The rooftop pitch
Cologne's highest field — football over the Rhine, cathedral behind.
Raimond Spekking — CC BY-SA 4.0 · CEphoto, Uwe Aranas — CC BY-SA 3.0 · CEphoto, Uwe Aranas — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dietmar Rabich — CC BY-SA 4.0
In an old customs warehouse on the Rhine lives Germany's national sports museum: a journey from ancient Greek games to twenty-first-century World Cups, through original objects that carry moments every sports lover knows. Here are artefacts from the whole modern Olympic story, shirts and balls from Germany's World Cups, gloves and a ring from boxing's golden age, racing bikes and cars, and honest sections on doping and on the Nazi Olympics of 1936. Much of it is interactive: you try the rowing machine, balance the surfboard, measure your jump. The finale is on the roof: a small open pitch nicknamed "Cologne's highest football field", looking over the Rhine to the cathedral — a photo there is obligatory. It stands beside the Chocolate Museum on the same quay; the pair make the city's best family half-day.
Cologne's highest field — football over the Rhine, cathedral behind.
Torches, medals and stories from every modern Games — 1936 told honestly.
Rowing, balancing, measured jumps — a museum that moves with you.
Im Zollhafen 1, 50678 Cologne
Cologne Chocolate MuseumThe Cologne Chocolate Museum is a glass building on a small peninsula reaching i1 minute walk4.5
The Malakoff TowerThe Malakoff Tower is a massive round stone tower standing at the entrance to Co2 minutes walk4.3
RheinauhafenA narrow strip of ground running some two kilometres along the Rhine south of th4 minutes walk4.6
The OverstolzenhausThe Overstolzenhaus is the oldest surviving stone dwelling in Cologne, built aro6 minutes walk4.3
St. Maria im KapitolSt. Maria im Kapitol is among the largest and oldest Romanesque churches in Colo7 minutes walk4.5No — the big stations are universal: Olympics, World Cups, boxing, motorsport. Any sports follower meets their own memories; the purely German sections skip without loss.
Among Cologne's most successful with children: the try-it stations absorb their energy and the rooftop pitch crowns the visit. With the Chocolate Museum next door you get an irresistible family half-day — budget stamina accordingly.
The chocolate quay (Zollhafen) is a fine riverside walk from the old town — fifteen minutes along the Rhine. Or tram to Severinstrasse and minutes on foot.