It is hard to imagine that there used to be a botanical garden on the site of today’s Cologne Central Station.
In 1857, construction work began on what was then the only green space in the city, and just 2 years later the “central station” was finished. There were initially 4 terminal and 2 through tracks.
In 1894, a two-story waiting room building was built, with the tracks being raised by 6 m beforehand.
However, it was not long before the waiting room building was removed again in 1915 in order to use all the tracks as through tracks.
And that was the birth of the “old waiting room” built in the Art Nouveau style, which was built in a southern front building for 1st class passengers.
Due to its favorable location under the tracks, it was largely spared from war damage.
The main station fared differently, and was not completely renovated until 1957 with a new reception building. From 1975, two S-Bahn tracks were added, and since the end of the 1990s, you can also shop and dine here.
But back to the “Old Waiting Room”:
After 1957, it was mainly used as a restaurant.
Alfred Biolek was a co-tenant of the premises from 1983 to 2010.
Nationally well-known events and shows take place here, e.g. the WDR Midnight Peaks for more than 30 years.
The “Lambertz Monday Night” has also been legendary since 2004, and is organized annually by Hermann Bühlbecker, the Printen King from Aachen, with numerous celebrities.
For everyone else, the Old Waiting Room can be visited as an event location, disco or restaurant.
The interior, which is mainly preserved in Art Nouveau style, can transport you back to the old days very quickly.
*And that was unfortunately it, our exciting little tour of Cologne. We hope that you had a lot of fun with us and would be delighted if you would recommend this audio guide to others.
We would be delighted to receive a small donation for the following projects in and around Cologne:
- Food for the needy
- Support the homeless and those in need!
- Soccer for all kids !
- Support families of seriously ill children!
- Become a superhero for hearts!
- Give the seriously ill beautiful moments!
- Support the Cologne-Dellbrück Animal Shelter!
Thank you very much!
Now we wish you all the best and lots of fun with your activities in Cologne and would be delighted to welcome you back on one of our tours soon.*
Image source 2nd image: Central station, around 1893, by unknown - Uta Grefe: Cologne in early photographs 1847-1914, Schirmer/Mosel Verlag, Munich, 1988, ISBN 3-88814-294-6Scan by - Raymond Disk. Verified - Raimond Spekking, PD-alt-100, https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3491325
Image source 3rd image: Main station around 1900, by author unknown - This image is available under the digital ID ppmsca.00813 in the Department of Prints and Photographs of the US Library of Congress.This marking does not indicate the copyright status of the associated work. In any case, a normal license template is also required. See Commons:Licenses for more information., Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=442768
