Excelsior Hotel Ernst

The Cologne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. The construction of Cologne Cathedral began in 1248 and took, with interruptions, until 1880 to complete. With the two towers which are approximately 157 m tall, the Cologne Cathedral is one of the world's largest churches. In 1996, the cathedral was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List of culturally important sites. Visitors can climb 509 steps of the spiral staircase to a viewing platform about 98 metres above the ground. As a World Heritage Site, and with its convenient position it has more than 6 million visitors each year.

The Wallraf shows how modern and relevant European art from the 13th to the beginning of the 20th century was and still is. In the medieval collection visitors can admire the world-famous "Muttergottes in der Rosenlaube" (Madonna in the Rose Bower) by Stefan Lochner. On the second floor the great Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens and the most important Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn are an impressive attraction. The third floor is devoted to Germany's most comprehensive collection of Impressionists.

The Cologne Cathedral in Germany possesses a significant collection of religious treasures, the origins of which reach back into the 10th century. This collection of sacred objects has been built up both by the Cathedral's active acquisition of reliquaries, the day to day purchase of ceremonial vessels, robes, and books for worship over the centuries, and by the gifts of insignia from archbishops and Cathedral ministers, and is therefore closely connected to the Cathedral's history.

People joke that Cologne is Italy’s northernmost city. But as with all jokes, there’s a kernel of truth in it. Cologne is all about openness and joie de vivre. When the day ends and the night begins, it’s not just the cathedral that lights up – it’s the whole town. As the bars, restaurants and concert halls come alive, everyone is out having fun, with good food and drink centre-stage. No matter whether you’re out with friends or with total strangers – in Cologne it’s all the same to us.

At the end of the 60s the Ludwigs created the largest Pop Art collection outside the USA and gifted a major part to the City of Cologne. In 1976 this formed the basis for the foundation of the Museum Ludwig. Apart from Pop Art the Ludwigs gave an extensive collection of Russian Avantgarde from the period 1906 to 1930 and several hundred works by Pablo Picasso as a permanent loan to the new museum, which meanwhile with 180 originals and 730 works of graphic art has the third largest Picasso collection worldwide.

Visit the Chocolate Museum at the Rheinau-Harbour in the heart of Cologne and enjoy an expedition through 3,000 years of chocolate history. Millions of visitors from all over the world have tasted the fresh chocolate from our famous chocolate fountain. History, industrial culture and art - at the Chocolate Museum in Cologne, you can experience all of these aspects of one of the world's favourite foods.

Built above the Roman town villa with the world-famous Dionysus mosaic the Romano-Germanic Museum houses examples of art, culture and everyday life in Roman and early medieval Cologne. A highlight is the worldwide largest collection of Roman glass with the tri-coloured cage cup and the miniature portrait miniature of Emperor Augustus in turquoise glass. The art of barbarian peoples in the early Middle Ages is shown in various types of precious jewellery for women and men - a form of capital in the Migration Period. These objects at the Romano-Germanic Museum form part of one of the richest early European collections.