Comedy

Carlswerk, Cologne

Former cable factory in Cologne-Mülheim where the first transatlantic telephone cable was made in 1904 – now a business campus and cultural venue.

Gloria

4.5(3,814)· Google

Former cinema in Cologne's city centre, now a versatile venue for concerts, comedy, readings, parties, and carnival events.

Internationales Köln Comedy Festival

The annual Cologne comedy festival culminates in a televised gala at which the Deutscher Comedypreis, Germany's best-known comedy award, is presented.

Klüngelpütz Kabarett-Theater

Cologne's only cellar cabaret theater from the 1960s still performing in its original space — a home for political-literary satire.

Kumede

Cologne theatre troupe performing exclusively in the Kölsch dialect since 1947 — today at the Volksbühne am Rudolfplatz.

Lanxess Arena

since 1998

4.5(45,265)· Google

Germany's largest arena and one of the biggest worldwide — in 2025, over 2.6 million visitors attended 208 events in Cologne-Deutz.

Lutherkirche (Cologne-Nippes)

since 1886

Neo-Gothic Protestant church in the Sechzigviertel that has hosted concerts, readings and cabaret as Cologne's Kulturkirche since 2002.

Millowitsch-Theater / Volksbühne am Rudolfplatz

4.7(2,730)· Google

In 1953 this stage hosted Germany's first live TV broadcast of a theatre play — the Millowitsch family's dialect theatre, now the Volksbühne am Rudolfplatz.

Opern Passagen

Opened in 1964 as Germany's first shopping arcade — today a shopping passage with the integrated Theater am Dom.

Senftöpfchen

4.6(409)· Google

Cologne's beloved cabaret and variety theatre — a launchpad for comedy talent since the 1970s with a reputation that reaches far beyond Germany.

Stunksitzung

Alternative cabaret carnival session in Cologne that deliberately breaks with formal traditions and provokes with political satire.

Theater am Dom

since 1952

4.6(1,283)· Google

Cologne's premier boulevard theatre for comedy, tucked inside the Opernpassagen — its name recalls a former home with a view of the cathedral.

Theater Tiefrot

4.4(78)· Google

Private chamber theatre in Cologne's Altstadt-Nord with up to 80 seats — an off-theatre stage balancing literary classics and political drama.

Tünnes und Schäl

Traditional Cologne brewhouse at Alter Markt, named after the beloved puppet duo from the Hänneschen Theatre — hearty local food and Kölsch on tap.