Cologne

I had Saturday and Sunday off during Easter Weekend. Even though it’s a busy travel period, I found cheap flights to Cologne. A friend of mine lives there, so I booked those tickets with little hesitation.

Friday

Boarded my Eurowings Airbus A319 flight to Cologne which landed a few minutes late, but nothing major. Got on the next train to the city’s main station where I would meet up with my friend Tim, with whom I would be spending the weekend. It took a good five minutes before I found the spot where Tim was waiting, but I finally found him. We drove off to his apartment, and stayed up for a while just catching up. I hadn’t seen Tim since meeting him in Iran in 2016.

Saturday

Saturday morning I started at the Kölner Dom, a massive cathedral, the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. It is Germany’s most visited landmark. Construction began in 1248, and lasted until 1473, when the unfinished project was halted. It lasted until 1880 before enough funds had been collected, for the cathedral to be finished.

 

You can walk around most of the inside of the Dom, with a few sections reserved for religious visitors. I also visited the Domschatzkammer, a treasury where the cathedral’s many golden possessions are exhibited. There’s also plenty of archaeological objects found in excavations around the cathedral. Pictures weren’t allowed, but I snuck one anyway.

Next stop was what I believed would be an “archaeological zone” according to my guidebook, but it turned out to be a simple construction site. Just next to it however, is the city courthouse, built alongside the old courthouse from the 15th century.

Adjacent to the courthouse is the Alter Markt square. The square was built by the Nazis to resemble a traditional German village.

It was damaged by bombings during World War II, after which the square was rebuilt. So the buildings are relatively new. If you look closely, it is easy to see that the old-town look is faked.

I got on the subway to head a few stops west to a street food stand recommended by my friend Tim. The place sells cheap but generous portions of a German street food classic – currywurst (pieces of sausage served in a curry sauce, with fries).

It’s tasty, particularly for the cheap price of 5 euros.

After my lunch, I wanted to visit the city museum, Kölnisches Stadtmuseum. It had been closed as the primary exhibition was renovated. Instead I went back to the Kölner Dom, this time to climb the 533 steps towards a viewing platform 100 meters (330 feet) above ground, inside one of the towers.

For most of the ascent (and later to get back down) you are inside a narrow, winding staircase. The trip up was actually not bad, because the line kept stopping, as people in the front needed to catch a breath. The views were a bit hampered by a mesh net, but at least photography was still possible.

Just next to the Dom is the interesting Römisch-Germanisches Museum (Roman-Germanic Museum). The museum exhibits archaeological finds from mainly Roman times, but also during the Frankish/Germanic times up to roughly 900 AD.

The museum has been built on top of the ruins of a Roman house, with this original floor mosaic being one of the highlights.

They have an unusually large amount of stone tablets with clearly preserved inscriptions, in addition to items you’d usually find in an archaeological museum. The stone above is from the gravesite of an 8-year old girl named Concordia. She was buried in the 5th century AD.

Not far from the museum is the Hohenzollernbrücke, a bridge that spans the Rhine River.

One of many bridges in Cologne, this particular bridge is famous for being covered in padlocks, put up by couples as a sign of love.

There’s tens of thousands of these. Occasionally they are removed when the “owners” break up. There’s quite nice views of the city’s riverfront from the bridge too.

Strolling along the riverfront’s green spaces in sunny weather is quite enjoyable. Lots of locals were outside enjoying their Saturday afternoon. I stopped by a couple of churches while on my way south towards the Deutsches Sport & Olympiamuseum. The museum has a section dedicated to local soccer team 1. FC Köln.

A German championship trophy from 1962, one of the times that 1. FC Köln won the Bundesliga.

Most of the museum centers around the birth of the Olympic games, and sports in Germany in general. There’s in-depth looks at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, which was a relatively tense event given the propaganda and global politics.

Original entrance ticket to the opening ceremony of the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

The 1972 Games in Munich are also covered, with a memorial dedicated to the Israeli athletes that lost their lives at the hands of Palestinian terrorists. What you see above is the Olympic flame being lit at the opening ceremony.

Following the sports museum I met Tim in downtown Cologne at the Neumarkt square, and we explored a bit of central Cologne. One of the places we visited was the Willy Millowitsch Square, where there’s a statue of the square’s namesake. Willy was a celebrated, but controversial actor. We then had dinner together at his favorite restaurant, Bali, serving Indonesian and Southeast Asian food.

Sunday

Slept in for quite a bit, as there were just two sights left on my to-do list. After enjoying a breakfast Tim prepared for the two of us, we were off to the Schokoladenmuseum. The chocolate museum showcases the history of chocolate from the Aztecs and Mayas up to modern times. There’s exhibits regarding the harvesting of the cocoa beans, as well as small-scale production inside the museum. Those pieces produced here are only handed out or sold at the museum itself. You can even create your own chocolate here if you book ahead.

There’s plenty of opportunities for tasting, such as this chocolate fountain, so the museum is incredibly popular with kids. For grown-ups, the historic chocolate advertisements and products are a nice added touch.

After the Chocolate Museum, Tim left to run some errands. I walked into central Cologne for a very quick lunch sandwich at a Subway, before continuing to the EL-DE Haus.

The building was acquired by the Gestapo in the 1930s, and became its Cologne headquarters. In the basement were prison cells for prisoners undergoing interrogation.

Messages inscribed on the walls by those imprisoned in the cells remain as evidence for the horrors experienced here. The main floors have been turned into a museum of the Nazi Party’s rise to power, and its influence in Cologne.

Adolf Hitler visiting Cologne in 1936.

After the EL-DE Haus I walked back to the apartment for a brief stop. I packed my suitcase and said goodbye to Tim’s dog Becca.

Tim drove me to Cologne’s main train station, as I was off to the airport for my flight back to Zurich with Eurowings, operated by a Germanwings Airbus A319.