene concept, it will also be able to

It takes a lot of voluntary work to get these and all the many other LGBTIQ* events off the ground. And the majority of the institutions, associations and initiatives doing this work were founded in the aftermath of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. A stone column in the atrium next to the St. Maria im Kapitol church has served as a reminder since 1994, while the Kaltes Eck installation pays tribute to Cologne’s AIDS victims on cobblestones by the Rhine river. And even though the priorities have shifted, the health of the LGBTIQ* community is still an important issue in Germany’s fourth-largest city. The Aidshilfe Köln Checkpoint provides information and counselling, both in its offices and online – even anonymously if preferred – on HIV and PreP, as well as other sexually transmitted diseases. aidshilfe-koeln.de

Rubicon

The Rubicon advisory centre helps lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, inter* and queer people and their families and chosen families to live confidently and without fear. And Germany’s Federal Interest Group of Gay Senior Citizens is also based in Cologne, as well as Anyway, a space for young lesbians, gays, bi and trans* aged between 14 and 27. rubicon-koeln.de schwuleundalter.de anyway-koeln.de

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Great Wall Great Wall ist not exactly located in an area of Cologne renowned for its cuisine. But this Chinese restaurant is very much an exception to the rule, because even though the décor isn’t anything to write home about, the dishes certainly pack a punch. From fried wan tans, tofu with bacon in a stoneware pot, sweet fried aubergines, Shanghai-style perch fillet or the spicy Szechuan beef with pak choi – we recommend ordering a wide assortment, as is customary in China, and sharing everything. Chinese spices are used to perfection in the complex creations and the spiciness never overpowers the fresh ingredients and flavours. As well as exquisite wines by the glass, Chinese beer and teas, they also serve up more exotic traditional Chinese dishes such as offal, thousand-yearold eggs or jellyfish salad.

Komödienstr. 37, 50667 Cologne, greatwallcologne.de

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Vegan

Bunte Burger Food Bar

Bunte Burger’s popularity doesn’t come as much of a surprise: after all, it takes special care to ensure sustainability throughout its entire production chain and refrains from using artificial or highly processed ingredients wherever possible. And because there’s a lot more to a vegan burger than just the patty, they regularly have plenty of new toppings up their sleeves too: the Bavaria Burger, for example, with caramelised onions and beetroot, or the Persia Burger with dates and falafel.

Around once a month, Bunte Burger – which is already pretty chic for a burger joint – switches its attention to gourmet cuisine and cooks up a seasonal five-course meal for €49.

You can secure a table by signing up on the restaurant’s website but be sure to do so early because it fills up very fast indeed.

Hospeltstr. 1, 50825 Cologne, ­bunteburger.de

Ritter Wülfing When this restaurant opened in summer 2020, the sheer number of people trying to get a table suggested that it’s exactly what the city had been waiting for. On the menu here are creative tapas, including plenty of imaginative vegetarian options.

Our fried broccoli oozed Asian flavours, while the marinated and grilled portobello mushroom came on a bed of well-seasoned tomato and cucumber salsa. The fish and meat dishes come in larger portions: boar from the nearby Eifel region is cooked in stock with cumin and coriander seeds and served with white cabbage – and all dishes are bursting with flavour. Three tapas portions are usually enough for one person, but to be on the safe side you can also order a Happen (small bite) such as slices of white bread topped with falafel and a creamy paprika spread.

Weißenburgstr. 32, 50670 Cologne, ritterwuelfing.de

Capricorn i Aries | Photo: Daniel Grünfeld

Henne. Weinbar

Capricorn i Aries

Small portions for sharing? Hendrik “Henne” Olfen has them by the ­dozen! The beef ham from retired Basque dairy cows makes a very flavoursome starter and the modern take on Polish-style cauliflower (€8) isn’t far behind. Expertly smoked mushy peas elevate the wild game sausage from the nearby Bergisches Land region to taste explosion status, while the grilled lettuce heart scales the same heights thanks to its potato and caraway emulsion. With a menu that changes regularly, every visit here is a culinary tour de force that can always take you in a different direction.

Which is all well and good – but only half the story, because the exquisite wine pairings by talented sommelier Fabrice Thumm are the ideal accompaniment. A spot of wining and dining here will always save the day!

This brasserie has been serving up the best French cuisine in the Südstadt, the south part of the city, for many years now. The fairly priced three-course set menu is a good place to start. Our culinary journey began with homemade bread with salted butter and a quark spread with herbs, which went down a treat with the fruity non-alcoholic house aperitif. The first course, a small shellfish soup with complex flavours, was a culinary delight.

Somewhat simpler, but just as impressive was the main course: roast deer with savoy cabbage, mashed potato and creamy celery, accompanied by an excellent gravy. The culinary revelations continued all the way to dessert: a citrus fruit ragout, crowned by a forest fruit sorbet and a mango purée. And even the espresso to round off the meal was top-notch.

Pfeilstr. 31, 50672 Cologne, henne-weinbar.de

Alteburger Str. 31, 50678 Cologne, capricorniaries.com

From China to Turkey and France, in Cologne you can eat your way around the globe

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Photo: Thomas Schäkel

A day in the life of …

… Erik Scheffler As a townie who grew up in a small village, I must admit that it took me a while to settle into life in Cologne, but I now consider myself to be very much a Wahlkölner – a Colognian by choice.

There are very few cities in Germany that allow you to chase away the grey dreariness of urban life as quickly as Cologne does. With its charm, zest for life, green spaces aplenty and a wealth of cultural diversity – not to mention the unique character of the locals – Cologne is a very special place indeed.

If the sun is shining on my day off, I tend to hop on my bike and make the most of the city. Although it must be said that Cologne is not exactly the most bicycle-friendly city in the world, the most fun way to explore it is still on two wheels.

My first stop is Ehrenfeld, where I enjoy weaving my way through the side streets, taking in the vibrant colours, wild statements and stylish graphics of the local street art scene. Whether Planet Selfie, Cuts and Pieces, Sweetsnini or the rest of the No Hate Family, each of these artists, who work their magic after dark, adds a touch of colour and flair to everyday life in the city.

Hunger will no doubt strike at some point as well. Depending on the time of day, there are three options for me in Ehrenfeld: coffee and pastries at Mehlwerkstatt, an Adana doner sandwich at Kebapland or Austrian cuisine with wine and friendly service at Essers Gasthaus.

Now that I have kids, there is less room in my life for street art, partying and eating out but I have found ways to keep the whole gang happy. The lovely Agnesviertel district is the perfect spot for our short family excursions. Here, we take a relaxed walk from the Lentpark swimming pool

and ice-skating rink through the Rosengarten all the way to Fort X, an old Prussian fort situated on the green belt. There are cool playgrounds for the kids, while the older folk can relax on the grass, lose themselves in the rhythmic sway of the trees or chase their children across the climbing frame. Once we are all worn out (or chilled out!), it’s time to make our way to Neusser Platz for an ice cream at Keiserlich near the Agneskirche church. This is followed by one or two quick glasses of Kölsch at nearby Balthasar and – if we were organised enough to reserve a table beforehand – dinner at Metzger & Marie. You instantly feel at home here – and what could be better than tucking into tasty food with your loved ones?

Fond as I am of Cologne and its concrete charm, I still need to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city every now and then and surround myself with nature. Walks through the woods at Königsforst and up Monte Troodelöh – the highest point in the city at 118 metres – or a trip to Brücker Wildpark are the perfect antidote to stressful city life. And if you get peckish, I can heartily recommend the Päffgen brewhouse at Kauler Hof in nearby Bergisch Gladbach. The gruff waiters – Köbese – are authentic, the food is fun and there is freshly brewed Päffgen Kölsch on tap. Just the thing for replenishing your energy after a long walk! And best of all, you don’t even need a car to get there: tipsy or not, the number 1 tram line will take you safely back into the heart of Cologne.

There are so many different sides of Cologne that there is something for everyone. So be sure to keep your eyes open and make the most of everything the city has to offer.

Charm, a zest for life and green spaces aplenty – that’s Cologne

Erik Scheffler is one half of the Michelin-­ starred chef duo behind Cologne restaurant Neobiota

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Cologne’s four on the dance floor

Philipp Jondo | © Maria_Vardaki

A Saturday evening in late summer 2020 on the terrace of Cologne’s Stadtgarten venue, one of the few places where electronic music is still being played during the coronavirus pandemic. On the stage is Phillip Jondo. Jondo, who is in his late 20s, runs the SPA Records label with two friends. With just five releases and an NTS radio show, the trio have already established themselves as an open-minded collective, free from all dogmatic restraint. On this evening, Jondo fuses pitched R&B samples with euphoric soundscapes and beats in loose multiple tempi. Although he started out producing German rap as a teenager, his favourite Cologne record is Can’s “Tago Mago” – a stylistically assured choice.

When describing his DJ philosophy, Jondo says: “Even if it didn’t suit the crowd one bit, I would probably still play my favourite song – simply because it means a lot to me and because it triggers something in me that I want to share with others”.

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So far, he has put his time to good use during the coronavirus period, by releasing a new EP, for example. He also reveals that he drew up a list of pointers for himself before starting: leave room for surprises; take responsibility for one another in the studio; don’t just look for one mood in the music.

The following day sees Marie Montexier DJing at the Kompakt label’s annual Total party on the same stage. The 22-year-old sees Kompakt as “family” even though her personal musical tastes lie elsewhere: “I originally come from the drum ’n’ bass and hip-hop scene, so I’m really into electro stuff and breaks. I worked my way through all the genres until I found my own niche.”

When asked how she, as a young artist on the verge of a career breakthrough, felt about the coronavirus and its repercussions, Marie Montexier replied: “It was tough for me. One week after the shutdown I would have done my first Boiler

With a new generation taking the clubs by storm, Cologne’s electronic music scene has seen an injection of new momentum in recent years. Jondo, Marie Montexier, Bas Grossfeldt and MK Braun all share a desire for creating new sounds – one that not even the coronavirus pandemic can shake

Marie Montexier

Text Thomas Venker

Room and then I would have had my first gig at Berghain in Berlin. It was all right in front of my nose and then suddenly taken away from me…” Being able to keep financially afloat by working in a CBD store helped her to flick the switch and get her creative juices flowing again relatively quickly. And it also meant that she didn’t have a lot of time for navel-gazing. With Pistache FM, she has her own radio show at Munich-based Radio 8000 and plans to launch her own label, something that is very close to her heart.

Sören Siebel put out two highly regarded records at the same time. First there is “Klavier”, recorded together with Jas Shaw of Simian Mobile Disco under the name Shaw & Grossfeldt, and then a solo EP “Lost in Sensation”, released under the name Bas Grossfeldt on Metroplex, the label owned by Detroit techno veteran Juan Atkins. As he recalls: “I was speechless at first. The idea that a small Cologne artist like me could ever release

an EP on the Detroit techno label is pretty surreal”. Siebel doesn’t think it’s such a bad thing that the two releases happened to coincide with the pandemic: “I think that people are allowing themselves more time to discover music right now.”

Although, as he admits, “you need the whole atmosphere in the clubs for the records to make a lasting impact.”

To avoid falling prey to coronavirus-induced resignation, Sören Siebel is working on new tracks and a soundtrack for his performance installation “Die Architektur des Unbewussten” (The Architecture of the Unconscious). As part of his dissertation for the Academy of Media Arts here in Cologne, he performed it at the local Jaki nightclub shortly before the lockdown, innovatively combining a club performance with performance art. As Siebel explains: “For me, this ʻin-between’ creates a tension that I have never felt anywhere else. It also has a lot to do with which energy impacts whom, with

“People are allowing themselves more time to discover music right now” Sören Siebel

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Fifteen Minutes Agency: Laura Schleder, Michael Kastens | © FMA

Soeren Siebel, alias Bas Grossfeldt

“Everything I do for a living and everything I had worked towards for years fell apart within the space of a few days” Michael Kastens

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| © Mathias Schmitt

when and how this happens – and with how that affects the space and the people there. And, above all, it is the physical experience that takes centre stage again and again.”

Michael Kastens sees himself as a “chameleon”. He works for the PollerWiesen open-air parties but is also one of the brains behind the labels Ki Records and Henk Records, organises the Cologne Sessions at Jaki and makes his own music as DJ and producer MK Braun.

While most other people were still reeling from the coronavirus shock and waiting for the all-clear to be given, Kastens was quick to launch into a plan B and started a model agency: Fifteen Minutes Agency. Thinking back to March 2020, he recalls: “Everything I do for a living and everything I had worked towards for years fell apart within the space of a few days. As no one had any idea what course the pandemic was going to take, I soon felt a void that I wanted to fill as quickly as possible.”

In the noughties, Kastens worked as a model himself so he certainly knows his way around the industry: “The first jobs — both paid and unpaid – are now starting to come in”, he reports, “which is great news of course.” He takes the same approach to the agency as he does to his music: he is interested in models with a “more progressive, edgy look”.

Of course, music hasn’t disappeared from Kastens’ life completely. Far from it: his label Henk is releasing a maxi single

by Stikdorn which also features him as a musician on one track. Reflecting the current lack of clubbing opportunities, it doesn’t just include euphoric rave bangers but also spherical tracks for listening to at home. Michael Kastens: “Of course, it’s a pity that pretty much all the feedback on the promos will be sent digitally.

But then it’ll be all the more rewarding when we can finally get hear the tracks where they are meant to be heard – in the clubs!”

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EIN MAGAZIN DER

Cocktail hour in Cologne Kölns Gastro Guide 2020/2021

OLD FASHIONED 020 Guide 2019/2 Bars zurück an der Spitze

& INTERVIEW

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12,80 €

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tagnacht — the German-­

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ESSEN UND T RINKEN IN K ÖLN ALLE VEEDEL, ALLE KÜCHEN!

UND TRI alle Küchen • Frisch getestet: alle Veedel, IN KÖLN

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ISSN 1867-9102

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Suderman

Toddy Tapper

The cocktail categories in Suderman’s drinks menu are a homage to Cologne’s Agnesviertel district. A closer look will reveal everything from down-to-earth drinks to lavish cocktails. When it comes to the spacious interior, you can expect muted colours, an extra-long bar, lots of wood, stone and leather and straight-up chic – a no-fuss attitude that is also reflected in the meticulously mixed cocktails. The rumbased Laubbläser (Leaf Blower) is a sour and spicy affair with betel, oolong and lambic beer, along with pear and lemon for added freshness. And the Träumchen vom Pfläumchen (Plum Dream) with bourbon is flavoured with plum, date, lemon, ginger and various spices. The homemade ingredients take these concoctions to the next level, leaving you spoilt for choice.

One more for the road?

At Toddy Tapper, you can drink your way around the globe. The continents of Asia, Europe and America on the menu represent ingredients and spices. The Asia section is dedicated to arrak, an unspecific generic term for a variety of spirits and probably the oldest distilled spirit in the world. It also forms the basis of the bar’s signature drink, the Ceylon Mule, where it is joined by a symphony of Japanese citrus fruit yuzu, palm sugar syrup, citrus and spicy ginger ale. Its tantalising sourness in combination with the spicy aromas is one of a kind. True to form, the Caribbean section includes the rum-based The Master, flavoured with coffee and Christmas aromas. And with the friendly, attentive service here, it’s hardly surprising that gourmet magazine Falstaff declared the bar’s owner Indika Silva “Bar Host of the Year”.

Sudermanplatz 3, 50670 Cologne, sudermanbar.de

Schillingstr. 27, 50670 Cologne, toddytapper.de

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Seiberts Seiberts is the definition of classic bar culture. To enter this establishment, patrons first have to ring the bell. Once inside, your coat will be taken and you will be guided to a seat – either al fresco on the ‘Liquid Garden’ patio, at the bar, or on the brown leather armchairs, all in an elegant private club atmosphere.

The menu is brimming with highly original specialities, all of which are prepared using complex methods such as cask ageing and sous-vide.

The extensive menu categorises the drinks according to production method, region and spirit. To get your evening off to a sparkling start, we recommend Sakura Night, a prime example of the utmost attention to detail this bar devotes to cocktails: fresh, understated and fruity, it is made with homemade pineapple and vanilla-infused rum, yuzu sake and champagne, lavishly garnished with an edible orchid.

Friesenwall 33, 50672 Cologne, seiberts-bar.de

Suderman | Photo: Daniel Grünfeld

The Grid Bar The stylish entrance area might give the impression that this is a private club. However, The Grid Bar has set its sights even higher, starting with its world-class drinks. The space is large enough for up to 350 guests and the interior is extremely sophisticated. And the menu comes in the form of a booklet in English, in which the three different flavours of each cocktail are listed with its own story. Champagne cocktail Lens Flair – orange, buttermilk and champagne – offers perfectly coordinated flavours with a sparkling freshness. Windsor Punk, on the other hand, packs a far more powerful punch, bringing aquavit, apple and champagne together in an aromatic three-way with plenty of contrasting flavours. Cigar aficionados can sip their cocktails while puffing away to their hearts’ content in the cosy courtyard lounge, which is particularly busy on Sunday evenings.

Friesenstr. 62, 50670 Cologne,

Little Link At Little Link, the focus is squarely on great-tasting, varied cocktails.

The drinks menu comes in the form of an elaborately designed cocktail atlas that divides the drinks into different groups, based on their style, ingredients and place of origin. One mighty fine example of their gourmet-style concoctions is the aromatic and fresh Goatherd with gin as its base spirit, chartreuse verte and goatherd cordial (goat’s cheese, saffron, thyme and lime juice). The Witches’ Brew from the smoky section, with porcini bourbon, port and silverskin onion shrub, walnut bitters and herb smoke, is served to spectacular effect in a smoking skull. And the Atom Limo with seamlessly integrated bourbon, PX sherry, apple, lemon, ginger and ginger ale from the menu’s cask-aged spirits section is an absolute must-try. The bar and its crew regularly win awards for their creations.

Cologne boasts an upscale cocktail bar scene serving up gourmet-style drinks

Maastrichter Str. 20, 50672 Cologne, littlelink.de

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Photo: Thomas Schäkel

A day in the life of …

… Michael Mayer For a night owl like me, there’s nothing worse than having to drag myself out of bed at seven in the morning. But Tuesday is my day to get the kids ready for school and seeing their first smile of the day always makes up for it. Once they are out of the house, I like to get back into my nice warm bed. Having a leisurely morning routine is a real luxury for me because I don’t have time when I’m on tour at the weekend. After reading the news, and having a quick first glance at my e-mails, I head to the office. My company, Kompakt, is just a stone’s throw away from my apartment near the Stadtgarten park. Which means that there are quite a few days when I only move within a radius of 200 metres. I sold my last car back in 1994 and have been a devoted cyclist ever since. Cologne is wonderfully flat and the city’s cycle lane network is being expanded at long last. Would I like a city centre free of cars? Yes please! However, I’m also well aware of how lucky I am to have everything within easy reach.

The Stadtgarten is the spiritual centre of my life. I also like to use it as an outdoor conference room for long telephone conversations. I find that my best ideas come when I’m out walking and there’s nothing to distract me. Some of the trees in the park are over 150 years old. They have survived two world wars and were around when the city centre was still free of cars. In keeping with the true spirit of Cologne, the old trees extend a warm welcome to those from foreign parts, housing an impressive swarm of green rose-ringed parakeets. These are one of the prominent features of the park’s wildlife and defend their territory valiantly against the attacks by the crows from the nearby green belt. Yes, the parrots are an invasive species – but I have grown fond of them and their aerial artistry!

In the late afternoon, I go shopping for groceries. If I don’t have much time, I generally stop by the large Rewe supermarket and Basic organic store on the other side of the park – also picking up bread from the Heinemann bakery and wine from Weinpunkt on Antwerpener Strasse. If I have more time on my hands or fancy a change of scenery, I go to Atlas in the heart of Ehrenfeld to buy fish. Or I pay a visit to my favourite branch of Rewe on Appellhofplatz, which I discovered through my involvement with nearby radio station WDR Cosmo. What I really love about this supermarket is that it has a deli counter – which I love because they mean less plastic waste, more choice, ­better quality and genuine human interaction. I’m passionate about cooking. For me, preparing food is a meditative act, a gentle transition between a busy working day and evening activities. And as a DJ, I really appreciate the art of making graceful transitions. In a way, cooking and DJing are the same – and most good DJs I know are into cooking.

But I also like dining out. My favourite restaurant is Akira on Hildeboldplatz, in my opinion the most authentic Japanese restaurant in Cologne. I have never eaten better agedashi tofu anywhere – not even when touring in Japan. Miniature dachshund Mokka is part of the furniture there and now an honorary member of my family too. Tuesday nights are the only time I actually get to produce music. In any case, I am only creative at night. I can set my watch by it: when eleven o’clock comes around, my creative juices start to flow. Every Tuesday. It’s usually dawn by the time I finally emerge from the Kompakt basement. My bike knows the way home. Provided there’s no headwind, I only need to pedal four times and I’m there.

My best ideas come when I’m out walking

Michael Mayer is a DJ, producer and part of the team behind Cologne electronic label Kompakt

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© CHG Boutique Hotels

Text Katja Peglow

Photo: Steve Herud

Where to stay in Cologne

From a themed bunk dorm to an original Kippenberger painting above the bed – here are our five hotel tips to suit every taste and budget

Boutique 026 Köln St. Michael This chic boutique hotel chain has no fewer than three outposts in Cologne. The most recent addition is just a hairbreadth away from Neumarkt and, even amidst all the bars and restaurants in its immediate vicinity, it still manages to exude a peaceful vibe and historical flair. Named after Saint Michael the Archangel, the listed building used to house a nunnery, but these days it promises far more comfort at affordable prices. Breakfast is served in the old chapel. After checking in, we recommend a leisurely stroll to the neighbouring Hiroshima Nagasaki Park or around the picturesque Melaten cemetery, the final resting place of many a prominent Cologne citizen.

Brüsseler Str. 26, 50674 Cologne, boutique-designhotels.com

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25 hours Hotel The Circle Modern, urban and cosmopolitan: even though room prices here start at more than 100 euros a night, the experience is worth every cent. Formerly offices belonging to the Gerling insurance company, the site has been home to a branch of design hotel chain 25hours since 2018. Upon setting foot inside the listed circular concrete building, the cool futuristic retro look will transport you to back to the heyday of the German economic miracle in the mid-20th century. The Monkey Bar on the eighth floor boasts stunning panoramic views of Cologne, while the record store, bike corner and sleekly designed souvenir shop in the lobby couldn’t be any more Instagrammable if they tried.

Im Klapperhof 22–24, 50670 Cologne, 25hours-hotels.com

Photo: Jo Fober

Wohngemeinschaft Solo travellers and backpackers on a shoestring budget will feel right at home in the Wohngemeinschaft – the German word for ‘flat share’. Which is very apt, considering that the whole establishment really does have the vibe of a fun residential community. This hostel prides itself on its informal, laid-back atmosphere. The café-bar on the ground floor simply oozes a cosy living room flair, while the adjoining event space regularly hosts readings, concerts, theatre performances and film screenings. And when you’re ready to rest your weary head, you can opt for an originally designed bunk in a dormitory room or one of the themed rooms designed in the different styles of various fictitious roommates.

Richard-Wagner-Str. 39, 50674 Cologne, die-wohngemeinschaft.net

Hotel Chelsea

The Qvest

How about residing like painter Martin Kippenberger for a night? Well, you can: at the Chelsea’s two-storey suite that is named after the artist, who died in 1997. This hotel in the Belgian Quarter, which first opened its doors in 1984, is where Kippenberger liked to stay during his wild years in Cologne. This explains why it is decorated with many of his artworks, which he was only too happy to exchange in return for free board and lodging. The Chelsea is still a popular meeting place for creatives, gallery owners and musicians to this day, and, thanks to its sculptural roof, even looks like a work of art itself.

Originally built as a monastery in neo-Gothic style, Cologne’s most beautiful boutique hotel can be found tucked away behind an impressive 19th-century façade. Located in the Gerling Quarter, Qvest combines historical architecture with modern design elements from the Bauhaus and mid-century era. Each room is individually furnished with design classics and contemporary art, collected over the years by the hotel’s owner, prominent gallery owner and publisher Michael Kaune. And you can wind down the evening in style with a nightcap in the Bar Rossi on the ground floor, which is also open to non-hotel guests.

Jülicher Str. 1, 50674 Cologne, hotel-chelsea.de

Gereonskloster 12, 50670 Cologne, qvest-hotel.com

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Good to know Text Katja Peglow and Christian Werthschulte Photography Dรถrthe Boxberg

How can I find out what’s going on?

Independent, informative and, despite having over 40 years under its belt, still very much in tune with the times: Cologne’s Stadtrevue (stadtrevue.de) magazine has stood out on the city’s monopolised press landscape since 1976. A highlight is the daily events calendar that can also be viewed online and covers pretty much all club nights, readings, plays and concerts taking place in the region that day. Visit.koeln, on the other hand, will keep you updated on Cologne’s culinary offer and has detailed tips for shopping and arts and culture. And there’s also a good overview of the city’s museums and current exhibitions on museenkoeln.de. If you prefer your information as listicles, then “Mit Vergnügen“ (koeln. mitvergnuegen.com) has you covered.

“Rausgegangen”, (rausgegangen.de) on the other hand, prides itself on making an informed selection for their audience every day. During the peak of the coronavirus crisis in spring 2020, the site also established itself as a streaming portal for Cologne’s music scene. And if you accidentally leave your copy of this Hidden Cologne guide at home, we’re also on the internet: hiddencologne.de

We also speak English The English-speaking expat community in Cologne may be smaller than that of Berlin, but it still has a decent choice of activities. Starting with the offer of the city’s cinemas: Metropolis at Ebertplatz (metropolis-koeln.de) only shows films in English (some with subtitles), and Off-Broadway on Zülpicher Strasse makes a big effort to screen films in their original language. Find out which films are showing in which language on the Stadtrevue’s cinema calendar (stadtrevue.de/kino).

You’ll find the best selection of English books at the Mayersche bookstore at Neumarkt. But there’s a better choice of magazines and newspapers at the English Shop (english-shop.de), which also stocks a wide selection of English and American food items, located at An St. Agatha, a side street of the busy Schildergasse.

Check out the English-language web­site of the Cologne tourism board (cologne-tourism.com) for general information, including some very useful tips in case of a medical emergency. Generally, you’ll easily get by speaking English here — in German schools the subject is compulsory so most people speak it pretty well.

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Good to know

Book tickets in advance

now

aphy by Dörthe Boxberg

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In the past, booking your tickets in advance was only a recommendation, but the coronavirus crisis has made it mandatory. Access to most venues is restricted to people who have purchased their tickets in advance in order to comply with hygiene regulations. But whether you want to see a sporting event at the Lanxess Arena or take in a classical concert at the Philharmonie, you’re pretty much guaranteed to find the best seats with the city’s regional ticket provider, Kölnticket.

All of its approx. 100 booking offices in Cologne and the surrounding area are listed on the internet under koelnticket. de/vorverkaufsstellen, and of course you can also order online. The central ticket collection point is the somewhat modest-looking box office in the underground tram station at Neumarkt. Concert tickets can also often be purchased directly from the organiser. For example, together with KölnMusik, the Philharmonie has its own booking office on the ground floor of the Mayersche bookstore at Neumarkt. Directly opposite Cologne Cathedral, the Cologne tourist information service is your one-stop-shop for all bookings. Plus, they also have a small selection of ­Cologne-themed gifts.

Admission to museums Most of the big museums in Cologne are run by the city. With the Museumscard (18 euros for one person, 30 euros for two adults and two children), you can enjoy two successive days of free admission.

Students, trainees and handicapped visitor are entitled to the usual discounts, provided they can prove their eligibility.

On the “Langer Donnerstag” (Late-Night Thursday), the first Thursday in the month, anyone whose primary place of residence is Cologne is entitled to free admission to the permanent collection of the municipal museums (with the exception of public holidays). And it’s also interesting for non-locals: from 5 pm, admission to the Museum Ludwig costs just 7 euros for the collection and the special exhibition(s). Extended opening times (until 10 pm), special lectures and guided tours round off the programme. You can also make additional savings if you buy your tickets online: in this case, tickets for the Museum Ludwig double up as a VRS ticket for public transport in and around the city. museenkoeln.de

Getting around Cologne’s different fare zones and tariffs are a minefield. But the most important rule is: if you want to use the city’s public transport network, you’ll need a ticket from the KVB, Cologne’s transport operator. These are available for buses and over and underground trams from the stationary ticket machines or during your journey on the tram itself. But we recommend you always have enough small change with you as the machines accept neither notes nor cards. For shorter routes, you’ll just need the short-distance “Kurzstrecke” ticket (covering the stop you get on at plus another four), which is also available as a cheaper four-trip ticket that can be used by multiple passengers at the same time. The only cheaper way to get around the city is by renting bikes from the KVB (Nextbike) at a cost of 1 euro for 30 minutes. They require you to register in advance. But if all that sounds too complicated: at the Radstation bicycle rental on Breslauer Platz at the back of the train station, a City-Bike costs 10 euros/day and 8 euros/day from the second day. If you prefer to be driven around, taxis are your best bet. If the yellow sign on the roof is lit, the taxi isn’t occupied and you can flag it down. Or you can hop on one of the ubiquitous electric rental scooters, which don’t exactly have the

best reputation among locals because of the fact that they take up so much valuable space on the city’s streets. kvb-koeln.de

How to get to Cologne If you’re arriving by plane, you can choose between two international airports within close proximity. Although Cologne/Bonn Airport, which is just 15 kilometres from the city centre, is a lot smaller than its rival in Düsseldorf, it does have a great claim to fame: it served as the original inspiration for Brian Eno’s “Music for Airports”. Feeling frustrated at being stuck there on a layover for several hours and forced to listen to its banal sounds, he was inspired to come up with something better. Whether the acoustic ambience at the airport has since improved remains to be seen. But at least the transport connections are nothing to grumble about. It takes just 15 minutes to get from Cologne/Bonn Airport to Cologne’s central train station by S-Bahn, the rapid transit railway. For trains, the Thalys is very popular among travellers from Paris or Brussels due to its frequent service. Cologne is also easy to reach from London thanks to the Eurostar connection via Brussels.

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Good to know Cologne for vegans Surviving in Cologne as a vegan isn’t particularly difficult. As well as the obligatory soy milk, most cafés and lots of ice cream parlours meanwhile have a vegan offer.

We’ve also included some specialist vegan and vegetarian options in our food guide. The best places to stock up on everyday vegan essentials, from soya drinks to toothpaste, are the branches of organic supermarkets Denn’s, Basic or Alnatura, but you’ll also find a small range of vegan products at many branches of drugstore DM and supermarket Rewe.

COVID-19 in Cologne Despite being a densely populated city with a strong preference for celebrating in public, Cologne has not been hit severely by the coronavirus pandemic so far. But since the virus is probably going to stay with us for a while, it’s useful to have

some information on how COVID-related regulations might impact your stay. Since most rules are dependent on the number of positive cases in Cologne, the regulations are changing constantly. The best source for the most current information is the Robert Koch Institute (rki.de), which provides information in German and English and can tell you what rules apply for entering Germany. But since Germany is a federal republic, most regulations are decided individually by each federal state.

But don’t despair, the Cologne tourism board is on hand to help. Their website (cologne-tourism.com) is always up to date on Cologne’s latest COVID-19 rules and regulations. We also recommend installing Germany’s “Corona-Warn-App” on your Apple or Android smartphone, which is designed to help with testing and tracing and will warn you if you’ve been exposed to infectious people. Please stay healthy and safe!

Imprint Art direction Daniel Poštrak Stadtrevue Verlag Maastrichter Str. 49, 50672 ­Cologne, ­stadtrevue.de Tel +49 (0) 221 95 15 41-0 Fax +49 (0) 221 95 15 41-11 Management Monika Peters, Britta Schönefeld Special editor Gabriele Micke Advertising sales Hi-Jong Kim, Michael Meiger, Nina Reisdorf

Texts Anja Albert, Johannes J. Arens, Dora Cohnen, Jan Lüke, Katja Peglow, Thomas Riedel, Thomas Venker, Christian Werthschulte, Hans-Christoph Zimmermann Translation Paula Hedley, Ian Winick Photography Dörthe Boxberg, Daniel Grünfeld, Thomas Schäkel Illustration Kati Michaelis

Editor Christian Werthschulte (liable for editorial content)

Advertising design Elke Schwirtheim

Photo editors Dörthe Boxberg, Thomas Schäkel

Printer Heider Druck GmbH

Cover photo: Philipp Gabriel (The Photobookmuseum: “Das Chargesheimer Projekt”, exhibition at “Bunker K101”, 2019)

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hidden cologne is printed on paper from sustainably managed forests.

Production certificate: ProzessStandard Offsetdruck – ISO 12647 zertifiziert Environmental certificates: FSC. TT-COC-­004724; PEFC. TT-PEFC-COC162

If you want to discover more hotspots and insider tips in North-Rhine Westphalia, we highly recommend you check out the magazines the dorf for Düsseldorf and poly for the Ruhr Area.

Find out more at: hiddencologne.de thedorf.de poly.de nrw-tourism.com/urbanana