New York is the city that never sleeps, Cologne is the city with heart.
This is my first post on my travel blog. And what could be more exciting than to write about my home city: Cologne, in German: Koeln. One of my favorite German cities, a city with the heart on the right spot. The locals are open and welcoming and have a great sense of humor. People born in Cologne even have their own dialect (called Koelsch) which is embedded into their DNA by birth: the rest of Germany does not even understand them. The city is a great mixture of cultures (you will find great authentic Italian restaurants, the best Turkish doner) and and a very tolerant and open community of locals who love their soccer team ‘1. FC Koeln’, their ice hockey team ‘die Haie’, their beer called ‘Koelsch’ and not to forget their carnival (Karneval). With lots of music and costumes locals and tourists celebrate ‘Karneval’ for 5 days in February. The best time of the year. We call it the 5th season. Tradition is important and there are many local bands who sing songs about their beloved city in dialect. ‘The Hoehner’ sang: ‘Cologne, you are a feeling’.
There are many great things to see and do in this roman city right along the rhine (we even have a Chocolate Museum) but since this post is written for those who only have 1 day, we are getting right into the heart of the city.
Let’s start with the most amazing attraction Cologne has to offer: The Cologne cathedral (Germans call it ‘der Koelner Dom’). It’s large, it’s impressive, it’s the star of our city. We are proud of Germany’s most visited landmark, our 768 year old Roman Catholic Church, built in gothic style with 2 spires that reach high in the sky, an orientation marker for many lost visitors, centrally located in the heart of the city facing the river Rhein and its famous bridges.
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After taking some pictures of the cathedral (don’t worry, nobody gets the whole cathedral into one frame), start your day by climbing up the narrow stone spiral stairs in one of the towers (a great morning workout). When you get to the top you are rewarded with an impressive panorama view across Cologne and the Rhine.
Tip: The entrance is on the side of the church and admission to the tower is €3. It is open from 9am-4 pm every day, in high season it is open until 6 pm. Check for times at the Dom’s website. There is no fee to go inside the cathedral. The treasury is amazing as well but way too much to do on one day. So let’s skip that today.
Scavenger Hunt Question #1:
Guess how many steps it takes to get to top of the cathedral?
Hint: The tower is 515 feet high.
Don’t forget to visit Fat Peter on your way up. You will find ‘him’ a little bit before you reach the top part of the tower. He is loud, strong, heavy and round. And old.
Scavenger Question Hunt Question # 2:
‘Who’ (or what) is Fat Peter?
Hint: ‘He’ is not alive.
Once you reach the top you have the most amazing view over Cologne and the rhine. It was cloudy on our day trip to Cologne but still super worth it.
After your tower adventure, a must do is to step into the cathedral and admire the beautiful stain glass windows, the gothic architecture, to feel the history of this majestic monument and to light a candle at the Jewellery Madonna. This statue of the mother of god on the left side of the church has been a popular shrine for prayers of supplication. Countless candle offerings and items of jewelery that hang about the figure bear witness to the gratitude for God’s help in sickness, times of danger, and difficult situations.
Scavenger Hunt Question #3:
What is inside the beautiful gold shrine right behind the altar?
Hint: It has to do with Christmas. You probably know it from a nativity scene.
Scavenger hunt question # 4?:
What is house number of the cathedral?Hint: Where do you usually find a house number?
You have already accomplished a lot and I bet by now you are hungry and ready to sit down. Lucky you, I have the right spot. Only steps from the cathedral, go have a nice traditional German lunch in one of the Cologne breweries, Frueh am Dom. Not only tourists go here, you will find many locals eating their traditional Bratwurst and having our famous draft beer, Koelsch. It’s so delicious. It’s a lager style beer, pretty light but tasteful with a crown on top of the beer served in only the right glass, a thin, long. small glass. All the breweries have great food for kids too. Schnitzel, sausages, fries, salads or the traditional ‘Halver Hahn’ sandwich (a cheese roll). The menu at ‘Frueh’ is available in English too.
Scavenger Hunt Question #5:
Find Cologne’s house gnomes, our little helpers for lazy citizens.
A long time ago, the people of Cologne had little house gnomes helping them do all their work during the night so they can be lazy during the day. And do you know what happened to them? The story goes that the tailor’s wife got so curious to find out who is doing all the work that she scattered peas onto the floor of the workshop to make the gnomes slip and fall. The gnomes, being infuriated, disappeared and never returned. From that time on, the citizens of Cologne had to do all their work by themselves.
After this authentic Cologne lunch you have strength again to explore the city more. We decided to go shopping for a bit since the main shopping street starts right by the cathedral. You don’t need any taxis or subways, we will spent the whole day around the city center and you can easily walk everywhere. Walk along Hohe Strasse and make a stop at the Lego store where they always have great activities for kids. Hendrix won a lego figure by racing one of the sales people with his newly built lego car. Then turn right into Schildergasse where you will find Galeria Kaufhof, the Macy’s of Cologne. A huge department store that offers anything your shopping heart longs for. Kaufhof also has an amazing toy and sports department and great christmas windows in December.
By now you probably need a coffee and something sweet but you are in a very touristy area. I have a really cute spot for you to relax with a cappuccino, right next to Kaufhof. Antik & Trödel Cafe has a very cosy atmosphere, homemade cakes, great coffee and you can buy anything you see in this place. Be careful, somebody might by the vintage chair you are sitting on!.
Although you could do more shopping (Olivandenhof, Ehrenstrasse, etc.), that’s way too much for one day. Just turn around and head towards the old city. Walk pass the archeological digging site and admire our roman and jewish relics right under city hall.
Cologne still boasts impressive relics of its Roman past, when the city served as the capital of the province of Germania Inferior. Among these relics is the Praetorium (governor’s palace) underneath the City Hall as well as a section of the Roman sewer. The Middle Ages are also represented in this spectacular archeological digging zone by a mikveh, the ritual Jewish bath. This mikveh served one of the oldest and most important Jewish communities in Germany.
These sites will all be incorporated into the future Archaeological Zone and the associated Jewish Museum, which will be located on and underneath city hall (‘Rathausplatz’), measuring a huge footprint of over 7000 m2. This spectacular cultural projects will make 1,700 years of Jewish & Roman history come alive.
Stop at Alter Markt and admire the old historic facades and one of the 12 Romanesque churches, St. Martin. Are you ready for the last scavenger hunt question?
Scavenger hunt Question # 6:
While strolling the old town, find the Tünnes and Schäl statues and tell me what they are doing? Can you guess from what name Tünnes comes from in high German?
Click on photo for exact location.
Tünnes and Schäl are two local figures from the legendary Haenneschen Theater, a famous puppet show in dialect.
The two characters are embedded in the culture and humor of the city, personifying many traits of people from Cologne, and there are many jokes referencing the figures. Rub their noses for good luck!
Find your way all the way down to the river by the Fischmarkt where you can soak in more historic city charm by strolling along the countless rustic narrow, cobblestone alleyways lined with traditional old and colorful houses. You will pass countless breweries, pubs and restaurants but a lot of them have mediocre food. The best bet for a decent dinner would be to go to another brewery, but that might be way too much German food for one day. (I like Peter’s Brauhaus, Sunner im Walfisch, Gaffel-Haus or Reissdorf Brauhaus which has bowling alley in basement). If you are in the mood for something else, ’12 Aposteln’ is a great Italian restaurant visited not just by tourists but also by locals.
Once you walk all the way down to the rhine, just sit down on the grass of the Rheinpark and relax while people watching and enjoy looking at the boats that drive up and down the Rhine. If you still have some energy left, play some soccer with your child.
End your day with your own photo challenge: Right here in the old town take your own perfect postcard picture of Cologne, the famous Rhine panorama shot: Try and get the colorful houses of the old town, the Romanesque church Great St. Martin as well as the tower of the historic City Hall all together in the viewfinder. Press the shutter and click you created the most beautiful memory of the city with heart.
Please promise me something: Since there are so many more exciting things to do in Cologne (museums, zoo, soccer game, cable car ride, concerts, parks, boats tour on rhine, etc) you must come back to Cologne another time. The locals will welcome you with open arms.
I am currently working on a more detailed city guide for things to do with kids in Cologne. Look out for it later under guides.
