Urbanana Köln-LeBloc Sonic Ballroom, © Georg-Hopp alias Fänger der Zeit

The Pop-Trail Co­logne


The pop-spots at a glance

Have you lost your music thread during all that cheer and you stray through the streets dancing? That’s great. What’s also great is to follow the pop-route in Cologne. The route leads you to 17 carefully chosen spots from Chlodwigplatz to Stadtgarten, which you can head for one by one during an extended walk around the city. Our tip: Allow for about two to two and a half hours for a relaxed pop music stroll.

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The Luxor in Cologne., © Copyright für "Luxor"

Luxor


Le­gend has it that Joe Cock­er got re­jec­ted at the door, Whit­ney Hou­s­ton turned up in­cog­nito and the Pogues re­quired 20 crates of beer back­stage.

The so called Bermuda triangle at Schaafenstraße, © Andreas Möltgen

Schaafen­straße


This is where the party mood of the LGB­TQ- com­munity col­lides with the "Köl­ner" pleas­ure in singing, dan­cing and sway­ing.

Busy Hohenzollernring, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

The Rings


In the midst of roar­ing en­gines, stu­dent clubs, part-time celebrit­ies and memor­ies of the city's first techno club.

The streetview of Parallel Records, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

Par­al­lel Re­cords


This is how it's sup­posed to be: Who­ever enters Par­al­lel with dis­tinct ideas, leaves with a tote bag full of find­ings.

The entrance to Six Pack, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

Six Pack


Co­logne's biggest fridge: Long nights with hand­some bar­tenders, elec­tron­ic mu­sic and a light green wood­ruff schnaps called Flimm.

Front of Hallmackenreuther, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

Hall­mack­en­reuth­er


While cur­rently closed, the Hall­mack­en­reuth­er used to provide for the per­fect in­tro in­to a long night.

The house wall of Kompakt, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

Kom­pakt


Kom­pakt - as a la­bel, book­ing agency and re­cord store - is the epi­tome of the "Sound of Co­logne".

The streetview of the (former) Basement, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

EX-Base­ment


This base­ment-club is where the cru­cial en­counter between Wolfgang Nie­deck­en and Klaus "Ma­jor" Heuser took place. The out­come: BAP.

The Stadtgarten ("City garden"), © Tourismus NRW e.V.

Stadtgarten/Stu­dio 672


With more than 400 events is the Stadtgarten one of the most vi­brant cul­tur­al spaces in Co­logne and the nuc­le­us of the c/o Pop.

The view of CBE from the street, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

Club Bahnhof Ehren­feld


Con­certs, parties, flea mar­kets, po­etry slams, ex­hib­i­tions or re­cord ex­changes. It's al­ways worth check­ing the pro­gram.

The Helios light house in Cologne, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

He­lios Leucht­turm


Ehren­feld is all about the 44 meter high tower, even though there is noth­ing go­ing on in this in­dus­tri­al monu­ment.

The Underground before it was torn down, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

EX-Un­der­ground


There was a time when low rent and aban­doned in­dus­tri­al build­ings drew the at­ten­tion to wild minds who flour­ished this cul­tur­al bi­otope.

Entrance gate of Heinz Gaul, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

Heinz Gaul


The old ma­sonry with char­ac­ter in "Elec­tro-cul­ture-stile" unites elec­tro and hip-hop sounds in the hot neigh­bor­hood of Ehren­feld since 2012.

Insight into the courtyard of Live Music Hall, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

Live Mu­sic Hall


The Live Mu­sic Hall man­ages the bal­an­cing act between pop and met­al- party.

The streetview towards the Sonic Ballroom, © Tourismus NRW e.V.

Son­ic Ball­room


The rough Son­ic Ball­room duly gives room to cul­tiv­ated noise.