Skip to content
stuff to do in.cologne

Art & culture

173 places in Cologne

Aachener Weiher

4.5(460)· Google

A 1920s artificial lake in Cologne's Inner Green Belt, framed by a beer garden, East Asian art, and the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Park.

Deutz Abbey

since 1001
4.3(19)· Google

Cologne's Deutz Abbey, founded in 1002, is the original home of the golden Heribert Shrine and today serves as a Greek Orthodox church.

Adolph Kolping Monument

since 1903
4.3(12)· Google

Bronze memorial to Adolph Kolping — the 'Father of Journeymen' and founder of the Catholic journeymen's associations — standing before Cologne's Minorite Church, where he is buried.

Agfa Foto-Historama

One of the world's most significant photo-historical collections — nearly 20,000 cameras and over 12,000 photographs, now housed at Museum Ludwig in Cologne.

Alt St. Alban – Church Ruin and War Memorial at Quatermarkt

since 1200
4.5(123)· Google

Preserved Romanesque church ruin at Quatermarkt; left unrestored after WWII bombing and consecrated as a memorial to the war dead in 1959.

Alt St. Cornelius

since 1833
4.8(24)· Google

Only the Romanesque tower survives from this former parish church in Cologne's Rath/Heumar district, a remnant of its medieval predecessor.

Alt St. Katharina (Cologne-Niehl)

4.7(31)· Google

The "Niehler Dömchen": a 12th-century Romanesque basilica on the Rhine riverbank, featuring a Gothic choir and listed heritage status.

Alt St. Maternus

since 950
4.9(15)· Google

Romanesque 'little chapel' on the Rhine — one of 13 small former village churches outside Cologne's medieval city walls.

Alt St. Mauritius (Cologne-Buchheim)

5.0(5)· Google

Romanesque cemetery chapel and surviving remnant of Buchheim's former parish church — featuring a semicircular apse from around 1200.

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.

Alte Dorfkirche Köln-Junkersdorf

4.1(8)· Google

Medieval village church with a Gothic choir — once the parish church of St. Pankratius, now a small chapel after centuries of fire, war, and reinvention.

Auferstehungskirche (Cologne-Buchforst)

since 1965
4.4(55)· Google

Listed Brutalist church from 1968 with a striking tetrahedral form, now operating as the 'Kulturkirche Ost' cultural venue for readings, music, and cabaret.

Bastei

since 1924
4.2(106)· Google

Expressionist observation restaurant (1924) on a Prussian caponier — superstructure cantilevers 8 m beyond its footprint; closed since 2019.

Bayenturm

since 1220

One of Cologne's few surviving medieval fortification towers, built c. 1220 on the Rhine — today home to the FrauenMediaTurm foundation.

Bierbrunnen

since 1972
4.3(39)· Google

A 1972 fountain on Schildergasse featuring a granite column wrapped in a thin veil of water — named after a brief beer tap that once operated at the site.

Bismarck Monument (Augustinerplatz)

The second Bismarck statue in the German Empire — unveiled in 1879 in Catholic Cologne as a deliberate provocation, lost to war.

Bismarckturm

since 1902
4.4(157)· Google

A Bismarck monument in Cologne-Marienburg designed as a fire column — featuring a monolithic figure of Bismarck as Roland in armour with an eagle shield.

Breslauer Platz

The northern forecourt of Cologne Central Station — home to the city's main bus terminal and the Musical Dome, Cologne's largest theatre.

Brüsseler Platz

The heart of Cologne's Belgian Quarter, defined by the Neo-Romanesque church of St. Michael — a vibrant social hub and the scene of a long-running noise dispute.

Bühne der Kulturen

since 1983

Intercultural theatre in Cologne's Ehrenfeld district, founded in 1983 as the Turkish Arkadaş Theater — closed its doors on 31 July 2017.

Christi Auferstehung (Lindenthal)

since 1968
4.6(53)· Google

Sculptural concrete church by Gottfried Böhm at the head of the Lindenthal Canal – with a cave-like interior of branching pillars.

Christuskirche

since 1891
4.4(72)· Google

Protestant church in the Belgian Quarter: a historic Neo-Gothic tower fronting a nave that was newly consecrated in 2016.

Cinedom

4.3(14,554)· Google

Multiplex cinema in Cologne's Mediapark — beneath the dome of its glazed rotunda, 3,200 diodes once traced the northern night sky.

Comedia Theater

4.6(1,420)· Google

Independent children's and youth theatre in a former Cologne fire station — with its own evening programme of cabaret, music and theatre for adults.

Crux (Youth Pastoral Centre)

4.7(25)· Google

Home of the 'church with the leaning tower' — Catholic youth pastoral centre in Cologne's Südstadt, combining a church, café, and community spaces under one roof.

D.a.S. Theater

since 1990

Independent Cologne theatre now staging a single show: 'You Are My Mother' about dementia — one performer plays both mother and son.

Deserters' Memorial

since 2009
5.0(4)· Google

A memorial to victims of Nazi military justice at Appellhofplatz — a pergola whose chained tribute inscription seems written in colored letters across the sky.

German Sport & Olympic Museum

since 1999
4.3(1,993)· Google

Museum in Cologne's Rheinauhafen dedicated to the history of sport from antiquity to the present — with rooms on the Olympics, football, boxing, and more.

German Dance Archive & Dance Museum

since 1985
4.1(18)· Google

Research and documentation centre for dance in the Mediapark – combining an archive, library, video collection and museum tracing the history of stage dance.

Die Trauernde

since 1949

A 1949 sculpture by Gerhard Marcks standing in the churchyard of St. Maria im Kapitol, commemorating the victims of World War II.

DITIB Central Mosque Cologne

since 2017
4.8(1,694)· Google

Central mosque of DİTİB in Cologne-Ehrenfeld, inaugurated in 2018 in the presence of Erdoğan — with two 55-metre minarets and a grand domed hall.

DOMiD – Documentation Centre and Museum on Migration in Germany

4.6(19)· Google

Civil-society archive of German migration history since 1945, founded in 1990 by migrants and home to over 150,000 objects, documents, and photographs.

Dominican Monastery Cologne

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

Düxer Bock

4.2(16)· Google

The unofficial heraldic animal of Deutz: this fountain monument commemorates an old Cologne legend about a tailor and a tax collector.

Fragrance Museum in the Farina House

since 1709
4.4(3,282)· Google

Birthplace of Eau de Cologne: the Farina House of 1709, the oldest perfume factory in the world still in operation.

Ebertplatz

Square on Cologne's ring boulevards in Neustadt-Nord, laid out in the late 19th century where the city's demolished fortifications once stood.

Eigelsteintorburg

since 1228
4.5(2,024)· Google

One of four surviving gates of Cologne's medieval city wall — both Maria de' Medici and Napoleon once entered the city through this very gate.

Church of the Redeemer (Rodenkirchen)

4.2(35)· Google

Protestant L-shaped church in Rodenkirchen with a 20-metre campanile; its three bells together carry the Christmas angels' greeting.

Erzbischöfliche Diözesan- und Dombibliothek Köln

4.9(7)· Google

Among surviving cathedral libraries, considered the most significant — the Archdiocese of Cologne's central library, with roots in the 6th/7th century.

Filmhaus Köln

since 2021
4.7(174)· Google

Hub for film culture combining a deliberately non-commercial cinema, film education, and professional training — housed in a former freight depot building from 1891.

Fischreiterbrunnen

5.0(3)· Google

Sandstone fountain from 1913: a boy riding a fish — a listed landmark at Theophanoplatz in Zollstock.

Flora

since 1864
4.7(9,457)· Google

Cologne's botanical garden centred on the 1864 glass festival hall 'Flora' — a Lenné-designed park with over 10,000 plant species across more than 11 hectares.

Friedenskirche (Köln-Mülheim)

since 1896
4.8(22)· Google

Oldest Protestant church building in present-day Cologne – named after the peaceful union of two congregations in 1837.

Friedenspark

4.6(1,471)· Google

Cologne city park on the grounds of former Fort I — featuring ivy-covered fortress walls, a rose garden, and a WWI monument with an eagle cast from cannons.

Friesenplatz

Square on Cologne's ring boulevards at the start of Venloer Straße — gateway to the Belgian Quarter and once the haunt of Cologne's underworld.

Volkspark Raderthal

Laid out by Fritz Encke from 1922, this listed park features a natural theatre, reading garden and dance lawn — a landmark of social green space in Cologne's south.

GeoMuseum

4.5(54)· Google

Cologne's only natural history museum: meteorites, minerals, gemstones and fossils at the University of Cologne.

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.

Gloria

4.5(3,812)· Google

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

Groß St. Martin

since 1150
4.6(1,708)· Google

Romanesque basilica in Cologne's Old Town with a cloverleaf-shaped east choir and striking crossing tower — built over Roman foundations.

Hänneschen-Theater

4.8(1,975)· Google

Cologne's beloved rod puppet theatre at Eisenmarkt, performing in the local Kölsch dialect since 1802 — home to iconic figures Tünnes and Schäl.

Heinzelmännchen – Cologne's Household Spirits and Their Fountain

since 1900
4.5(805)· Google

Cologne's legendary household sprites who worked through the night while citizens slept — caught once, gone forever. Their fountain stands near the Cathedral.

Herz-Jesu-Kirche

4.5(79)· Google

Neo-Gothic church on Zülpicher Platz whose tower was modelled on Freiburg Minster — rebuilt in a modern form after wartime destruction.

Hiroshima-Nagasaki-Park

since 2004
4.5(4,984)· Google

Memorial park in Cologne's Inner Green Belt commemorating the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with a monument featuring an origami crane.

Historical Archive with Rhenish Image Archive

since 1857
5.0(1)· Google

Germany's largest municipal archive — collapsed during subway construction in 2009, reopened in a new building at Eifelwall in 2021.

Immanuel Church (Cologne-Stammheim)

4.4(39)· Google

Multiple award-winning timber church of the evangelical Brückenschlag congregation in Cologne-Stammheim, consecrated in 2013.

Institut français Köln

since 1952
4.7(21)· Google

French cultural institute in Cologne's Südstadt — one of the first and now one of the last of its kind in western Germany; housed in Riphahn's 1952 building.

Jahndenkmal

4.4(37)· Google

A 15-metre concrete pillar crowned by the Turner Cross of four "F"s — erected at Jahnwiese to mark the 150th birthday of gymnastics pioneer Friedrich Ludwig Jahn.

Jan-Wellem-Denkmal

4.5(54)· Google

Bronze statue of Elector Jan Wellem in Cologne-Mülheim, donated in 1914 by the Andreae manufacturing family amid the controversy over the district's annexation.

Japanese Cultural Institute

since 1969
4.7(281)· Google

One of only three Japanese cultural institutes in Europe — Cologne's gateway to Japanese culture for the entire German-speaking world.

Johanneskirche (Cologne-Sülz)

4.6(57)· Google

Protestant church in Cologne-Sülz from the early 1960s, featuring colourful hexagonal concrete honeycomb windows and a baptistery separated by glass walls.

Käthe Kollwitz Museum

since 1985
4.6(352)· Google

Home to the world's largest Käthe Kollwitz collection, this Cologne museum brings together her drawings, prints, and all 15 known bronze sculptures.

Kalker Kapelle

4.1(112)· Google

A pilgrimage chapel in Cologne's Kalk district, home to a 15th-century Pietà said to have miraculous powers — a destination for annual processions for centuries.

Kallendresser

4.2(9)· Google

Copper figure at Alter Markt that bares its backside to onlookers — a Cologne satirical motif with roots in the Middle Ages.

Kartäuserkirche

since 1350
4.4(116)· Google

Gothic church of the 1334 Cologne Charterhouse — now an Evangelical parish church with stained-glass windows by Charles Crodel.

Klein St. Martin

since 1460

A lone tower surviving from a demolished Cologne parish church — once crowned with a tall Gothic spire visible across the Rhine skyline, today capped by a flat pyramid.

No longer existsKloster Herrenleichnam© Mercator · Public domain

Kloster Herrenleichnam

An Augustinian canon monastery on Klingelpütz in Cologne's Altstadt-Nord, founded around a chapel commemorating a Eucharistic miracle.

Cologne Cathedral

since 1248
4.8(3,250)· Google

Gothic cathedral and shrine of the Three Kings — at around 157 metres one of the tallest churches in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kölner Festungsmuseum

4.5(75)· Google

Volunteer-run museum in Prussian fortification VIII b — home to Germany's last surviving drawbridge, moat, and sculpture park in Marienburg.

Kölner Karnevalsmuseum

4.4(205)· Google

Germany's largest carnival museum in Cologne-Ehrenfeld – tracing carnival history from antiquity to the present (currently closed).

Kölner Philharmonie

since 1986
4.8(5,048)· Google

Amphitheatre-style concert hall beneath Heinrich-Böll-Platz — a column-free auditorium for 2,000 with a celebrated Klais organ.

Kölner Weinmuseum

since 2010
4.4(53)· Google

Wine and oenology museum in Cologne with a walkable rooftop vineyard — over 40 grape varieties across 720 vines.

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.

Cologne City Museum

since 1888
4.3(842)· Google

Cologne's urban history museum, open for over 130 years — since 2024 it organises its collection around emotions rather than chronology; currently in temporary premises.

KölnTriangle

4.6(5,610)· Google

Triangular skyscraper in Cologne-Deutz with a fully glazed observation deck "Cologne View" at just over 100 metres, offering panoramic views across the city.

Kolumba

since 1853
4.5(1,498)· Google

Peter Zumthor's landmark brick building for the Archdiocese of Cologne's art museum, built over the ruins of the war-destroyed church of St. Columba.

Krieler Dömchen

since 850
4.8(60)· Google

Cologne's second-oldest church after St. Gereon — a small Romanesque village chapel in Lindenthal with roots stretching back to around 900 AD.

Kumede

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

Lukaskirche (Cologne-Porz)

4.5(31)· Google

Protestant hall church in Cologne-Porz blending Art Nouveau beginnings (1914) with a striking Expressionist interior completed in 1927; listed heritage building since 1982.

Lutherkirche

since 1904
4.6(256)· Google

Protestant church in Cologne's Südstadt, its bells inscribed with Luther's chorale – bombed to its tower in 1944, deconsecration planned for autumn 2026.

Memorial for the Gay and Lesbian Victims of National Socialism in Cologne

since 1995
4.6(13)· Google

First memorial of its kind erected by a trade union — a 1995 riverside stone for gay and lesbian Nazi victims, inscribed 'Totgeschlagen – Totgeschwiegen'.

Melanchthonkirche

4.5(42)· Google

Protestant church from 1929/30 in Zollstock — one of Germany's early examples with the worship hall upstairs and a community centre below.

Millowitsch-Theater / Volksbühne am Rudolfplatz

4.7(2,721)· 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.

Minoritenkirche

4.7(127)· Google

Burial church of Adolph Kolping and Johannes Duns Scotus — a 13th-century Gothic mendicant church and place of pilgrimage.

Museum of Applied Arts (MAKK)

since 1888
4.3(1,431)· Google

Cologne museum of applied arts and design in the Schwarz-Bernard building — once dismissed as sterile, later celebrated as a 'third way' in postwar architecture.

Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte

since 1907

City museum founded in 1907 in the Bayenturm, covering regional prehistory – destroyed in 1943, its remnants became the founding stock of the Romano-Germanic Museum.

Museum Ludwig

since 1976
4.5(9,493)· Google

20th- and 21st-century art on Cologne's Cathedral Plateau — home to Europe's largest Pop Art collection and the world's third-largest Picasso collection.

Museum Schnütgen

since 1910
4.6(394)· Google

One of Europe's richest medieval collections, housed in the Romanesque basilica of St. Cecilia in Cologne's historic city centre.

Musical Dome

4.6(8,254)· Google

Musical venue under a blue dome roof by the Rhine near Cologne's main station — home to long-running hits like 'We Will Rock You'.

Nathanaelkirche (Bilderstöckchen)

4.4(27)· Google

A 1965 Protestant church with a hexagonal footprint, its free-standing campanile rises on three tapering concrete legs like a modernist sculpture.

Neptunbad

4.6(2,876)· Google

Art Nouveau bathhouse from 1912 in Ehrenfeld — Cologne's first modern suburban public bath, now a fitness and wellness centre.

Neu St. Alban

since 1958
4.8(22)· Google

Post-war church in the Stadtgarten built from rubble bricks of the destroyed Cologne Opera, with a pentagonal floor plan inspired by Le Corbusier.

Nikolaus-Kapelle

4.9(28)· Google

Built around 1100 near the Rhine in Westhoven — Cologne's smallest surviving Romanesque village chapel, enclosed by an ancient churchyard.

NS-Dokumentationszentrum (EL-DE-Haus)

since 1979
4.5(3,897)· Google

Memorial and museum in Cologne's former Gestapo headquarters — with preserved prison cells and prisoners' wall inscriptions surviving in the basement.

Offenbachplatz

The theatre square in Cologne's Altstadt-Nord, fronting the Opera House and Schauspielhaus, centred on the long-neglected Opernbrunnen by Jürgen Hans Grümmer.

Oper Köln

Cologne's opera house at Offenbachplatz — a 1957 Riphahn landmark under major renovation since 2012, now performing at the Staatenhaus in Deutz.

Opernbrunnen

since 1966
3.7(20)· Google

Mosaic fountain in front of Cologne's Opera House, incorporating tiles from Aristotle Onassis's yacht and the bombed-out Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin.

Panther

4.2(5)· Google

A bronze big cat poised to strike by sculptor Fritz Behn, created around 1920, in the Südpark in Cologne's Marienburg district.

Parish Church of Christ's Resurrection

4.7(32)· Google

Old Catholic parish church in Cologne's Südstadt — a red steel frame on its 1990s successor traces the silhouette of the wartime predecessor at full scale.

Roman Cologne – Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium

The birthplace of Cologne: the Roman CCAA, capital of Lower Germania — and today part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum

since 1901
4.5(1,875)· Google

Cologne's ethnological museum with over 65,000 objects from around the world, exploring human cultures under the theme "The Human Being in Their Worlds."

Rex am Ring

4.4(3,282)· Google

One of Germany's oldest cinemas, open since 1928 on Hohenzollernring — seven screens showing new releases and arthouse films.

Rheinisches Industriebahn-Museum

4.3(73)· Google

One of Germany's largest collections of industrial railway locomotives, housed in a former engine shed in Nippes — currently closed to visitors.

Rheinpark

4.6(7,560)· Google

Riverside landscape park on former Prussian fortress grounds — host of the 1914 Cologne Werkbund Exhibition, listed as a heritage monument since 1989.

Richmodis-Haus

4.4(9)· Google

Cologne landmark with two stone horse heads in its octagonal tower — rooted in the haunting legend of Richmodis von Aducht from the Black Death era.

Roman Tomb Cologne-Weiden

4.8(172)· Google

Underground Roman burial chamber from the 2nd century — one of the best-preserved funerary structures north of the Alps, discovered in 1843.

Romano-Germanic Museum (RGM)

since 1946

Cologne's archaeological museum — world's largest collection of Roman glass and the Dionysus Mosaic near the cathedral (currently at the Belgian House).

Schauspiel Köln

since 1898

Cologne's storied spoken-theatre company, performing at the Mülheim Depot while its landmark home at Offenbachplatz undergoes renovation.

Leaning Tower of Cologne (St. Johann Baptist)

4.1(17)· Google

In 2004, its 44 m tower tilted 77 cm westward — earning the church the nickname 'Leaning Tower of Cologne' and making international headlines.

Schlosspark Stammheim

4.6(2,130)· Google

English-garden landscape park on the Rhine, laid out 1828–1832 by Maximilian Weyhe — today a public green space and, since 2002, a venue for contemporary art.

Chocolate Museum Cologne

since 1993
4.4(49,342)· Google

Built on a peninsula in the Rheinauhafen harbour, this museum tells the story of chocolate — complete with a glass-fronted factory and a three-metre chocolate fountain.

Senftöpfchen

4.6(401)· Google

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

Permanently closedServitinnenkloster St. Lucia in Cologne© Chris06 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Servitinnenkloster St. Lucia in Cologne

Convent of the Servite Sisters on Filzengraben, dissolved in 1802 and demolished in 1857 — today the site is home to the Protestant Trinity Church.

Severinstorburg

since 1230
4.5(1,177)· Google

One of only four surviving medieval city gate towers in Cologne — a landmark of the Severinsviertel and today a vibrant community venue at Chlodwigplatz.

St. Agnes

since 1896
4.6(614)· Google

Cologne's largest church after the Cathedral: a Neo-Gothic hall church that gave its name to the surrounding Agnesviertel district.

St. Amandus (Köln-Rheinkassel)

since 1200
4.8(43)· Google

Romanesque church on the Rhine whose twin-towered chancel is a miniature echo of nearby St. Gereon — an extraordinary feature for a rural parish church.

St. Andreas

since 974
4.6(399)· Google

One of Cologne's twelve great Romanesque churches — home to the tomb of Albertus Magnus in its crypt and stained-glass art by Markus Lüpertz.

St. Aposteln

since 1020
4.6(669)· Google

One of Cologne's twelve great Romanesque churches — known for its trefoil-shaped trichoral apse at Neumarkt and celebrated as the city's premier music church.

St. Cäcilien – Museum Schnütgen

since 801
4.5(29)· Google

One of Cologne's twelve great Romanesque churches — home to the Museum Schnütgen for medieval art since 1956.

St. Clemens (Cologne-Mülheim)

4.4(75)· Google

A former sailors' church on the Rhine in Cologne-Mülheim, rooted in a Romanesque hall church built in the 12th and 13th centuries.

St. Cosmas und Damian (Köln-Weiler)

4.4(8)· Google

Parish church in Köln-Weiler whose Baroque predecessor from 1766 has been preserved; the 1910 organ was restored to its original specification in 2007.

St. Engelbert

since 1930
4.4(99)· Google

Cologne's first modern church: Dominikus Böhm's central-plan building with a star-shaped dome, built 1930–1932 in Riehl.

St. Georg

since 1059
4.6(127)· Google

11th-century Romanesque collegiate church rising above a columned crypt with Roman spolia — one of Cologne's twelve great Romanesque basilicas.

St. Gereon

since 1201
4.7(1,051)· Google

Romanesque church in Cologne with a ten-sided domed rotunda from the Hohenstaufen era — the largest surviving free-vaulted central-plan building of the Middle Ages north of the Alps.

St. Gertrud

4.5(43)· Google

Brutalist church by Gottfried Böhm in the Agnesviertel — a cave-like raw concrete structure that won the Cologne Architecture Prize in 1967.

St. Heribert

4.6(111)· Google

Parish church in Cologne-Deutz, nicknamed the "Düxer Dom" — home to the Heribert Shrine, completed around 1175.

St. Hubertus (Flittard)

since 1896
4.9(8)· Google

Catholic church in Cologne-Flittard featuring a Romanesque tower from the 12th century and a neo-Romanesque nave built in 1897.

St. Hubertus (Cologne-Brück)

since 1931
3.3(16)· Google

A Roman Catholic hall church from 1930/31 in the modernist style — home to a 15th-century Madonna statue and original stained-glass windows from 1931.

St. Johann Evangelist

Demolished parish church that once stood south of Cologne Cathedral on the Domhof, serving for a time as the Archbishop's private chapel.

St. John's Church (Deutz)

since 1859
4.4(23)· Google

Protestant church from 1861 in Cologne-Deutz with an octagonal tower; gutted by fire in 1942 and gradually restored over the following decades.

St. Kolumba

since 1150
4.8(65)· Google

'Madonna in the Ruins' — a medieval chapel enclosed within the ruins of a Gothic parish church, now embraced by the Kolumba art museum.

St. Kunibert

since 1215
4.7(367)· Google

Youngest of Cologne's twelve Romanesque churches — with original 13th-century windows preserved in wartime storage, rising just north of the Cathedral.

St. Laurentius (Cologne-Ensen)

since 1894
4.7(30)· Google

Neo-Gothic parish church in Ensen with a 56-metre tower and an unusual 'Christ at Rest' figure lacking nail and side wounds.

St. Laurenz (Cologne Old Town)

since 1188
4.0(59)· Google

Parish church demolished as early as 1818 — its legacy lives on in the street names Laurenzplatz and Laurenzgittergässchen in Cologne's city centre.

St. Maria Ablass

since 1431
4.8(94)· Google

Of the demolished parish church of St. Maria Ablass, only the chapel of grace survives — today the Russian Orthodox Church of Saints Constantine and Helena.

St. Maria im Kapitol

since 1100
4.6(546)· Google

Cologne's largest and oldest Romanesque church — built on the foundations of a Roman temple, featuring a trefoil choir and a thousand-year-old carved wooden door.

No longer existsSt. Maria im Pesch© H. Odenthal · Public domain

St. Maria im Pesch

Long-demolished parish church of Cologne Cathedral's staff — its late-Gothic Entombment group survives today inside the Cathedral.

St. Maria in der Kupfergasse

since 1705
4.6(139)· Google

Baroque pilgrimage church in Cologne's old town that has enclosed a Loreto chapel with its venerated Black Madonna since 1715.

St. Maria in Lyskirchen

4.7(196)· Google

The smallest of Cologne's twelve great Romanesque churches — the only one with largely intact 13th-century vault frescoes.

St. Maria vom Frieden

4.8(40)· Google

Baroque monastery church of the Discalced Carmelites in Cologne's Old Town — associated with Edith Stein, canonized martyr and co-patron of Europe.

St. Mariä Himmelfahrt

since 1629
4.7(232)· Google

Baroque former Jesuit church near Cologne Cathedral — for centuries the city's largest after the Cathedral, and one of Cologne's few surviving Baroque landmarks.

St. Maternus

since 1863
4.6(38)· Google

Neo-Gothic brick church in Rodenkirchen housing an American pipe organ from 1869 and hosting an annual Maternus pilgrimage every September.

St. Mauritius

4.4(36)· Google

Romanesque pier basilica in the Altstadt-Süd district, consecrated in 1141 — the first church in Cologne with a fully vaulted nave and side aisles.

St. Nikolaus (Cologne-Dünnwald)

since 1150
4.6(27)· Google

Romanesque basilica from 1117/1118, once a Premonstratensian canonesses' convent — with a twin-tower façade until the 16th century.

St. Nikolaus (Köln-Sülz)

since 1908
4.2(91)· Google

Known as the 'Sülzer Dom', this Neo-Romanesque basilica (1903–1909) features a Pantocrator mosaic, Otto-cast bells, and an organ with a unique 'distant work' swell.

St. Pantaleon

since 1002
4.6(366)· Google

Early Romanesque abbey church with an Ottonian westwork; burial site of Byzantine Empress Theophanu and Archbishop Bruno of Cologne.

St. Paul

4.6(74)· Google

Neo-Gothic parish church consecrated in 1908 in Cologne's Neustadt-Süd, whose construction was championed by chocolate manufacturer Ludwig Stollwerck.

St. Peter – Kunst-Station

since 1515
4.7(86)· Google

Cologne's latest surviving Gothic church — and since 1987 a venue for contemporary art and new music, run by Jesuits.

St. Quirinus

4.2(31)· Google

Catholic parish church in Cologne-Mauenheim, built in 1927 as a three-nave early Christian basilica with a detached bell tower.

Permanently closedSt. Remigius© Chris06 · CC BY-SA 4.0

St. Remigius

4.5(24)· Google

Neoclassical former parish church in Sürth (1825–1830) blending ancient and medieval forms, preserving baroque furnishings rescued from a demolished Cologne church.

St. Severin

4.6(371)· Google

One of Cologne's twelve great Romanesque churches, grown from a late-antique burial chapel — home to the relics of Saint Severin.

St. Severin (Lövenich)

4.4(17)· Google

Romanesque pillar basilica in Cologne's Lövenich district, named after Severin of Cologne and rooted in the 12th century — though heavily remodelled in the 1800s.

St. Theodor

4.6(109)· Google

A modern circular building of ochre-coloured concrete above a community-use ground floor — defined by the vision of parish priest Franz Meurer.

St. Ursula

since 401
4.6(861)· Google

Romanesque basilica near Cologne Cathedral housing the Golden Chamber — the largest ossuary north of the Alps, with roots in Roman Cologne.

Stadtbibliothek Köln

since 1890
4.4(636)· Google

One of Germany's largest public libraries with around 850,000 items — currently operating from a temporary location on Hohe Straße during major renovations.

Stadtgarten

4.3(3,920)· Google

Cologne's first modern public park — and home to a renowned concert venue with a focus on jazz and over 400 events a year.

Studiobühne Köln

4.3(98)· Google

Germany's oldest university theatre since 1920 — an independent, experimental performance space with a film workshop at the University of Cologne.

Tanzbrunnen

4.4(9,824)· Google

Cologne's open-air venue — home to up to 12,500 concertgoers beneath Frei Otto's iconic star-wave tent, inspired by a dancing fountain from 1950.

Taubenbrunnen

since 1953
4.6(96)· Google

Cologne's first post-war fountain and the city's first abstract fountain: designed in 1953 by Ewald Mataré as a drinking trough for the Cathedral pigeons.

Tauzieher

since 1908

Shell limestone sculpture at the Rheinauhafen — Cologne's first freestanding sculpture in public space, standing around 6½ metres tall.

Tersteegenhaus

4.6(31)· Google

Protestant church in Cologne-Sülz, consecrated in 1928 as a community hall — its former event hall now serves as a worship space with chairs arranged in a circle around the altar.

Theater am Dom

since 1952
4.6(1,282)· 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 der Keller

Cologne's oldest private theatre, founded in 1955 — contemporary programme with many world premieres and its own acting school.

Theater im Bauturm

4.5(241)· Google

Independent backyard theatre in the Belgisches Viertel: freshly told classics and original productions with a Cologne twist and social commentary.

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.

Thomaskirche

4.3(36)· Google

Protestant church in the Agnesviertel with an octagonal nave and pyramid ceiling – scheduled for deconsecration and demolition in autumn 2026.

TimeRide Cologne

4.4(3,521)· Google

VR time travel in Cologne's Old Town: a virtual tram ride through 1926 Cologne, experienced through a VR headset.

Trinitatiskirche

since 1860
4.8(308)· Google

The oldest newly built Protestant church on Cologne's left bank of the Rhine — a classicist basilica inspired by northern Italian models.

TtE-Bücherei

5.0(1)· Google

Freely accessible library and archive of left-wing social movements at the Alte Feuerwache — holding citizens' initiative journals and a substantial collection of grey literature.

Urania Theater

Cologne's first neighbourhood theatre, founded in 1985 in a former Ehrenfeld cinema — with a series of operators across the decades.

Ursulinenkirche St. Corpus Christi

since 1709
4.1(10)· Google

Baroque former convent church of the Cologne Ursulines, built in Venetian style by Matteo Alberti — now a school chapel and concert venue.

Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud

4.6(3,469)· Google

Cologne's oldest museum — home to the world's most extensive collection of medieval painting and Germany's largest Impressionist collection.

Zur Heiligen Familie

5.0(1)· Google

Deconsecrated orphanage church in Cologne-Sülz by Dominikus and Gottfried Böhm — featuring a 'children's orchestra' of 128 octagonal stained-glass windows.

Something missing or wrong?

Help us improve — suggest an edit or a new place.