Kölnisches Stadtmuseum
Cologne's city-history museum with around 350,000 objects spanning 1,200 years – at a temporary home in the former Franz Sauer department store since 2024.
The Cologne City Museum tells the history of the city of Cologne. Its collection comprises around 350,000 objects from the Middle Ages to the present – from the city seal of 1268 to paintings, coins and textiles, and right up to mementos of recent Cologne events.
At a glance
- Founded: 1888 as the Historical Museum
- Collection: around 350,000 objects spanning 1,200 years
- Current location: since March 2024 in the former Franz Sauer department store, between the Minorite Church and Breite Straße
- Notable: about half of all visitors are Cologne residents
1,200 years of city history
The current concept shows a deliberately chosen cross-section of the collection, placing it across eras within the context of emotions. The aim is to make the city's past and present tangible in a new way – explicitly "identity-forming for the urban community".
Visitor note
The location is provisional: the long-standing home in the historic Zeughaus had to be vacated in 2017 after water damage. It is best to check opening hours in advance.
Source: Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-06-23
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