EXPLORING COLOGNE
by Rich Rubin
If cities fall into two categories,
“love at first sight” and “grow on you
slowly,” Cologne is of the second type. While the
cathedral—a Gothic wonder spanning six centuries
of building—is immediately impressive, the city
itself takes a little time to work its magic. You know
it’s going to happen, though, even as you walk
along with some doubts creeping into your mind. As I
stroll through the modern streets of this German gay
mecca, I think: “I’m going to love this city.
I don’t yet, but I’m going to.”
That’s because much of what’s
wonderful about Cologne (Köln in German) is a matter
of experiencing, not SEEING. There really aren’t
many “sights” in the city. Well, there are
some amazing museums, quite a few in fact, but except
for the cathedral there are no “must see”
tourist attractions. Actually, the best parts of the
city lie away from the established tourist zones, and
the more time you spend simply strolling, discovering
a little café here, a fun bar there, a fabulous
restaurant, or a unique little shop, the more you become
enamored of this appealing town.
For gay visitors, there couldn’t
be a more welcoming city on earth—how many other
places offer a “pink card,” designed especially
for GLBT travelers that provides free public transit
and gives discounts everywhere from gay bars to boat
tours to fetish shops? Annual gay festivals range from
July’s Christopher Street Day to November’s
Bear Pride. The city’s famous Carnival with a noticeable
gay contingent is usually held in February and is one
of the most prominent in Europe. While a metropolis
like Berlin might have greater numbers of bars, Cologne
is the unofficial “Gay Capital” of Germany.
This will be particularly true next
year, when the city hosts the Gay Games, which
run from July 31 to August 7, 2010, enabling an immensely
gay-welcoming city (and one devoted to gay sports, with
the largest GLBT sports club in Europe) to celebrate
its gay-friendliness. Notes Ingo Schneider, volunteer
media coordinator for the Games, “I want to engage
myself in showing the world how easy it can be to be
out, and here in Cologne it’s totally easy.”
For the Gay Games (Germany’s first and Europe’s
second, after Amsterdam) they’re expecting 12,000
sporting/cultural participants which will make it, Schneider
proudly points out, larger than the Beijing Olympics,
and an additional million spectators. With 34 sports
in 28 venues, there will be no lack of events to watch
(most of them free), and none more than fifteen minutes
from the city center.
It will be hard not to know the Gay
Games are happening, with a “Gay Games Village”
in the heart of town and bridges over the Rhine hung
with Gay Games flags. Cultural aspects will include
everything from international marching bands and choral
groups to a dance competition and the Games’ first
cheerleading contest (get those pom poms ready). The
International Rainbow Memorial Run will pay tribute
to those lost to AIDS, and a GLBT history exhibit will
add an educational element. Even the Cologne Zoo is
getting in the spirit with a display on gay tendencies
in the animal kingdom!
There will also be huge opening and
closing events (the former in Cologne’s soccer
stadium, the latter in the city center), and a variety
of parties in between. The city’s tourist board
and official hotel reservation service are fully backing
the Games, offering a Gay Games discount, and just about
every hotel in Cologne is participating.
Speaking of hotels, let’s check
in. The city’s luxury leader is the Excelsior
Hotel Ernst, a member of The Leading Hotels of the
World. I could rave forever about the gorgeous, individually-designed
rooms, the fabulous dining, the amazingly attentive
staff, and the perfect location right in the shadow
of the cathedral (it’s also a two-minute walk from
the train station).
Another luxurious choice is the Hotel
Im Wasserturm, a Small Luxury Hotel of the World
member that’s actually inside a former water tower.
Large, high-design rooms and a solicitious staff make
this spot another winner. For non-Rockefellers, the
Maritim has a lovely Rhineside location and is
well known for its GLBT-friendliness (the dance competition
of the Gay Games will be in their ballroom), while Schlosshotel
Lerbach, about twenty minutes outside town in the
suburb of Bergisch Gladbach, offers true luxury in a
former private castle.
From my hotel, I set out with excellent
guide Stefan Rath. Our first stop is, of course, the
cathedral. It’s one of the few remaining
buildings to survive World War II bombings, which destroyed
90% of the city center. Parts date to the 13th century,
the rest was built between 1842 and 1880. The highlight
is the coffin of the Magi, acquired (okay, stolen) from
Italy and displayed here with great pomp. The golden
coffin in which the remains are housed is one of the
best-preserved in Europe, and the cathedral itself is
impressive in a massive, Gothic way, with stone arches,
cross-shaped design, and imposing structure.
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From here we head to the “Old Town,”
where a vast open plaza along the Rhine holds sidewalk
cafés for locals and tourists alike to gather
for meals or drinks. At one end of the riverside promenade,
a pink triangle-shaped monument stands, memorializing
gay Holocaust victims. “Beaten to Death, Silenced
to Death,” it reads in stark tribute.
It’s amazing to see this in the most touristy part of town,
where boats line up along the river to take visitors
on tours and souvenir shops proliferate. On a few of
the winding streets, you’ll find a collection of
gay bars (though they’re largely of the dark room/leather/fetish
variety). The more modern and comfortable pubs lie about
ten minutes’ walk away, in the streets surrounding
the Rudolfplatz. We walk past the ornate town
hall, whose elaborate portico at the center dates to
the 1500s, with the flanking buildings being reconstructions.
This is the civil registry for weddings, and it has
seen more than a few same-sex weddings.
You could easily spend a day museum-hopping,
seeing displays devoted to everything from the ancient
Romans to modern art to chocolate and, of course, perfume.
Why perfume? Ummm…look at the city’s name.
Yes, the substance known as eau de cologne, “water
of Cologne,” originated here. The Farina House
Perfume Museum occupies the locale where it’s
said the first eau de cologne was made, and there’s
an interesting display of perfume esoterica from elaborate
bottles to historic perfume labels.
You’ll also want to check out the
Wallraf-Richartz for its great collection of
art from medieval to early 20th-century greats Rodin,
Van Gogh, Monet, and Gauguin; Museum Ludwig for
a more contemporary display (great Picasso and pop art
collections); and the Applied Arts Museum for
fabulous furniture, tapestries, china, glass, and other
“practical” arts and design. Meanwhile, the
Römisch-Germanisches Museum is devoted to
Roman life in the region, and includes the spectacular
Dionysian mosaics and the largest collection of Roman
glass in the world. The Diocesan Museum is interesting
not only for its holdings but for the building itself,
a modern construction around a preserved church ruin-museum
and archaeological site in one. Chocaholics won’t
want to miss the Chocolate Museum, right on the
Rhine banks. The museum celebrates this “food of
the gods” with displays on cultivation and history
and even a working chocolate factory. If you can pass
up the chocolates in the gift shop or the cakes beckoning
from the café counter, you have more will power
than I do!
Continued
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