Brüsseler Platz

Designed by Cologne architect Eduard Endler, the Neo-Romanesque church was built between 1902 and 1906 and consecrated on 29 September 1906 — Michaelmas Day. After the cathedral and St. Agnes, St. Michael is the third-largest church in Cologne. It was hit during an air raid on 28 September 1944, destroying the crossing tower and dome; the post-war reconstruction, completed in 1956, omitted the crossing tower. The nave received a timber ceiling, and in 1995 a nativity scene by sculptor Hermann Inhetvin (1928) was restored and an organ with 2,300 pipes was installed.

The plane-tree-lined square is flanked to the west and east by Moltkestraße and Brüsseler Straße, with Neue Maastrichter Straße branching off diagonally to the northwest. The surrounding neighbourhood is home to boutiques, galleries, theatres, goldsmiths, cafés and bars. Since 2003, the citizens' initiative Querbeet has tended the green spaces — initially through informal sponsorships, later under an official mandate from the city's parks department.

From the 2005 World Youth Day and the 2006 FIFA World Cup — when the square also served as a public viewing area — it became a popular evening gathering spot in summer. Complaints from residents about late-night noise mounted from 2008 onwards. Expert reports found that crowds of between 500 and 1,000 people were causing a disturbance; on the night of 4 June 2011, as many as 1,570 people were counted on the square.

Attempts to resolve the conflict through mediation, regulations or even the privatisation of the square all failed. In 2011, Cologne's Administrative Court upheld a city-imposed reduction in opening hours for the square's kiosk. In 2019, the city entered into a settlement before the Higher Administrative Court in Münster, committing to stricter monitoring of hospitality venues and outdoor areas. In 2023, after years of litigation, the court ruled against the city, ordering it to take action to protect residents' health.