Cologne Facts & Customs in Cologne

1. FC Köln

since 1948

The 'Effzeh' is Cologne's big football club and, for many, a piece of the city's identity. Red and white, with the billy goat Hennes as a living mascot and an anthem sung in the stadium and at carnival alike.

Agrippina the Younger

Cologne's namesake: this Roman empress born in Cologne (sister of Caligula, wife of Claudius, mother of Nero) had her birthplace elevated to Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium in AD 50 — the origin of the name "Cologne".

Alt St. Pankratius (Cologne-Worringen)

Former parish church of Cologne-Worringen with a Gothic nave and a controversially dated west tower — now converted into a residential house.

Bützchen

Rhenish word for a closed-lip peck on the cheek — freely and cheerfully exchanged during Cologne Carnival as a lighthearted, no-strings-attached gesture of affection.

Cologne Bridge Green

The patina-green chromium oxide hue coating Cologne's Rhine bridges, introduced in 1929 at the request of Konrad Adenauer.

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Cologne Carnival

since 1823

The fifth season: how Cologne turns into the carnival capital between 11 November and Ash Wednesday.

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Cologne songs

From Willi Ostermann to Kasalla: the songs Cologne sings – home, carnival, Kölschrock and the football club.

Ferdinand Franz Wallraf

Cologne priest and scholar whose art collection, left to the city, became the foundation of the Wallraf-Richartz Museum.

Friedhof Trenkebergstraße

A small listed cemetery in Cologne-Meschenich with a war memorial and a collection of baroque stone crosses.

Germania Judaica

since 1959

Europe's most extensive specialist library on the history of German-speaking Jewry — founded in Cologne in 1959 with Heinrich Böll among its founders.

Geusenfriedhof

since 1576

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Cologne's Protestant cemetery from around 1584 — the oldest of its kind in the Rhineland.

Heinrich Böll

Writer from Cologne and winner of the 1972 Nobel Prize for Literature, whose work centres on ordinary lives shaped by war.

Heizkraftwerk Köln-Niehl

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Rheinenergie's gas-fired combined heat and power plant in Niehl — supplying Cologne's city centre with district heating, with Germany's largest heat pump planned next door.

Jewish Cemetery Cologne-Deutz

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Founded in 1695, the cemetery on Judenkirchhofsweg is the oldest surviving Jewish cemetery in present-day Cologne and the final resting place of around 5,000 people.

Jüdischer Friedhof Köln-Bocklemünd

since 1918

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Jewish cemetery in Cologne, in use since 1918, where many tombstones stand out for their elaborate artistic designs.

Kalker Friedhof

since 1904

Municipal cemetery from 1904 in Cologne-Merheim on the right bank of the Rhine, with around 14,000 graves and historic wall tombs.

Kölner Dreigestirn

Trio of Prince, Peasant, and Virgin that leads Cologne Carnival — appointed fresh each year by the Festival Committee.

Kölner Klüngel

Cologne's cultural term for a web of mutual favors — straddling the line between harmless back-scratching and outright cronyism, with roots going back centuries.

Kölnisch Wasser

Cologne's iconic fragrance water, created by Farina in 1709 as Eau de Cologne — home to the legendary brands 'Farina gegenüber' and 4711.

Kölnpfad

since 2008

A 171 km circular hiking trail encircling Cologne in eleven stages, deliberately weaving through nature, residential areas, industry, and transport infrastructure.

Kölsch

A pale, filtered, top-fermented beer that may only be brewed in Cologne and its immediate surroundings — governed by the Kölsch Convention.

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Kölsch (Language)

The Ripuarian dialect of Cologne – warm, witty and still very much alive in music, carnival and everyday life.

Konrad Adenauer

First chancellor of West Germany and a founding figure of the EU — born in Cologne, where he served as mayor from 1917 to 1933.

Kulturpfad Porz

A four-part cycling and walking trail through Cologne's Porz district, linking wayside crosses, churches, historic farmsteads and housing estates across four themed routes.

Old Ehrenfeld Cemetery

Listed 1870 cemetery that Ehrenfeld had to build for itself after Cologne refused its citizens burial at Melaten.

The Rhineland Grundgesetz

Eleven Rhineland life rules in dialect, compiled by Konrad Beikircher in 2001 as the 'Rhineland Grundgesetz' — a playful nod to Germany's own Basic Law.

Weiberfastnacht

On the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, women seize power for a day — the Rhineland's exuberant unofficial kickoff to street carnival season.

No longer exists Deutschordenskirche St. Katharina

Deutschordenskirche St. Katharina

Long-demolished church of a Teutonic Order commandery in Altstadt-Süd; only the street An Sankt Katharinen preserves its name today.

No longer exists Deutzer Gierponte

Deutzer Gierponte

since 1674

Historic cable ferry that linked Cologne-Deutz with the Old Town from 1674 to 1822 – no longer in existence today.

No longer exists Dominican Monastery Cologne

Dominican Monastery Cologne

Where Albertus Magnus taught and was buried: one of Germany's earliest Dominican monasteries, now lost to history.

No longer exists Eis- und Schwimmstadion Köln

Eis- und Schwimmstadion Köln

since 1930

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Home of seven Kölner Haie championship titles (1972–1998) on Lentstraße in the Grüngürtel — replaced by the Lentpark in 2011.

No longer exists Frankenturm – the vanished defensive and prison tower on the Trankgasse

Frankenturm – the vanished defensive and prison tower on the Trankgasse

The Frankenturm was a medieval tower of Cologne's city wall near today's Frankenwerft, demolished in 1856. Only the street name „Am Frankenturm" and three salvaged stone panels in the Cologne City Museum still recall it.

No longer exists Groß-Köln (Variety Theatre)

Groß-Köln (Variety Theatre)

since 1912

Cologne's first major popular variety theatre, opened in 1912 on Friesenstraße and destroyed in 1942 – today the site is home to the Sartory-Säle.

No longer exists Hohenstaufenbad

Hohenstaufenbad

Cologne's largest public swimming bath: a grand building on Hohenstaufenring — not lost to the war, but deliberately demolished in 1958.

No longer exists Hotel Kölner Hof

Hotel Kölner Hof

Grand late-19th-century Cologne hotel opposite the main station, demolished in 1973 to make way for the ABC-Haus office building.

No longer exists Mülheim am Rhein Synagogue

Mülheim am Rhein Synagogue

Two successive Jewish houses of worship on Mülheimer Freiheit; the last was destroyed in 1938, and today only a memorial plaque remains.

No longer exists St. Brigiden

St. Brigiden

A demolished parish church next to Gross St. Martin — its footprint is now traced in darker cobblestones on the Old Town pavement.

No longer exists St. Christoph

St. Christoph

Demolished parish church of St. Gereon's collegiate foundation — its name lives on in Christophstraße and the St. Christophhaus community centre.

No longer exists The Alteburg Fleet Fort – Headquarters of the Roman Rhine Fleet in Cologne-Marienburg

The Alteburg Fleet Fort – Headquarters of the Roman Rhine Fleet in Cologne-Marienburg

The district of Marienburg was once home to the headquarters of the Classis Germanica, Rome's Rhine fleet. Nothing of it survives above ground today – the fort lies entirely beneath the densely built-up Alteburg area.

No longer exists Worringen Castle – Site of the 1288 Battle

Worringen Castle – Site of the 1288 Battle

Worringen Castle was a fortress of the Electorate of Cologne on the left bank of the Rhine, before whose walls the famous Battle of Worringen was fought in 1288. Built in 1275 and destroyed in 1288, nothing of it survives today.

Cologne Facts & Customs

1. FC Köln

Agrippina the Younger

Alt St. Pankratius (Cologne-Worringen)

Bützchen

Cologne Bridge Green

Cologne Carnival

Cologne songs

Ferdinand Franz Wallraf

Friedhof Trenkebergstraße

Germania Judaica

Geusenfriedhof

Heinrich Böll

Heizkraftwerk Köln-Niehl

Jewish Cemetery Cologne-Deutz

Jüdischer Friedhof Köln-Bocklemünd

Kalker Friedhof

Kölner Dreigestirn

Kölner Klüngel

Kölnisch Wasser

Kölnpfad

Kölsch

Kölsch (Language)

Konrad Adenauer

Kulturpfad Porz

Old Ehrenfeld Cemetery

The Rhineland Grundgesetz

Weiberfastnacht

Deutschordenskirche St. Katharina

Deutzer Gierponte

Dominican Monastery Cologne

Eis- und Schwimmstadion Köln

Frankenturm – the vanished defensive and prison tower on the Trankgasse

Groß-Köln (Variety Theatre)

Hohenstaufenbad

Hotel Kölner Hof

Mülheim am Rhein Synagogue

St. Brigiden

St. Christoph

The Alteburg Fleet Fort – Headquarters of the Roman Rhine Fleet in Cologne-Marienburg

Worringen Castle – Site of the 1288 Battle

On the map

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