Cologne Night Watchman Old Town Walking Tour in German

Alter Markt and the Historic Town Hall

The walk begins on Alter Markt, the old market square at the centre of Cologne's medieval city, where the Historic Town Hall stands at one end. Its Gothic tower was built between 1407 and 1414 and is decorated with more than a hundred stone figures of people who shaped the city, while the Renaissance loggia in front of the entrance was added between 1569 and 1573 and is the finest of its kind in Germany. Below the clock on the tower, a carved face sticks its tongue out on the hour, a joke that has amused Cologne for centuries.

Your night watchman meets you in front of the Town Hall entrance and explains what his job once was: to walk the streets after curfew, call the hours, watch for fire and keep an eye on strangers. The Town Hall was the seat of the council that ran the city, and the first stories of citizens against rulers are told right here, about fifteen minutes into the evening.

Heumarkt

A short walk from Alter Markt opens into Heumarkt, the hay market, the largest square of the Old Town and once the commercial heart of medieval Cologne. Hay, grain, horses and timber were traded here on a square that stretched almost to the Rhine, and the merchants' houses around it made the city one of the richest in the Holy Roman Empire. The square was destroyed in the war and rebuilt in the 1950s, so the guide uses old plans and stories to bring the lost medieval market back to life.

In the evening Heumarkt is lit by the lamps of its restaurants and the glow from the hotel facades, and the night watchman tells of the thieves, pedlars and carnival processions that once filled it. Many visitors ask whether Cologne Old Town is worth visiting at night; this square, quiet after the day crowds have gone, is the best answer.

Great St. Martin and the Martinsviertel

Between Heumarkt and the river lies the Martinsviertel, the tangle of lanes around the church of Great St. Martin, whose massive tower with four corner turrets has defined the Cologne skyline since the twelfth century. The church was built between 1150 and 1250 on what was once a Roman island in the river, and the quarter around it, with the Fischmarkt and its narrow painted houses, was the district of fishermen, boatmen and traders. Its lanes are the ideal stage for a lantern walk, with the tower lit above the roofs.

Here the night watchman tells the legend of the house gnomes of Cologne, the little helpers who did the work of the craftsmen at night until a tailor's wife spied on them, and explains why stray dogs in medieval Cologne were so well fed. The Martinsviertel takes about thirty minutes of the tour and is where the stories are at their most entertaining.

The Rhine embankment by night

The lanes open onto the Rhine embankment, where the lights of the Hohenzollern Bridge, the Deutz bank and the boats moored for the night reflect in the water. The river was the reason for Cologne's wealth: in the Middle Ages every ship passing the city had to unload and offer its cargo for sale for three days, a staple right that filled the warehouses of the Martinsviertel and the pockets of the council. The night watchman explains how the river gates were locked at dusk and how smugglers and river pirates tried to get round the rules.

The embankment is also where the walk reveals the cathedral spires, floodlit above the Old Town roofs, one of the great sights of a Cologne evening tour. Allow a few minutes for photographs here; the guide then turns back into the lanes to finish the story of the citizens' revolts and the end of the night watchman's shift.

Cologne Old Town after dark: practical tips

The Old Town of Cologne is compact and well lit, and the night watchman walk covers less than two kilometres on flat paved streets, which is why it is barrier-free and manageable for anyone who can stand and walk for ninety minutes with stops. Alter Markt is a ten-minute walk from Cologne main station and the cathedral, and the Rathaus underground stop of lines 5 and 16 is right next to the meeting point, so getting to the Cologne night watchman tour is easy and so is getting back to your hotel afterwards.

The best time of year for the walk is autumn and winter, when the 21:00 start means full darkness and the lanes are quiet, although the summer evenings are warmer and the embankment is lively. The tour takes place in rain and snow, so dress for the season; the stories are told outdoors throughout.