Alter Markt

A history-steeped square in the northern Old Town with a colourful, medieval-looking row of houses – Cologne's most traditional square.

Old Town History Dining Carnival

The Alter Markt (Kölsch Alder Maat) is a history-steeped square in Cologne's northern Old Town, known for its colourful, medieval-looking row of houses.

Source: Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-06-23

At a glance

Location: Altstadt-Nord, right next to the Heumarkt
Size: 265 m long, 5,460 m² – after the Heumarkt, the largest square in the Old Town
Traffic: largely car-free; Rathaus underground station
Kölsch name: “Alder Maat”

The city's oldest market square

The Alter Markt is considered Cologne's most tradition-rich square. It owes its name to being mentioned around 150 years earlier than the Neumarkt (“new market”). Originally, the Alter Markt and Heumarkt formed a single large marketplace.

Roman traces

In Roman times a branch of the Rhine ran here, alongside the Roman harbour – roughly where the city hall stands today. During construction of the north–south light-rail line in 2007, a Roman cargo vessel (50–100 AD) was uncovered twelve metres down, which had once carried stone for building the city.