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Cologne, or Köln in German, is one of Germany's oldest cities.
It was founded by the Romans some 2,000 years ago on the banks of the river Rhine.
Cologne is best known for its eau de cologne, but also for the Dom of Cologne,
a mighty cathedral which was built between 1248 and 1880.
The Dom can be found in the middle of the city and 509 steps in the south tower lead up to
a majestic 360 degrees view over de city and its surroundings.
In WWII 70% of the city and more than 90% of the old historic centre was destroyed during bombings.
The city was re-built and today Cologne is a vibrant city with just over 1,000,000 inhabitants,
and one of the most important traffic centers of Europe.
It is home to a great many television broadcasting stations, and to ten 100m/328f plus skyscrapers.
It may not be the world's best high-rise city, but it is interesting enough to be part of the Skyscraper Picture Collection.



Above left: view of Cologne from afar; from Frechen,
a suburb west of Cologne, some 8 kilometers from the city centre.
Above right: view of the western part of Cologne, with the city centre.
In the picture Cologne's three tallest structures can be seen:
The Dom (157m/516f), Colonius (266m/872f) and KölnTurm (148m/486f).
The picture was taken from the roof observatory of KölnTriangle.






Above: sixteen pictures of Cologne's tallest: KölnTurm (148m/486f, 43 stories, 2001).
For one year this was the tallest building of Germany outside of Frankfurt.
This title was taken over by Bonn's Post Tower (163m/535f) in 2002.
KölnTurm's facade is decorated with etchings of famous historic buildings from Cologne,
like the Dom. The skyscraper is part of the MediaPark, a site which is home to several TV-stations
and one of Germany's biggest and most famous cinema's (Cinedom).
On the second picture KölnTurm is seen from the Dom.
With antenna on top the building is 165m/543f tall.




Above: Colonia Haus (147m/482f, 42 stories, 1972), Cologne's 2nd tallest
and the tallest all-residential skyscraper of Germany.
It was Germany's tallest skyscraper from 1972-1976,
when Frankfurt's Plaza Büro Center took over.
The building is also known as AXA-Hochhaus.
It has 373 units/apartments.




Above: Deutsche Welle (138m/453f, 34 stories, 1978).
The largest of the two towers is called Büroturm and the smaller one Studioturm.
The smaller tower is 86m/282f, has 24 stories and was completed in 1976.




Above: UNI-Center (131m/430f, 45 stories, 1973).
It is one of Germany's tallest residential buildings and is in fact three buildings in one.
The building is divided into buildingwings U (41 stories), N (34), and I (29),
which are connected with each other by tower C (45 stories).
The high-rise is home to 954 apartments;
378 of these are student-apartments.
The building costs were about 90.000.000 D-marks (about us$ 45.000.000)


Above: TÜV Rheinland (112m/367f, 22 stories).
One of four buildings on these pages that can be found on the right bank (east) of the river Rhine;
the others being KölnTriangle, Lufthansa-Haus, and Wohnheim der FH1.
All the other skyscrapers can be found on the left bank (west part) of Cologne.


Above: RINGTURM (109m/358f, 26 stories, 1973).


Above: Justizzentrum Luxemburgerstrasse seen from three different angles.
The building is 105m/344f tall, has 25 stories, and was completed in 1981.






Above: KölnTriangle (103m/338f, 30 stories, 2005),
the most recent high-rise addition to the skyline of Cologne.
The building is triangle shaped and has an observation deck on the roof;
costs to go up are 3 euro. From the deck you will get a good view over the Western part of the city,
including the city center and the Dom (see picture #2, at the beginning of this page).


Above: Herkules-Hochhaus seen from a different few angles (102m/335f, 31 stories, 1969).
The second picture was taken from the Dom. It's a residential building.




Above: Deutschland Radio (Funkhaus Köln) (102m/335f, 19 stories, 1975).


Above: Lufthansa-Hochhaus (95m/312f, 19 stories, 1969).
The building is the headquarters of the German airline Lufthansa.


Above left: Mevissenstrasse 16
(no exact height known, but at least 80m/262f, 27 stories, 19??)
Above middle left: Wohnheim der FH1 (no height available, but again about 80m/262f).
The building is residential and has 21 stories.
Above middle right: Hansa-Hochhaus, the oldest skyscraper of Cologne.
The 65m/213f tall building with 18 stories was built in 1925.
After completion, it was for a short period of time, Europe's tallest skyscraper.
These days, it's an office building and houses Saturn,
a large department store in audio media.
Above right: DTG Sternengasse (55m/180f, 18 stories, 19??);
including spire the tower is 68m/223f tall.




Above: six pictures of Cologne's tallest structure: Colonius,
a 266m/872f tall telecommunications tower. When completed in 1981, it was 253m/830f tall.
At the beginning of the Nineties, the tower received a new, taller, spire.
It's Germany's 7th tallest telecommunication tower.
The tower was accessible to the public and used to have a revolving restaurant (166m/545f),
but this was closed in 1999.


Above left: Cologne's most famous structure: The Dom
(official name: Hohe Domkirche St. Peter und Maria).
The gothic styled cathedral is 157m/516f tall and was completed in 1880.
From 1880-1886, it was the tallest structure in the world.
The Dom attracts tourist from all over the globe; about 6 to 7 million each year!
For more pictures of the Dom, go to the special Famous Icons page,
dedicated to the Dom; click here or the picture itself to go there!
Above: the Gross St. Martin church (84m/276f) from 1250, with Colonius in the background.
The (Roman styled) church was badly damaged in WWII; re-construction took until 1985.


Above left: view from the Deutzer Brücke bridge,
with Gross St. Martin's church and The Dom, and the river Rhine in the foreground.
Above right: view of downtown Cologne, with the cities tallest buildings and structures at night.




Cologne's 10 tallest skyscrapers:
1. KÖLNTURM 148m/486f, 43 stories, 2001
2. COLONIA HAUS 147m/482f, 42 stories, 1972
3. BÜROTURM DEUTSCHE WELLE 138m/453f, 34 stories, 1978
4. UNI-CENTER 131m/430f, 45 stories, 1973
5. TÜV RHEINLAND 112m/367f, 22 stories, 1974
6. RINGTURM 109m/358f, 26 stories, 1973
7. JUSTIZZENTRUM LUXEMBURGER STRASSE 105m/344f, 25 stories, 1981
8. KÖLNTRIANGLE 103m/338f, 30 stories, 2005
9. HERKULES-HOCHHAUS 102m/335f, 31 stories, 1969
10. DEUTSCHLAND RADIO 102m/335f, 19 stories, 1975

The building data, the top 10 of tallest buildings and some of the building information are courtesy of
EMPORIS.COM, one of the world's leading architectural resources on tall buildings.

All pictures copyright (c) 2004 - 2006 Patrick Beckers. All Rights Reserved.
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