HEINZELMÄNNCHEN’S HOME
The other day I was in Köln am Rhein, the fourth largest German city with nearly one million inhabitants, Cologne on the Rhine for you, Colonia Agrippina for the Old Romans; the wife of Emperor Claudius was born on the banks of the Rhine and elevated her ’colonia’ ... Read review
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Advantages: famous sights, the river Rhine Disadvantages: none that I could find out in a day
...with nearly one million inhabitants, Cologne on the Rhine for you, Colonia Agrippina for the Old Romans; the wife of Emperor Claudius was born on the banks of the Rhine and elevated her ’colonia’ to the status of a city in the year 50 A.D.
I don’t know if you associate anything with Köln (the ‘ö‘ is pronounced like the ‘u‘ in burn), Germans think of Carnival, the Cathedral and Eau de Cologne. I don’t know any other city where the ... ...the Magi were brought to Cologne and the Cathedral became one of the most important places of pilgrimage in Europe, the original shrine can be seen in the underground Treasure Chamber (4 € / concessions 2 €), a gilded copy of the shrine stands now in the centre of the Cathedral.
When I got out, I turned left and went to the Römisch-Germanisches Museum (Romano-Germanic Museum) (5 € /concessions 3 €). From the number of artefacts exhibited ... more
HEINZELMÄNNCHEN’S HOME
The other day I was in Köln am Rhein, the fourth largest German city with nearly one million inhabitants, Cologne on the Rhine for you, Colonia Agrippina for the Old Romans; the wife of Emperor Claudius was born on the banks of the Rhine and elevated her ’colonia’ to the status of a city in the year 50 A.D.
I don’t know if you associate anything with Köln (the ‘ö‘ is pronounced like the ‘u‘ in burn), Germans think of Carnival, the Cathedral and Eau de Cologne. I don’t know any other city where the main attraction is right beside the train station (or rather vice versa), you leave the building and there, smack bang, is the Cathedral, the two towers are 157m high, it‘s not possible not to be impressed. You cross a square and walk up a flight of stairs on which people sit - and unfortunately also eat and drink and leave their rubbish. I read in a paper that the stairs are cleaned twice every day (imagine the costs!) and that now the city of Köln considers to forbid eating and drinking there, they have my blessing!
After reaching the top you can enter the Cathedral from a side entrance but I didn’t do it, I walked round the building until I’d reached the main entrance opposite which there is the tourist information office where friendly staff hand out a (free) brochure about the city with a map and short descriptions of the sights (in German and English). Now into the Cathedral!
The last time I was in Köln was sixteen years ago, the odd thing was that I couldn’t remember if I had visited the Cathedral then, but as it jumps into the tourist’s face, so-to-speak, it’s nearly impossible not to do so. After entering I knew what the problem was, I was ready to be impressed, overwhelmed even, after all the Cathedral has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996 and was recently voted Germany’s most popular tourist landmark, but I wasn’t, I had simply forgotten it, no lasting impression had stayed with me. It’s huge, yes, it’s the biggest German church, 4000 people can get in (seated and standing), but the grey sandstone makes for a cold and un-intimate atmosphere, and then the windows! The lives of Jesus and various saints in horrible, shrill colours, pink, poison green, violet, the only window worth looking at is the new one which was revealed only last month, Gerhard Richter, one of the most important living German artists, designed a kaleidoscope of 11,500 squares of glass in 72 colours.
The style of the church is Gothic, it was begun in 1248 but only finished in 1880! The church wasn’t being built for 632 years, of course, lack of money and also lack of interest stopped the building for long periods, during many years it even served as a warehouse. This is surprising considering the fact that in 1164 the relics of the Magi were brought to Cologne and the Cathedral became one of the most important places of pilgrimage in Europe, the original shrine can be seen in the underground Treasure Chamber (4 € / concessions 2 €), a gilded copy of the shrine stands now in the centre of the Cathedral.
When I got out, I turned left and went to the Römisch-Germanisches Museum (Romano-Germanic Museum) (5 € /concessions 3 €). From the number of artefacts exhibited there you get the impression that you only have to dig a hole in the ground in Köln and out comes a Roman glass vase or an oil lamp! The Roman mosaic with scenes from the world of Dionysos (around 220/230 A.D.) and the reconstructed tomb of the legionary Poblicius (around 40 A.D.) are probably the best known exhibits, the collection of Roman glass vessels is the largest worldwide, all is presented very nicely.
Back across the square in front of the museum, across the Roncalliplatz and then into the street Am Hof and there is the Heinzelmännchenbrunnen (for you: Haynselmannchen) showing two flights of stairs with some dwarfs falling down the steps and a woman with a lantern at the top. The Heinzelmännchen were dwarfs only to be found in Köln, they did all the work for the lazy craftsmen at night while they were sleeping, during the day they couldn‘t be seen. When they helped a tailor, his wife became so curious that she put dry peas on the stairs one evening, and as she had imagined, the dwarfs stumbled and fell making a lot of noise, she came out of her room with a lantern and saw them. But that was it, after that night the dwarfs were never seen in Köln again. As you can see curiosity doesn‘t only kill the cat, it also drives Heinzelmännchen away!
Near the Roncalliplatz the Hohe Straße begins, a traffic free street only about 10m wide with shops on either side, I don‘t travel to far away cities to shop there but I find the street fascinating nevertheless as it has been Köln’s main street for over 2000 years! The buildings aren’t very old, however, as more than 90% of the city centre of Köln had been destroyed by the end of the war, after the liberation by the US army, one of the first newspapers summarised the situation, “The city is one of the biggest heaps of rubble in the world.“
I follow the Hohe Straße only for some metres and then turn right, my destination is the Glockengasse and there the parent house of 4711, the famous Eau de Cologne, a mildly perfumed toilet water, you can find the whole product range in the shop. What does the brand name 4711 mean? It was the house number given to the factory during French occupation of the Rhineland in the early 19th century. Inside, right beside the door, is a basin with a tap out of which a continuous stream of Eau de Cologne is running, you can put your hands in!
Every hour visitors look up at the façade where some figures dressed as French soldiers come out of an opening and march across the front while a carillon concert is playing the Marseillaise.
Still smelling nicely I moved on towards the Neumarkt to look at the modern glass building on whose roof the artists Claes Oldenburg and his wife Coosje van Bruggen placed a ‘Dropped Scone’ of gigantic dimensions (39 ft. 10 in./ 12.1 m high x 19 ft. / 5.8 m) diameter, very funny, I like it.
From there into the Schildergasse which despite its name (Gasse means ‘alley‘ in German) is a wide traffic free shopping street, the department store of Peek&Cloppenburg, the ‘Weltstadthaus‘, (literally world city house) was designed by the world famous Italian architect Renzo Piano. From the net: “The idiosyncratic jacket of the building, made of glass and wood, is both architectural vision and technical challenge.“ Even for people who‘re not interested in shopping this is a store worth visiting!
From here it‘s not far to the town hall with its Renaissance façade, in front of it there‘s an archaeological site showing remains of the former Jewish quarter, opposite in a corner house another shop selling Eau de Cologne! ‘Farina‘ is the name, “the original one“ as the shop assistant proudly told me. From what I‘ve found out she‘s right, 4711 is more famous, but Farina is the oldest Eau de Cologne (founded in 1709). I let her spray my wrists, I *did* smell good on this day!
Behind the town hall is the Alter Markt (Old Market) with one beer pub beside the other, in Köln people drink Kölsch, it’s only brewed here, (from Wikipedia): It is a clear beer with a bright straw yellow hue, and it has a prominent, but not extreme, hoppiness. It is less bitter than the standard German lager beer, Pils. Furthermore, it is a top-fermented beer (an ale), meaning that it is fermented at 15 to 20°C (60 to 68°F) and the yeast tends to collect at the top, as opposed to bottom-fermented beer (a lager) fermented at much colder temperatures.“ Brits should like it!
And then, behind a row of houses, we see the river Rhine at last, Father Rhine, as it is called in German. The riverside has restaurants, cafés and more pubs and lawns on which people are allowed to lie (worth mentioning in Germany) and a footpath running parallel to the river. The Rhine is a ‘working river’ with barges going upstream and downstream and also the white passenger ships of the Köln-Düsseldorfer Rhine shipping company. The sun was shining and I enjoyed the view for some time. This is not the romantic Rhine which you may have heard about, the Lorelei rock is farther south, nevertheless I had to think of the song *all* choirs sing when visiting the Rhine (and loads of choirs do so): “Why is it so beautiful on the Rhine?” (repeat three times) - “Because the old Germans drank until they sank quietly to the ground.” - “This is why it is so beautiful on the Rhine” (repeat once).
From my bench on the bank I could see the spires of the Cathedral and another short walk took me back to the station passing the Museum Ludwig (mainly artefacts of the second half of the last century), but I was too tired to go in, a reason to go back to Köln another time.
Advantages: Milka...Lindt...chocolate in general Disadvantages: cable car shut in winter
We went to Cologne this December so I could practice my German, we could go to the Christmas markets and we could take some much needed time off work. Actually, scrap that. Those were the reasons we went to Germany. The single reason we went to Cologne in particular was the flight schedules - Tui now fly there from Manchester, and our flights cost less than £70 return including taxes and the credit card fee (alarmingly charged per passenger, not ... ...has a chocolate museum like Cologne does. On the banks of the Rhine, and a mere 10 minutes walk from our hotel, this was my mecca, and we spent a morning of our trip there. I've been to many a chocolate museum - Hershey in Pennsylvania, Cadbury's World in Tasmania (nothing as normal as Bournville for me) - but this was something else. Firstly, they give you chocolates as you pay to go in (currently €6.50/adult). This I liked. Then, once you've navigated ...
zoe_page 07.12.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cologne (Germany)
...place isn't.This is not about Cologne in general, but about the christmas markets there.
Two years ago I was fortunate to spend a long weekend in Cologne, germany. It was a few weeks before christmas and the famous christmas markets were in full swing. I'll never forget it, it was wonderful and magical. If you love Christmas, and all the old traditions, then this is the place for you. As I write this, I smile, just at the thought of it all. I feel ... ...children. I visited Cologne with my husband and two sons. We travelled on the chunnel from Dover to France. This was booked on the internet and with discount cost about £55 (car and 4 passengers). We then drove on the autobahn to Cologne, which took us about three hours, with stops for rests, drinks etc.and the help of a good map.
We had also booked the hotel in advance. A Family room (2 adults and two children) for three nights, with breakfast, ...
Fairy_Kisses 14.12.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cologne (Germany)
Advantages: Beautiful city, cheap chocolate, good shops Disadvantages: None!
...'do' when you are in Cologne is to go and see the cathedral - and this is indeed probably where your visit to the city should start, as it's right in the centre and fairly close to the tourist office. The building itself is enormous and easily findable, as the spires rise above the city well! Climbing the tower is cheap and, if you can manage the 500-odd steps, affords great views of the city. Cologne has some good shopping too - make sure you go ... ...Saturdays - and whatever you do, try to get to the Imhoff-Stollwerck museum on the banks of the river, about 25 minutes' walk from the cathedral. This is an extremely modern, very interesting, chocolate museum, and some free samples are included in the very reasonable £3 entry price. There is also, within the foyer, a shop which sells extremely cheap, extremely good chocolate of all shapes and sizes - buy as much as you can, I've always regretted ...
Alternum 26.07.2000
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cologne (Germany)
Advantages: nice people, beautiful city Disadvantages: can't think of any
...most of my life near cologne and worked in this city, but I still like to tell you about it. If you plan a trip to Cologne, go for it! It's perfect for a short trip over the weekend because you can cheap flights with Easyjet or Hapagh Lloyd from East Midlands, Manchester, Coventry (from £30) and I'm sure there are good connections from London as well. The best place to stay is in a hotel near the main train station. It might be a bit loud at night, ... ...capital of Germany before Berlin). Cologne is famous for it Cathedral, which is just next to the main train station. It is beautiful and if you make the effort to go upstairs (there must be millions of stairs!), you'll have a stunning view over Cologne. It is great for shopping as well. You have all shops on one long street (Schildergasse/ Hohe Strasse) and compared to england prices you can make some good deals.
For people, who just want to have ...
murphypig 03.07.2005
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Cologne (Germany)
...so bad.
Well, Cologne is the city where i live at. I dont know why they put this picture for that "product", because the most important and popular part is the center of cologne. In the middle of the center, there is the hugest cathedral all over the world - the cologne cathedral. They started to build it in 1248 and it lasted more than 600 years to finish building it up. It is impressive when you look up the cathedral. Imagine how many Japanese ... ...put in a golden box. Cologne stole them while the Cologne-Mailand war in the middle ages...
If you are not interested in the cathedral i give you some other facts about Cologne. More than 1.000.000 Million people live in my city, which is the fourth biggest in Germany. We got one 1st division soccer club (1.FC Köln) and one of the best icehockey teams all over the world (Kölner Haie/Cologne Sharks). The icehockey club have their matches in the Colognearena ...
Flittarder 01.12.2002
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Cologne (Germany)
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "Cologne (Germany)"
I will refer throughout to the subject of this review as Cologne Cathedral, that being the familiar English term for it. If you wish to carry out further research you will also need to know the German title: "Kolner Dom".
Two of my great interests in life are architecture and history; seldom do they merge better and in more spectacular style than in the great churches and cathedrals. Over the years I have enjoyed visiting virtually all of the cathedrals in England - many in Poland during the last seven years too. Since my late teens there had been one cathedral above all others that I had wanted to visit - Cologne.
However well one may, or may not, know Cologne, Germany, or even in a much wider sense church architecture, the iconic silhouette of Cologne Cathedral, with its truly colossal twin towers, will probably be familiar to ...
Advantages: A good selection of Macke's work; not expensive (can be free) Disadvantages: Better if you understand German
If you go to see this impressive house, do not forget that if it was not for the determination of local people it wouldn't be open at all. The Bonn authorities were willing to let the building become a pub but a public campaign saved it, had it restored and in 1991 the doors opened. I?m pleased they did because August Macke is one of my favourite artists and certainly deserves a place for his work to be exhibited. This lovely Classicist style house, built in the 1870s, also houses a museum that puts into context the life of Macke and the artists working around him.
It is the house where Macke painted over 400 pieces and worked until his untimely death in 1914. He was born, however, in the Sauerland region of Germany. His father was an engineer, his mother from a farming family. The family moved to Cologne shortly after August was ...
Advantages: Sheer novelty, fantastic food Disadvantages: Not good if you're afraid of the dark!
the tram network from the central station, Koln (Cologne) Hauptbahnhof to Hansaring. This line is found under the S (Strassenbahn- means tram in German). Directions from here can be found by looking at the map on the website (address below) or by typing in the street name into Google Maps (Im Stavenhof 5, Cologne, Germany).
Overalll:
If you get the chance to go, do it. It will be life changing. ...
![Man - Live In Cologne, Germany 17th April 1975 [2007] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/77976249.jpg "Man - Live In Cologne, Germany 17th April 1975 [2007] [DVD]")
