Teams, tales and tips – a guide to the local game
The party-mad tourist mecca of Cologne needs little excuse to carouse. In 2017, it could celebrate the return of European football after 25 years. Fans of flagship club and three-time German champions 1.FC Köln swarmed Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, an invasion of some 20,000 causing kick-off of the Europa League tie to be delayed by an hour.
An early goal by new signing Jhon Córdoba saw outbursts of revelry all round the ground until order was restored and the visitors return to the Rhineland with no points and a hangover.
Despite Köln’s 25-year absence from the European limelight, the passion had never really dimmed. The season that Köln regained top-flight status in 2013-14, crowds at the RheinEnergieStadion averaged a near capacity 49,000, a figure that has barely wavered since, not even during a miserable campaign of five wins and relegation from the Bundesliga exactly ten years later.
Cologne is rooted in the game. This is the site of Germany’s main sports university – the nation’s top football coaches all receive their training here. For 14 years, former Köln player Hennes Weisweiler, who later led his former club and nearby Mönchengladbach to four titles, headed the academy.
Centrepiece of Germany’s largest sports complex when created in 1923, 1.FC Köln’s stadium has twice been completely rebuilt (and renamed), most recently for the 2006 World Cup. City mayor Konrad Adenauer, later West German Chancellor during the post-war economic miracle, was behind the creation of this vast sports park on Cologne’s western outskirts, on the main road to Aachen.
In the aftermath of World War I, it created thousands of jobs and the Hauptkampfbahn (later Müngersdorfer Stadion) was key to Cologne’s unsuccessful bid for the 1936 Olympics, eventually awarded to Berlin. Yet Cologne’s first football ground wasn’t here but in Weidenpesch, near Nippes, north of town.
Weidenpescher Park staged two early German championship finals, in 1905 and 1910. This was the home of the city’s oldest club, VfL Köln 1899, who provided six players for the German national side before World War II. Though later overshadowed by 1.FC Köln and their modern-day city rivals Fortuna, VfL held out in the lower leagues until as recently as 2013.
A decade earlier, VfL had vacated Weidenpescher, allowing for a flea market to be set up. The park retained its link with the nation’s football past – still housing Germany’s oldest surviving grandstand, a protected building, it was used by Sönke Wortmann to film his Das Wunder von Bern, the story of the 1954 World Cup.
1.FC and Fortuna were formed within ten days of each other in February 1948, Fortuna from a merger of three clubs, including VfL contemporaries Viktoria. 1.FC’s predecessors were Kölner BC 1901 and SpVgg Köln-Sülz. Both had enjoyed modest pre-war success, including regional West German titles, but 1.FC took the local game to a whole new level.
Inaugural winners of the Bundesliga in 1964, debut season of genial left-footed playmaker Wolfgang Overath, 1.FC was also where players such as Pierre (‘Litti’) Littbarski and Lukas (‘Poldi’) Podolski started their careers. Littbarski scored the only goal when 1. FC met Fortuna at the old Müngersdorfer in the 1983 German Cup Final.
Both clubs later fell on hard times, 1.FC bouncing between top and second flights, Fortuna sinking lower. Without the long-term financial backing of Jean Löring, a former Viktoria Köln player-cum-electrician and five-time Fortuna coach, the club all but went out of business.
Still playing at the 15,000-capacity Südstadion, by Pohlingstraße on the 12 tramline, Fortuna gained promotion to the third flight in 2013-14 thanks to a stoppage-time goal to deny Bayern Reserves in the second leg. The home tie had been Fortuna’s first sell-out crowd for three decades. Five seasons in the professional 3. Liga then followed but the Cologne side were always struggling. Relegation came in 2019.
Covid restrictions the following season saw Cologne and its near neighbours Düsseldorf, Duisburg and Gelsenkirchen step in to take care of hosting duties for the final phase of the Europa League. This meant that the RheinEnergieStadion staged a rare European final, an excellent one between Inter and Sevilla, who had beaten Manchester United at the same venue five days earlier.
A few weeks later, Germany played two internationals there, both 3-3 draws, with Turkey and Switzerland, a 100th cap for Toni Kroos. Sadly, the five games played here as part of the 2006 World Cup had hardly set pulses racing – Switzerland 0 Ukraine 0 must rank as one of the worst matches ever, at any level – the Euro 2024 group games involving England, Scotland and Hungary, among others, should see a huge buzz in town.
The winners of the Group of Death, B, Spain, Italy, Croatia or Albania, then grace the stadium in the first knock-out round. This could be a possible international farewell for Luka Modrić and/or, indeed, Real teammate Toni Kroos, if hosts Germany finish third in their group and the football gods align.
Getting Around
Arriving in town and local transport
Köln-Bonn Airport is 15km (nine miles) south-east of Cologne, with its own railway terminal, on Germany’s high-speed train (ICE) network, linked to Frankfurt and other major cities.
From Terminal 2, the local S-Bahn 19 line and regional trains frequently run to Cologne main station, Köln Hauptbahnhof (€3.50 single/24hr ticket for zone 1b €8.50, 15-20min journey time). A schedule can be found on the German Rail website.
City transport also consists of buses, trams and U-Bahn subway, using the same ticket system. A Kurzstrecke hop of up to four stops is €2.50, a longer trip within central zone 1a, including the stadium west of town, €3.
Taxi Ruf Köln (+49 221 2882) charge around €45 from airport to town.
Where to Drink
The best pubs and bars for football fans
See here for a list of the ten best football bars in Cologne!
The local drink is Kölsch – a light beer served in a thin glass (or Stange). Scorned all over Germany for being weak and ladylike, Kölsch is, in fact, the perfect barhop accompaniment as it’s affordable, downed in seconds and won’t bloat you out.
You can sample it at Früh am Dom near the Cathedral, dating back to 1904, its medieval cellar centuries older. Equally venerable is the Brauhaus Sion on Unter Taschenmacher.
Close by stands one of Cologne’s many Irish bars, Barney Vallely’s on Kleine Budengasse, ‘the small pub with a big heart’ – and plenty of sport on TV. Right on main Alter Markt, the Corkonian (No.51) is the oldest and most popular of the Gaelic hostelries, with a prominent terrace and a full schedule of televised matches.
Across the square, Papa Joe’s Biersalon is one of two places in town under the PJ umbrella, this one with a 1920s’ theme and filled with vintage machines from old cinemas and music halls, live shows a regular feature. The other, Papa Joe’s Jazzlokal on Buttermarkt, celebrates the music of New Orleans. Next door’s Biermuseum goes way beyond Kölsch and also shows games.
Back on the main square, the Brauhaus zum Prinzen combines tradition with football-watching – note the signed, framed shirts. The wide terrace overlooks Alter Markt – the original house was once the oldest one on it in 1213. A modern bar in a historic guise, Kulisse Köln switches from live football screening to party mode, with 4am closing for the liveliest three nights of the week.
In a corner dotted with fast-food outlets near the river, Kunst Kaschämm opened in the World Cup year of 2006 and keeps the party going with shots, cocktails, Kölsch and Fußball. Just behind on Heumarkt, Gilden im Zims lends a contemporary touch to brewing and dining in Cologne, with big-screen sport thrown in.
The house a fixture on Heumarkt since 1176, the Brauerei Pfaffen was started out by Max Päffgen in 1974 but its beer differs from the variety sold at Päffgen Kölsch on Friesenstraße, close to the ring boulevard that holds in the city centre. Thanks to a fraternal feud, these are two distinct brews despite confusingly similar names. Purists prefer the older establishment, set up by Herman Päffgen in 1883 and in place here since 1884. Horse-drawn wagons were still delivering beer to the place until after World War II.
On Salzgasse, between Heumarkt and the Rhine, the Brauhaus Sünner im Walfisch has records of brewing here since 1476. The house was rebuilt in 1935, opted for wine over beer but beer came back in modern times thanks to the Sünner family brewery – hence the name. At the river end of the street, Haxenhaus serves either hulking pork knuckle or hefty home-made bratwurst. The choice is yours. It hasn’t always been a traditional inn – 800 years ago it was a sailors’ refuge.
Similar to the traditional taverns of Groß St Martin in the Altstadt, Bei d’r Tant on Cäcilienstraße at the edge of the Old Town has a story in its name. This one honours the widow who ran the place from 1930 until long after her husband died in the war. The families who later took it over decided to keep with tradition – even though Frau Maria Kremer wasn’t their aunt, it was just a term of affection – and stay with home-made cooking and fresh Kölsch. Football screening is a more recent feature.
The city divides up into quarters around the inner centre. To the north, on the old Roman military road of Eigelstein, the lovely old Weinhaus Vogel is a temple to Kölsch and, as its name suggests, wine. Towards at the end of the street, Lapidarium feels a little more alternative, with a range of beer, occasional live music and big-match screenings.
Nightlife is concentrated along the ring road that envelops the city centre, with names given to each section, and little bar hubs by each. The Belgian Quarter to the west, Belgisches Viertel, is the trendiest.
There, cult bar Grünfeld on Brüsseler Straße offers TV sport and serious table-football action. In similar vein, Gottes Grüne Wiese (‘the Hallowed Turf’) on Bismarckstraße celebrated 20 years of communal devotion to beer, music and football. Here, green is the colour.
Moving south, the student-oriented Quartier Lateng, the Latin Quarter, is set around bar-lined Zülpicher Straße. This mingles with the less studenty Südstadt, near Ubierring. Anchoring a prominent corner, the wonderful Ubier Schänke is bohemian but still goes overboard on match nights. The football connection in this music-focused drinkery is thanks to Andreas Kaiser, an original founder from 1997, who ran out for Fortuna Düsseldorf back in the day.
Where to stay
The best hotels for the stadium and city centre
Tourist Information Cologne by the Cathedral links to a hotel-booking site.
There are no hotels in the immediate vicinity of the stadium but at the ring road, the smart, business-friendly AMERON Hotel Regent, near Aachener Straße/Gürtel five tram stops from the ground, five from town, offers a gym, spa, bar and trattoria.
Also on the No.1 tram route but at the edge of the city centre, the Motel One Neumarkt belongs to one of Germany’s brightest affordable chains, featuring its signature turquoise decor and (hooray!) noon check-outs.
Hotels surround Cologne’s main station, ranging from the economy chain Ibis embedded into the building itself to the five-star, 160-year-old and thoroughly modernised Excelsior Ernst round the corner on Trankgasse.
Also close, just the other side of the Cathedral, the Mondial am Dom MGallery represents the Accor group’s boutique range, hence the trendy wine bar Legs Eleven and global restaurant Mondial 1516. Attached to the Kölsch brewery bar Früh am Dom, the Eden offers discounts for direct booking. Some of its 86 rooms have views of the spires, while the restaurant serves the house speciality in a traditional thin glass.
At nearby Am Hof, the Europa am Dom belongs to the CityClass group which has spruced up tired mid-range lodgings in the centre of town to offer bright, all-you-need accommodation for urban stays. Another is the Residence am Dom, aka CityClass Alter Markt, a four-star right on the main square.
In between, on narrow Unter Taschenmacher, Hotel am Museum offers a standard if friendly stay at a convenient location. Overlooking the Rhine as its name suggests, the Rhein-Hotel St. Martin provides boutique originality and discounted parking at a digital-friendly lodging thoroughly renovated in the spring of 2024.
Budget options include the Station, a modern hostel which now welcomes travellers with sport shown on several screens, a beer garden and occasional DJs. Bunk beds are a thing of the past, and some singles are even en-suite. Just round the corner from Köln Hauptbahnhof, it’s an easy schlepp no matter how bulky the rucksack.
