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Cologne museums overview

KKE_Museum_Ludwig_04
Museum Ludwig
KKE_Odysseum_Themenwelt-Cyberspace
Odysseum
KKE_Wallraff_Richartz_Museum_Graphisches_Kabinett
Wallraff-Richartz-Museum








Technology Art & culture
Special History


History


Deutsches Tanzarchiv Köln
This dance archive collects the legacies of famous dance personalities such as Isadora Duncan. Anyone interested in dance can use the special library and comprehensive film archive to find lots of information. The dance museum with changing exhibitions gives a further, deeper insight into all facets of the world of dance.
›› Neustadt-Nord, Im Mediapark 7, Tel. 2 26 57 57, www.sk-kultur.de/tanz/

Geldgeschichtliches Museum
Welcome to the world of Mammon where everything revolves around money. You can explore the interesting history of money from its early days to the present with the help of lots of illustrations and exhibits from coins to medallions and different savings boxes to coin counting scales. The displays about counterfeiting and sophisticated con tricks are fascinating.
›› Altstadt-Süd, Neumarkt 18-24, Tel. 2 27 23 70, www.geldgeschichte.de

Kölnisches Stadtmuseum
This museum presents the history of the city of Cologne in a visual way. Touring the exhibits you will learn about the city’s urban beginnings, the era of the Holy Roman Emperors and post-World War 2. There is a special display of things unique to Cologne such as the city’s nepotism, Kölsch beer, Carnival and more.
›› Altstadt-Nord, Zeughausstr. 1-3, Tel. 2 21-2 57 89, www.museen-koeln.de/koelnisches-stadtmuseum

NS-Dokumentationszentrum
A forum and document store in the former EL-DE Gestapo headquarters. With the permanent “Cologne under National Socialism’’ exhibition, visitors are confronted thematically with the prominent Nazis and the societal and political aspects of the period. The building also serves as a home for a modern research center.
›› Altstadt-Nord, Appellhofplatz 23-25, Tel. 22 12-63 32, www.nsdok.de

Römisch-Germanisches Museum
Cologne’s Roman past comes alive here. The museum’s location next to the Cathedral is not the only impressive part. Historical art treasures such as a famous 75 sq m Dionysos mosaic and the world’s biggest collection of Roman glassware are among the highlights of a museum tour. Also worth seeing are splendid murals, mosaics and inscriptions.
›› Altstadt-Nord, Roncalliplatz 4, Tel. 2 21-2 44 38, www.museenkoeln.de/roemisch-germanisches-museum

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Art & culture


artothek – Raum für junge Kunst
The focus here is on the advancement and placement of young artists, whose works including experimental painting, graphics, sculptures and photographs can be admired and also loaned.
›› Altstadt-Nord, Am Hof 50, Tel. 2 21-2 23 32, www.museen-koeln.de/artothek

Forum für Fotografie
A must for lovers of discerning and artistic photography! Exhibitions outside the usual mainstream are staged here at regular intervals. This is a place where photography is not just admired but discussed, including during lectures and workshops.
›› Bayenthal, Schönhauser Str. 8, Tel. 3 40 18 30, www.forum-fotografie.info

Käthe Kollwitz Museum
This museum dedicated to Käthe Kollwitz, Germany’s most celebrated female artist of the 20th century, is hidden on the fourth floor of the Neumarkt Passage arcade. Visitors who find their way here and ascend in the glass lift will be rewarded with a display of the artist’s touching and emotional works.
›› Altstadt-Süd, Neumarkt 18-24, Tel. 2 27 28 99, www.kollwitz.de

Kolumba
Cologne archbishopric’s arts museum has been based in a spectacular new building designed by star architect Peters Zumthor since 2007. The collection includes arts treasures from 2,000 years of occidental culture from late antiquity to the present.
›› Altstadt-Nord, Kolumbastr. 4, Tel. 9 33 19 30, www.kolumba.de

Max Ernst Museum Brühl
This museum dedicated to Dadaist and surrealist Max Ernst takes visitors on a fascinating journey back in time through the 70-year creative period of the artist from Brühl, including his Dadaist, French surrealism works and works done during his exile in the USA. Highlights include the complete collection of graphics works, especially the so-called D-Paintings that were gifts by the painter to his wife Dorothea Tanning.
›› 50321 Brühl, Comesstr. 42, Tel. 0 22 34/99 21-555, www.maxernstmuseum.lvr.de

Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst
This renowned museum takes visitors to a far away, exotic world. The collection presents in a clear and objective way the artistic richness of China, Japan and Korea, with exhibits that include Buddhist painting, sculpture, wood graphics, lacquer art, bronze figures and textiles.
›› Neustadt-Süd, Universitätsstr. 100, Tel. 2 21-2 86 08, www.museenkoeln.de

Museum für Angewandte Kunst
Everyday objects such as dishes, furniture and jewelry are museum pieces here, bearing witness to normal life from the Middle Ages to the present. There’s also a remarkable collection of designer objects dating from 1900 onward. The exhibitions change regularly and focus in detail on the themes of architecture, fashion and photography.
›› Altstadt-Nord, An der Rechtschule, Tel. 2 21-2 38 60, www.museenkoeln.de

Museum Ludwig
Cologne’s top palace of art with one of the most significant collections of art from the 20th century to the present. Visitors flock here because it has the third-largest collection of Picasso’s works after Paris and Barcelona, as well as American pop art including works by Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns that attract a lot of interest. Just as fascinating are the works of the Russian avant-garde movement of the 1920s, German Expressionist paintings as well as a comprehensive collection of photographic art.
›› Altstadt-Nord, Heinrich-Böll-Platz, Tel. 2 21-2 61 65, www.museum-ludwig.de

Museum Schnütgen
This museum showcases Christian Medieval religious art and is next to the Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum in the remodelled cultural quarter at Neumarkt. The greater part of its exhibits are displayed in the Romanesque Cäcilienkirche (St. Cecilia’s Church), which is an especially atmospheric venue for this type of art.
›› Altstadt-Süd, Cäcilienstr. 29-33, Tel. 2 21-2 23 10, www.museenkoeln.de/museum-schnuetgen

Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum
On three floors in the newly opened museum building, there is plenty of room for a new attractive exhibition concept to showcase art and crafts from non-European cultures, including 65,000 exhibits and 100,000 historic ethnological photos. Just as fascinating is the junior museum, which will enthrall not only young discovers.
›› Altstadt-Süd, Cäcilienstr. 29-33, Tel. 2 21-3 13 56, www.museen-koeln.de

Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud
This museum with an austere geometric exterior appearance houses a notable collection of paintings from the Middle Ages to the time of the Impressionists. The Medieval collection with famous works by Rubens and Rembrandt is among the most renowned of its kind. Just as outstanding is the Fondation Corboud’s images of Impressionism and Neo-Impressionism with works by Monet, Manet, van Gogh and Cézanne.
›› Altstadt-Nord, Obenmarspforten, Tel. 2 21-2 11 19, www.wallraf.museum

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Technology


Straßenbahn-Museum Thielenbruch
For public transport buffs Cologne has a great attraction – the historic tram museum. In the former service depot in Tiefenbrunn you can relive 125 years of Cologne’s tram history, either by viewing the many authentically preserved exhibits or by taking a trip round the museum on an electric tram (a special treat for kids), or you can try your hand at driving a tram on a simulator.
›› Dellbrück, Gemarkenstr. 139, Tel. 2 83 47 71, www.hsk-koeln.de

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Special


Deutsches Sport & Olympia Museum
Wandering around Cologne’s sportiest museum you can experience 3,000 years of sporting history from antiquity to the present day including naked ancient Greek athletes, the German Prussian gymnastics educator Friedrich Ludwig Jahn as well as famous current sporting heroes.
›› Altstadt-Süd, Im Zollhafen 1, Tel. 33 60 90, www.sportmuseum.info

Duftmuseum
People with a good sense of smell will find their way to the Farina Haus without directions. This is the birthplace of “Aqua Mirabilis,’’ better known as the famous Eau de Cologne. Here you can smell the fragrant scents of the specially selected ingredients used to create the immortal perfume. You can learn the secrets of the perfumery and experience how the scent is made on a guided tour.
›› Altstadt-Nord, Obenmarspforten 21, Im Farina Haus, Tel. 3 99 89 94, www.farina-haus.de

Kindermuseum Please Touch
Please touch is the slogan of this children’s museum in Porz. Young visitors can touch and try out everything during the regularly changing exhibitions and events.
›› Porz, Glashüttenstr. 20, Tel. 0 22 03/59 24 97, www.please-touch.de

Kölner Karnevalsmuseum
The biggest Carnival museum in the Germanspeaking world opened in 2005 just outside the city center. It shows the history and variety of the carnival from antiquity to the present day with historical displays as well as modern audio and video units. There are guided tours for individuals and small groups once a month (Sundays).
›› Ehrenfeld, Maarweg 134-136, Tel. 5 74 00 76, www.kk-museum.de

Schokoladenmuseum
This museum was a really sweet gift to the city from a Cologne resident. In 1993, industrialist Hans Imhof, owner of the tradition-rich Stollwerck chocolate factory, funded the building of this museum, which is next to the Rhine and shaped like a ship. Since then hundreds of thousands of children and adults have relished a tour through 3,000 years of chocolate history.
›› Altstadt-Süd, Am Schokoladenmuseum 1a, Tel. 9 31 88 80, www.schokoladenmuseum.de

Odysseum
What is cyberspace? Why can square wheels turn? And what is the secret of life? You’re sure to find out the answers to (nearly) all of those questions after a visit to this multi-media theme museum, which is not just fun for kids.
›› Kalk, Corintostr. 1, Tel. 69 06 81 11, www.odysseum.de

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