Hansaplatz
A heritage-protected park on the Hansaring in Cologne's northern old town, framed by a 113-metre stretch of the medieval city wall.
The Hansaplatz is a park on the south-eastern side of the Hansaring in Cologne's northern old town (Altstadt-Nord). It is bordered by a 113-metre-long remnant of the medieval city wall and the Gereonsmühle.
At a Glance
- Type
- Park / green space
- District
- Altstadt-Nord
- Created
- between 1896 and 1900
- Design
- Adolf Kowallek (landscaping); planned within Joseph Stübben's „Kölner Neustadt“ project
- Size
- originally 1.18 hectares, today 1.02 hectares
- Heritage status
- protected since 1 July 1980
- Highlight
- 113-metre remnant of the medieval city wall
- Public transport
- Hansaring and Christophstraße/Mediapark underground stations
History
Like Cologne's Ringe boulevards, the Hansaplatz was laid out on the open ground freed up by the demolition of the city wall. The surviving wall sections were deliberately kept as a focal point on the large squares along the Ring – besides the Hansaplatz, this applies to Chlodwigplatz, Rudolfplatz and Ebertplatz. Until 1886 the „Hof Reuschenberg“, first documented in 1395 and named after the noble Reuschenberg family, stood here. Thanks to a set of antlers fixed to the manor house it was also known as „zum Hirsch“ – probably the origin of the street name Am Kümpchenshof. The square takes its name from the adjacent Hansaring, named on 4 May 1882. Between 1933 and 1945 it was called „Spangenbergplatz“; a city resolution of 21 April 1945 restored its former name.
Museums and Memorials
The northern end of the square once formed an important museum quarter: on Stübben's initiative, the city built the Museum of Applied Arts here from 1896 (opened on 2 May 1900), funded in part by a donation from textile manufacturer Otto Gustav Andreae. The Museum Schnütgen followed as an annexe, inaugurated on 26 October 1910. All the museum buildings were designed by Franz Brantzky and were destroyed in bombing raids in April 1944. In the park, a memorial plaque unveiled in 1951 commemorates seven victims of the Gestapo – it is regarded as Cologne's oldest memorial to the victims of National Socialism. It is complemented by the bronze sculpture „Woman with the Dead Child“ by the Dutch artist Mari Andriessen, unveiled in 1959.
Location and Surroundings
The Hansapark is bordered by the Hansaring to the west, Adolf-Fischer-Straße to the north, the Gereonswall to the east and the Kümpchenshof to the south. It continues into the Klingelpütz and the Klingelpützpark, with which it holds outstanding importance in the open-space network of Cologne's inner city. At the Hansaplatz the Ring is 114 metres wide, compared with an average of 32 metres elsewhere. The square is served by the nearby Hansaring and Christophstraße/Mediapark underground stations.
Map
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Sources & links
- Official website
- Official website (retrieved 2026-07-24)
- Wikidata (retrieved 2026-07-24)
- Wikipedia (retrieved 2026-07-24, rev 260263196)
Auto-generated, last verified: 2026-07-24
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