Wartesaal am Dom

The predecessor of today's station, the Cölner Centralbahnhof, opened on 5 December 1859. In 1883 Cologne's city council decided to raise the tracks onto embankments and viaducts, which created space for waiting halls beneath the platforms. The three-part platform hall was handed over on 25 May 1894, measuring 255 metres long, 65 metres wide and 24 metres high at its apex. When the terminus was converted into a through station between 1909 and 1915, the original waiting-hall pavilion was removed; in its place, the present waiting hall was built in 1915 beneath the southern base of the station hall — a front building with two large round-arched portals and glazed façades that served as a first-class waiting room.

The venue is divided into two halls of 560 and 210 square metres, together seating up to 1,000 guests. The restaurant has stucco-decorated ceilings up to 4.80 metres high, next to the original Art Nouveau hall from 1915. The setting suits a wide range of occasions — from corporate and evening events to fashion shows, TV productions and product launches, as well as cabaret and comedy nights, art exhibitions, vernissages and gala events. Since September 2003 an offshoot of Berlin's KitKatClub has also had its monthly home here.