Chorweiler district, Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Chorweiler is the northernmost district of Cologne. The city district includes the districts of Blumenberg, Chorweiler, Esch / Auweiler, Fühlingen, Heimersdorf, Lindweiler, Merkenich (with Rheinkassel, Langel and Kasselberg), Pesch, Roggendorf / Thenhoven, Seeberg, Volkhoven / Weiler and Worringen.

Due to its peripheral location – the actual district of Chorweiler is about 14 kilometers north of Cologne city center – the city district is surrounded to the north and west by forest and arable land and the Rhine meadows that border the district to the east. The borough of Chorweiler is the only suburb of Cologne that is not adjacent to the city center.

The district includes the north of Cologne on the left bank of the Rhine. It is named after the satellite town of Chorweiler, which was built in the 1970s and 1980s as one of the largest prefabricated housing estates in Germany. In addition to the core district of Chorweiler, the districts of Seeberg and Heimersdorf south of Chorweiler and Blumenberg north of Chorweiler belong to this new development area, which was called “New City” in the original development plan. In the next few years, the Kreuzfeld district is to be built northwest of Blumenberg to complete the entire project.

History
Excavations in the area in 1927 showed that Germanic reburies of a burial mound from the middle of the first century AD took place here, so that human settlements can be inferred here. The landscape at that time consisted mainly of forest and marshland in Chorbusch (“Goirbusch”), Worringer Bruch and in Gohrer – Straberger Sumpf-Bruch (“Gohrer Broich”, “Straberger Broich”). The word component “Broich” in numerous place names on the Lower Rhine (such as Grevenbroich) still points to quarry forest today down.

Since the Middle Ages, the Cologne cathedral chapter owned the choir bush (“Gohrbusch”) as an accessory to its Worringen villa. The Worringer Fronhof and the dependent fiefdoms in Worringen, Thenhoven, Roggendorf and Dormagen were justified in logging, pasture and fattening. As early as August 7, 1532, there was a contract between Count Wilhelm von Neuenahr and Moers and the Archbishop of Cologne, Hermann V. von Wied, on the use of the forest in the “Goirbusch”. The cathedral chapter reserved its rights to the choir bush in a document in 1602, which formed a contiguous forest area with the Hackenbroicher Busch. The great need for wood was met from the cathedral capitular forests Pescher Holz (today: Volkhoven / Weiler) and Chorbusch. That is why there was a wood regulation since June 1690, with which the cathedral chapter expressly reserved the complete freedom in wood consumption and was thus able to replace the forest rights of the feudal people in 1743/1747 while renouncing the feudal leases and to take the forest for its own use.

During the French period in 1794, the former Electoral Cologne bushes, the Mühlenbusch and the Chorbusch, came under French rule. The area around Worringen became part of the 3rd canton (belonging to the Arrondissement de Cologne), which from 1798 belonged to the canton of Dormagen. On the tranchot map of August 1807, several peat cuttings (French tourbieres) are recorded in the area, typical of the swamp area. In 1815, after the Congress of Vienna, these forest areas on the left bank of the Rhine fell to the Kingdom of Prussia and thus became the property of the City of Cologne.

In 1922, under Lord Mayor Konrad Adenauer, there was already a land reserve in the north, whose urban planner Fritz Schumacher was supposed to realize the idea of a “New City”. First, however, it came on April 1, 1922 incorporation of the mayoralty Worringen (with the villages Feldkassel, Fühlingen, Kasselberg, Langel, Merkenich, Rheinkassel, Roggendorf, Thenhoven and Weiler) to the city of Cologne. Most of the current borough of Chorweiler belonged to the mayor’s office of Worringen. Rudolf Schwarz took up the idea of the “New City” again in 1957 to meet the housing shortage of the post-war period and to create living space near the industrial areas in the north of the city. As the “New City of Cologne Chorweiler”, a new district was to emerge as an extension of the city of Cologne.

On April 21, 1964, the Cologne City Council decided to name the new large housing estate in the north of Cologne “Cologne-Chorweiler”. The name of the new city district is a compound from word components of the wetland Chorbusch and the village of Weiler. Building plans based on the urban development model “Urbanity through density” envisaged up to 100,000 inhabitants, first of all living space for 40,000 inhabitants was realized on an area of 80 hectares. The district, which was mostly constructed in prefabricated buildings with up to 24 storeys from 1966, advanced to become the largest prefabricated housing estate in North Rhine-Westphalia. Bedeutendster carrier was on large housing estates specialized housing company New home. Through state subsidies for housing, about 80% of all originally 6,000 apartments were social housing. A first architectural book on the development plans in Chorweiler appeared in 1967. The architects included Gottfried Böhm and Oswald Mathias Ungers. On December 16, 1971, the foundation stone was laid for the main center in Chorweiler.

In the further course of 1972 the first tenants moved in, although the settlement was not yet fully completed. In June 1972 tunnel construction began in the area of the main center of the New City. In 1973 Gottfried Böhm created a double row of multi-family houses of different heights (area of 1.8 hectares with 193 apartments for 435 residents). In November 1973, the Cologne Stadtbahn released the extension of the line from Longerich to the newly created Cologne-Chorweiler train station.

As a result of the regional reform in North Rhine-Westphalia in January 1975, Esch / Auweiler and Pesch were added, which were previously part of the then community of Sinnersdorf. The urban district is characterized by the sharp contrast between the remaining village parts, such as Weiler, Roggendorf / Thenhoven, Fühlingen or Esch, and the satellite settlements that emerged in the second half of the 20th century. The “City-Center Köln-Chorweiler” shopping center with a sales area of 27,500 m² was opened in 1976. The leisure pool “ Aqualand Chorweiler“Opened its doors in 1991 with an area of 18,000 m². The DITIB central mosque in Cologne-Chorweiler opened in November 2008. On December 31, 1990, the borough of Chorweiler had 74,481 inhabitants. In the following years, the number of residents in Cologne’s northernmost district rose to 83,215 (December 31, 2000). Since then, the population has been falling. On December 31, 2005, 82,865 people lived in the district and on December 31, 2011, 80,247 people lived in the district.

On since 1981 in the public interest back end neglect both of many homes and the cityscape choir hamlet town 1985 “program consolidation urban corrective and social” that took place in two stages (1987-1989 and 1989-2000) responded with a. Also, financial funding of urban development funding from the federal and state funded program ” Social City ” came between 1996 and 2004 are used. These programs were accompanied by intensive social work, social stabilization and qualification.

The headquarters of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has been located in the Cologne district of Chorweiler (Volkhoven / Weiler district) since 1988.

As early as 1967, there were initial considerations to build a new Kreuzfeld district west of Blumenberg, which began in 1993 with an ideas competition. However, the plans were suspended from 2005. Since 2019 there has been a new planning process that should lead to a development plan by 2023.

Tourism
Churches, mosques, synagogues, temples
Three churches in the city district are worth seeing: In Rheinkassel there is St. Amandus, a small Romanesque church. The church is mostly from the time around 1200. It is built quite generously for a village church, as it belonged to St. Gereon Abbey in Cologne and the canons were quite wealthy.

Another Romanesque village church worth seeing is in Esch. St. Martinus was built between the 11th and 13th centuries. As was customary in the past, the village cemetery is still located around the church.

The third church building worth seeing is one of the newest churches in Cologne: St. Katahrina von Siena in Blumenberg, built between 2001 and 2003. An architecture that is unusual for a church, but still sacred, makes the building worth seeing.

The other churches in the borough date from the 19th and 20th centuries and are only really of interest to established friends of sacred architecture. The mosques in the city district are also not architecturally outstanding.

Castles, chateaus and palaces
The only castle in the city district is Haus Arff, far away from any other building just before the city limits in the far north. The small baroque palace was built by the electoral court architect Leveilly between 1750 and 1755 as the country residence of a wealthy Cologne clergyman. After several changes of ownership, the castle is still privately owned and can therefore only be viewed from the outside. It is therefore more suitable as a stage destination on a short bike tour through the Chorbusch to Knechtsteden Monastery or to Zons.

Haus Fühlingen is a half-ruined former stud south of Fühlingen. It was built around 1880 and has been converted into classy condominiums for several years. So far, apart from the construction sign, nothing has changed in recent years and the building continues to deteriorate.

Subdivisions
Chorweiler consists of 12 Stadtteile (city parts):

Blumenberg district
The area of Blumenberg, one of the youngest districts of Cologne, was settled thousands of years ago. During excavations at the end of the 1980s, traces of a settlement were found that can be dated to around 3500 to 4000 BC. For the time around 1000 BC, eleven courtyard areas with stilt houses were found. It is believed that the Battle of Worringen took place in part of the district in 1288. The Cologne city lord Archbishop Siegfried von Westerburg and his allies were decisively defeated there by several princes of the region and angry citizens of Cologne.

Before 1922 the district area belonged to the mayor’s office in Worringen and was then incorporated into Cologne. The former mayor of Cologne, Konrad Adenauer, intended it as a silent reserve of land. As part of the “New City”, Blumenberg had been planned as a district with 5,000 inhabitants since 1963, but it was not until 1986 that plans were implemented with predominantly one and two-family houses in a green environment.

In stark contrast to the adjacent high-rise housing estate Chorweiler Nord, one of the first ecological settlements in Germany is located on the southern edge of Blumenberg. The houses that Robert Laun planned and built show that it is possible to build ecologically in a small space. In addition, the wooden houses with grass roofs, gardens without fences and car-free streets make it clear that living and quality of life and ecological building belong together.

In Blumenberg there is a remarkable church building, Saint Catherine of Siena, which was inaugurated in 2003. In addition to the church, the ensemble includes a kindergarten, parish office, parish hall, apartments and practices, as well as an underground car park. In the reason for the selection of the design, the jury stated, among other things: The church in the middle of the entire building complex fascinates with its unconventional, new design. It is determined by the alignment of the community transversely to the longitudinal axis of the “ship-shaped” room floor plan and its two entrances on the bow and stern sides. The introverted church space as a clip between two streets creates a surprising spatial experience.

Sights
Community elementary school Ernstbergstrasse, ecological settlement, Sankt Katharina von Siena with parish center and municipal kindergartens in Langenbergstrasse

A settlement of 16 row houses in the district forms one of the oldest eco-settlements in Germany. Here, ecological considerations were followed both in terms of the water supply and disposal (process water cycle, greywater use, rainwater use) and the construction method.

Chorweiler district
The name “Chorweiler” is derived on the one hand from the “Chorbusch”, a wetland in the immediate vicinity, and on the other hand from the old place name “Weiler”. Chorweiler is the center of the “New City” in the north of Cologne. Chorweiler was designed by the city planner Fritz Schumacher under Lord Mayor Konrad Adenauer, after extensive lands had been incorporated into Cologne in 1922. However, the plans were not implemented until after World War II.

High-rise residential buildings and central facilities were planned for the Chorweiler district. Its construction began in the first half of the 1960s. There are mostly single, double and multi-family houses around the high-rise buildings. From the end of the 1960s to the 1980s, up to 24-story apartment blocks were built in the center in a second construction phase, which characterize the skyline of the “New City”.

The high-rise buildings in Chorweiler followed the principle of “urbanity through density” and are considered a typical example of urban and housing policy in the 1970s. While they were being realized, in the course of the 1970s they set about creating schools, kindergartens, youth centers, playgrounds, sports facilities as well as care facilities for the elderly. In addition, large areas for leisure, recreation, sport and parking were created. The district is well connected to Cologne city center and the surrounding area thanks to the motorway connection, bus station and stops for the light rail and S-Bahn.

The Pariser Platz, which is surrounded by skyscrapers, is the center of the district in which the streets were named after cities in other European countries. Well-known architects were involved in the development, for example Hans Schilling in the design of the social and cultural center. Most of the shopping opportunities are in the “City Center” with over 28,000 square meters of retail space.

In addition to the Chorweiler district town hall, other offices of the Cologne city administration have their headquarters in the city district. The town house on the Athens ring houses, among other things, the treasury and tax office of the city of Cologne. In addition, the headquarters of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the training center of the customs administration are located in the Chorweiler district. Medium-sized companies were settled in a craftsman’s farm. The district of Chorweiler, an urban structure that was initially filled with many question marks, transformed into a lively Cologne suburb.

Sights
Aqualand, Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, City Center, Protestant and Catholic Community Center, Liverpooler and Pariser Platz, Olof-Palme-Park, training center of the customs administration, Chorweiler town hall

The Catholic parish church of St. Pope John XXIII is located on Pariser Platz, diagonally across from the district town hall. with outbuildings. Until the consecration by Cardinal Meisner in March 2009, the church was named St. John in the New City for 28 years. In 2010 the parishes of Chorweiler, Merkenich and Heimersdorf were merged under the new name. In the immediate vicinity is also the city church is evangelical church Cologne New Town, the community area / includes not only Chorweiler the districts Seeberg Heimersdorf, Blumenberg and Volkhoven hamlet. It has the status of a multifunctional building.

Esch/Auweiler district
The two villages of Esch and Auweiler are characterized by farmsteads that were owned by large Cologne monasteries and monasteries until the secularization in 1803. Some of the farms are still in use today. In Esch, the center with the parish church of St. Martin from the 11th century, the churchyard, the school and several manors such as the Damianshof is located a little higher. The Doktorshof, which probably belonged to Sankt Andreas, and other farmsteads around the central village square are located in Auweiler. In both places, residential areas with single and multi-family houses have developed around the town centers since the 1960s.

Esch was mentioned as villa ascha (ash) as early as 989 in a deed of donation from Archbishop Everger of Cologne for the Benedictine monastery Groß Sankt Martin. The document is one of the oldest in this large and rich monastery. Esch’s neighboring village is first mentioned in 1312 as Ourwiler, which indicates a homestead (vilare) in a water-rich area (ouwa, auga). Until well into the 19th century, agriculture dominated in Esch and Auweiler, so that people worked on the farms as tenants, farm workers or maidservants. Since the location of the courtyards has largely remained unchanged, the old village structures can still be seen today.

In 1975 Esch and Auweiler, which until then belonged to the community of Sinnersdorf, were incorporated into Cologne. Since then, many city-weary citizens have moved to this part of the city, which has still retained a lot of rural idyll. So you look for high-rise buildings here in vain and you will find almost no traffic lights. Esch / Auweiler is also characterized by a lively club life. As a representative reference should be made to the village community Greesberger Esch, “Gospelonians”, Escher Pänz music train, SV Auweiler-Esch 59 and the Escher girls dance group.

A popular destination in summer is the ” Sundown Beach Club ” on Lake Escher, which is part of the “Stöckheimer Höfe” leisure area. Three years after the incorporation, the city of Cologne had undertaken to plan and create a recreation area. The lido is embedded in the former quarry ponds of Esch / Auweiler, Pesch and Pulheim.

Sights
Damianshof, Doktorshof, Kirchgasse, Sankt Martin, ” Sundown Beach Club ” at Lake Escher and Stöckheimer Höfe

Roman Catholic parish
The Roman Catholic Church in Esch was given the name St. Martinus. The medieval Martinus Churchstill dominates the old town center. The building shows traces of numerous alterations and extensions; the oldest structure dates from the 11th century. Around 1200 the small hall church was raised and extended by a side aisle on the north side, which was supplemented in the 13th century with a south aisle and a Romanesque square tower. In the course of the following centuries there were various changes. During the last restoration in the 1990s, the condition after the Gothic changes was taken up, the vault was newly decorated with floral motifs. When the old village church became too small due to the expansion of the town center with a few new housing developments, the new parish church of St. Mary’s Name was built from 1967 to 1968 according to a designof the architect Hans Schilling. The Martinushaus has stood opposite the new Catholic Church since 1997.

Escher See
Esch lies in the area of a former arm of the Rhine. Therefore, high quality sand and gravel were found in the area. Several quarry ponds were created through the dismantling. When Esch was incorporated in 1975, the city of Cologne committed three years later to plan and build a recreation area. In 1986 the Stöckheimer Höfe leisure area was created, in which the former quarry ponds of Esch-Auweiler, Pesch and Pulheim are embedded. In 2003 the bathing business was stopped by the KölnBäder GmbH. Since 2007 the outdoor pool has been operated by a private entrepreneur under the name Sundown Beach. In addition to bathers, the lake is also used by anglers. A circular hiking trail leads around Lake Escher.

Fühlingen district
Fühlingen is best known for the largest leisure facility in the north of Cologne, the center of which is the Fühlinger See, which was created in the 1970s. What is not so well known is that the area was populated early on. Archaeological finds go back to the Neolithic. The skull of an Aurignac man was also found who lived as a hunter, fisherman and gatherer around 45,000 to 31,000 years ago.

The beginnings of the village of Fühlingen can be traced back to the Middle Ages. The place developed from several homesteads that were between the Rheinkassel and Weiler. The center of the village was along the Neusser Landstrasse. The inhabitants lived as independent farmers, tenants, day laborers or maidservants from agriculture. The area belonged to the mayor’s office of Worringen, with which Fühlingen was incorporated into Cologne in 1922.

In the second half of the 19th century, in 1884, the von Oppenheim banking family from Cologne bought a large part of the Fühlingerheide and built a stud farm with a racecourse there. The proceeds from the sale of the property were used to build the St. Mary’s Church, where Josef Cardinal Frings, later Archbishop and honorary citizen of Cologne, worked as the parish rector from 1915 to 1922.

The village character of Fühlingen has been preserved to this day. The most important courtyards, some of which are still preserved, are the Arenzhof, the Kriegerhof, the Schmittenhof and the Heinrichshof. They still form the dominants in the townscape around which the residential buildings are grouped. A striking two-storey half-timbered building in the middle of the town is the Gasthaus Fühlingen, located on Neusser Landstrasse, from 1752. Apparently Napoleon already came here when he inspected the Rhine regulation between Worringen and Dormagen on September 13, 1804.

The Fühlinger See goes back to a gravel pit area. The sands and gravel dredged there were needed in large quantities as building material for the “New City” of Chorweiler. In addition to the main lake, there are another seven artificial sub-lakes, some of which get their water through seepage from the Rhine. The center is a regatta course 130 meters wide and 2.3 kilometers long.

Sights
Arenzhof, Gasthaus Fühlingen, climbing garden, local recreation area “Fühlinger See” with regatta course, Neusser Landstrasse and Sankt Marien with rectory and old school

The place still has village-like structures, although a larger new building area has emerged on the western edge and numerous one and two-family houses have also been built within the village. Due to the settlement structure, the manageable size and the location in the middle of fields and on the Fühlinger See, the place is a popular residential area.

House Fühlingen: These are the remains of a listed stud from around 1880, built by Eduard Freiherr von Oppenheim. The manor house is 2.5 storeys high and has a loggia with an outside staircase. According to a newspaper report in the Kölner Stadtanzeiger dated January 30, 2008, the mansion is to be restored; 32 rental apartments are planned. However, construction work did not start by April 2020.
Farms: There are several old farms in Fühlingen, only a few of which are still in use. For example, a former farm on Neusser Landstrasse 31. It is a closed courtyard from around 1870. The Arenzhof on Arenzhofstrasse was built in 1812. The Heinrichshof, which is still in use, was built around 1890. The Kriegerhof, which was converted into apartments, was built in 1892 and has a coat of arms. Finally, there is the Schmittenhof from 1870, which also has a gate. There are also many small courtyards, most of which have been rebuilt several times.
Half-timbered house: In the middle of the village on Neusser Landstrasse there is a now closed inn from 1752. It is a two-story half-timbered house.
St. Marien: The church was built in 1887/88 and expanded in 1934. The architects were Carl Rüdell and Richard Odenthal, who later also designed the Agneskirche in Cologne’s Neustadt district. The former Fühlingen pastor Albert Paessens, a member of the archbishop’s art commission, provided for a coherent, predominantly neo-Gothic decor for “his” church in the 1960s to 1980s, which he brought together from numerous churches in Germany and abroad.

Heimersdorf district
Heimersdorf is a district with a lot of green. The large tree population, the many allotment and house gardens and several green areas are striking. The schools and the Johanniter-Stift Gut Heuserhof are located in the middle of the green zone around the residential areas.

The name “Heimersdorf” was first mentioned in a document at the end of the 12th century. A hundred years later, the “Heimersdorfer Hof” appears in the sources. For many centuries the Heimersdorfer Hof has been located between the towns of Volkhoven and Longerich. After secularization, it is sold and divided in 1810. The Heuserhof and the Thiebach farms were built in the immediate vicinity. The area belonged to the mayor’s office Longerich and was incorporated into Cologne in 1888. The development of a residential area begins in the 1920s with the construction of a small settlement.

1958 saw the starting shot for the planning of the “New City”, the first construction phase was Heimersdorf. Most of the residential buildings were completed between 1961 and 1965. When selling, attention was paid to favorable conditions and the number of children was taken into account, so that Heimersdorf was one of the most child-rich districts in the Federal Republic of Germany in the early days. When planning the public areas, emphasis was placed on separating through traffic and local traffic. Traffic areas and pedestrian zones were also clearly structured.

Sights
Evangelical community and youth center “Magnet”, community primary school, business center “Haselnusshof”, Johanniter-Stift Gut Heuserhof, Catholic Church of Christ’s Transfiguration with illuminated organ, Mercatorstrasse, Mormon church “Jesus Christ of the last days” and Ursula-Kuhr secondary school

The system in the style of the American Radburn system is characteristic of Heimersdorf, separating through and local traffic as well as traffic and pedestrian zones. Heimersdorf is a green district due to the green spaces, the many house gardens, allotment gardens and the large tree population. In the middle of the green zone are the schools, the Roman Catholic Church of Christ’s Transfiguration and the Johanniterstift Gut Heuserhof retirement and retirement home. The evangelical community center was given up in 2017, the children and youth center “Magnet” relocated to the shopping center.

Lindweiler district
Lindweiler is known for its lively club life. Examples are the SC Lindweiler, Bürgererverein Lindweiler e. V. and the allotment gardeners association Erbacher Weg.

The history of Lindweiler is closely linked to that of the Lindweiler Hof. It was first mentioned in 1276. Two buildings from him are still preserved today. The place belonged to the mayor’s office Longerich. With her, Lindweiler was incorporated into the city expansion of 1888. During the economic crisis around 1930, the area between Unnauer Weg, Pescher Weg, Kitschburger Weg and Stallagsweg was divided into two to four acres of land and leased to 70 families in Cologne by the municipal property office. The size of the plots was designed so that the families could support themselves.

The building material for the wooden houses came from the demolished military barracks at the nearby Butzweiler Hof airport. It was transported to Lindweiler on handcarts. Connections to the electricity and water supply were not provided for a long time. Up until the end of the Second World War, the families were able to pump drinking water from their own wells on the leased land. The roads were still unpaved. During the war, Lindweiler received electricity so that the carbide lamps were no longer necessary. After the end of the war, Lindweiler was also connected to the water supply.

In 1945 the city of Cologne built stone barracks that served as emergency shelters. In the course of the decades they have given way to neat residential buildings, which are grouped around the Marienberger Hof, the town center. Shops and the restaurant “Shiva” formerly “Haus Lindweiler” are located here. As a result of the generation change, young families are moving in again and the population that has been falling since the 1990s is no longer falling.

Sights
Lindweiler meeting place of the Protestant church “Lindweiler Treff”, the social center Lino-Club, the Shiva restaurant, 3 day-care centers, the GGS Soldinger Str., The Special School Soldiner Str., The Catholic Marienkirche and the Marienberger Hof

Merkenich district
Merkenich is located directly on the old Roman military road that leads from Cologne to Neuss. Presumably the Romanesque church tower of the parish church Sankt Brictius stands with its foundations on a watchtower that served to secure the road. Along the old Roman road from Merkenich to the north you get to Rheinkassel, where one of Cologne’s 24 Romanesque churches, Sankt Amandus, is located.

From the Middle Ages to the 19th century, Merkenich and its surroundings were shaped by large courtyards that were owned by Cologne monasteries and monasteries. In the course of secularization in 1803, they went into private ownership. In the small village center, which is already shown on maps from the 17th and 18th centuries, families of small farmers and craftsmen lived. In the 19th century the place belonged to the mayor’s office of Worringen, with which it was incorporated into Cologne in 1922.

The settlement of large companies had a positive effect for Merkenich. It started with the Bayer paint factories on the opposite right bank of the Rhine. On the left bank of the Rhine, the Ford works and the chemical companies Wacker and ExxonMobil were added. To the south is the thermal power station, which can be seen from afar with its 250 meter high chimney. Surrounded by these well-known industrial companies, the center of the district has retained its rural character to this day.

Sights
Evangelical St. Andrew’s Church, Cologne-Merkenich thermal power station, Kaplanshof and Ivenshof, Sankt Amandus and Sankt Brictius

Catholic Church of St. Brictius: The tower of the Catholic parish church dates from the second half of the 12th century. The upper floor and the articulated helmet above were only built in 1886. The tower has been free-standing since 1964, as the neo-Romanesque church directly adjacent to the tower was demolished and replaced by a new building erected between 1961 and 1963.
Kaplanshof: According to the inscription, the Kaplanshof was built in 1784. It is a square courtyard with a gate entrance. The farm buildings are partly still made of half-timbered houses.

Pesch district
A card from 1609 shows Pesch as “Besch”. The name of the place can probably be derived from pascuum, the Latin word for willow. In the 17th century, Pesch was surrounded by large pastures and consisted of four farms. The most important was the Krisch or Kriegshof, whose courtyard buildings are still preserved today. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Pesch was a village along today’s Escher and Johannesstrasse. Another development was on Longericher Strasse.

Even before it was incorporated into Cologne in 1975, the first multi-storey housing estates were built in the 1960s, and others followed in the 1970s. This is how Pesch, which belonged to Sinnersdorf before it was incorporated, developed into a residential suburb of Cologne.
The court estates located at the entrance to the village were decisive for the appearance of the town, besides the Kriegshof, the Paulshof, the Johanneshof, the Gut auf der Wonne (Hof Bollig) and the Heribertshof.

To the south and north of Pesch there are several former gravel pits that have been recultivated as quarry ponds. When Pesch and the surrounding villages were incorporated, the city of Cologne committed itself to creating this recreational area. The favorable traffic situation with a direct connection to the motorway favored the creation of a commercial area in the northern part of the city. A large school center with a grammar school, secondary school and elementary school was built on Schulstrasse.

Sights
Quarry ponds, Donatus chapel, Pesch industrial area, Heribertshof, St. Elisabeth parish church, Schumacher-Hof and Schulstraße school center

There are numerous quarry ponds (former gravel pits) around Pesch, which serve as a local recreation area. When Pesch, Esch and Auweiler were incorporated, the city of Cologne committed itself to plan and build this recreation area. This is how the “Stöckheimer Höfe” leisure area was created, in which the former quarry ponds of Pesch, Esch / Auweiler and Pulheim are embedded.

There are also numerous opportunities to do sports in Pesch. The Pesch-based sports clubs BC Köln Pesch 04 (basketball), TTC Pesch (table tennis) and FC Pesch (soccer) are always looking for children, young people and adults who are interested in basketball, table tennis or soccer. In addition, there is an underground shooting range for sport shooters with a total of ten lanes of 25 meters each in the Pesch industrial park. There is also the St. Donatus Schützenbruderschaft Köln-Pesch 1955 in Pesch

Roggendorf/Thenhoven district
Thenhoven is said to go back to the Thiedinhove monastery mentioned in 948. Roggendorf was mentioned for the first time in the 14th century. Until 1922, the two street villages Roggendorf, on Sinnersdorfer Straße, and Thenhoven, on Berrischstraße, belonged to the mayor’s office of Worringen. Since the late 19th century, both had grown together to form a double village along Quettinghofstrasse. As part of the communal territorial reform of 1975, they became a Cologne district.

Outside the town center, the district consists of fields and the choir bush, a forest area on the edge of which Arff Castle, built between 1750 and 1755, is located. The district with its many courtyards, some of which are still used for agriculture today, has retained its rural and village charm.

A model from Cologne made headlines nationwide in 1975: the so-called “Gypsy settlement”. Eighteen Sinti families moved into permanent houses in Roggendorf. The families came from a parking lot made of railway wagons that the city had rolled them into the vicinity of the center of Thenhoven. The Catholic Men’s Social Service had taken care of them.

The model was based on a concept developed together with the residents of the square, which was endorsed by the Cologne City Council. The main idea of integrating the people into the district with a small settlement, but taking into account the special needs when designing the floor plans and the surroundings, was so successful that the settlement was the inspiration for similar projects elsewhere.

Sights
Chorbusch, municipal golf course, Sankt Johann Baptist, Schloss Arff and Wegekreuz

Arff Castle is a former moated castle in the Roggendorf / Thenhoven village of Cologne. It is located 20 km northwest of Cologne city center and right on the border with the city of Dormagen in the Rhine district of Neuss. The manor house is attributed to the architect Michael Leveilly and is a simplified repetition of Falkenlust Castle near Brühl, which is part of the “Augustusburg Brühl” UNESCO World Heritage Site and where Leveilly was site manager under François de Cuvilliés the Elder. Leveilly also designed the Horr house in Grevenbroich in the Rhine district of Neuss and the historic town hall of Bonn.

Also worth seeing is the local Catholic church of St. Johann Baptist from the 19th century. It contains an organ from the Danish company Marcussen from 1991, the organ brochure of which dates from 1710.

Cultural events
New Year’s reception of the citizens’ association in cooperation with the Schützenbruderschaft in January, Easter shooting on Easter Monday, dancing in May, the biennial school festival of the Catholic primary school, youth tournaments and village football tournament in May and June, in the biennial cycle of the TdoT Volunteer Fire Brigade Roggendorf / Thenhoven, parish celebration during the summer months, shooting festival around the first Sunday in August, Kevelaer – pilgrimage in October, Saint Martinszug in November, installation of the Christmas tree in front of the local church on the first Advent and much more.

The municipal golf course is to the northwest of the village. Here it is possible to practice the sport even without membership in one of the often very exclusive golf clubs.

Seeberg district
The name Seeberg originated from the proximity of the district to the Fühlinger See. The district and the lake are only separated from each other by a road and a small wooded area. The district is the southernmost and oldest part of the “New City” in the north of Cologne, conceived by the city planner Fritz Schumacher under the former Mayor Konrad Adenauer.

Seeberg is characterized by its diverse residential development. At the end of the 1950s, the construction of single-family houses began, which were supplemented by multi-family houses in the 1960s. At the end of the 1960s, well-known architecture firms put their ideas of pioneering urban development into practice in a competition. The development was continued in the 1970s: A horseshoe-shaped band of high-rise buildings was created, which surrounds a park. Single-family houses were built between the skyscrapers and the park, often in the bungalow style.

Sights
Community elementary school Riphanstraße, secondary and secondary school Karl-Marx-Allee (Gustav-Heinemann-Schule and Henry-Ford-Schule), Catholic elementary school Balsaminenweg as well as sports facilities for riding and tennis

There is a small shopping center in Seeberg-Süd. Until the mid-1970s, this consisted of a shoemaker’s shop, hairdressing salon, Edeka market, drugstore, laundry, bakery, butcher’s shop and a kiosk. Today there is only a butcher’s shop and a kiosk.

Beyond the Neusser Landstrasse (B 9), which borders the Seeberg district, lies the Oranjehof. This is the manor house of a former courtyard from the 18th century. The barns and stables have given way to the equestrian club of Oranjehof since 1965. There is a tennis hall to the north. Since the Neusser Landstraße forms the border of Seeberg to the east, the Oranjehof is actually in the area of the Fühlingen district, but it is about 2.5 kilometers to the town of Fühlingen.

Volkhoven/Weiler district
In the course of the regional reform of 1975, the two neighboring villages of Volkhoven and Weiler were merged into one district. Volkhoven was incorporated into Cologne as early as 1888, while Weiler only became a suburb of Cologne in 1922. From the mid-1920s a small settlement was built between the two villages, which subsequently grew more and more together. The townscape is still shaped today by a large number of large courtyards. They make the agricultural character clear, which is particularly noticeable in Weiler. Among other things, the Kriegerhof, the Bürgershof, the Kartäuserhof and the Georgshof are preserved.

A special feature of the two suburbs is the so-called Simultanhalle Volkhoven. In the late 1970s, a test construction of part of the new building for the Museum Ludwig was built on the former schoolyard. It served to investigate how the incidence of light would affect the pictures in the new museum. Today the hall is used as a studio and for exhibitions.

Through the incorporation of 1922, the population of Cologne doubled. Among other things, this led to a considerable increase in water consumption. In 1925 the city council therefore decided to build a waterworks in Weiler, which the architect Clemens Klotz built from 1927 to 1931. A location in a tertiary Rhine basin was selected for the plant. This so-called Escher Laach offered the most favorable water and supply conditions, as the groundwater flow from the Eifel to the Rhine bed could be tapped with it. Between 1973 and 1976 the waterworks was rebuilt and expanded to include an activated carbon filter system and a drinking water tank.

Sights
Alt Sankt Cosmas and Damian, former Bürgershof, fire station for the district of Chorweiler, cemetery (Chorweiler) in Weiler, Heinrich-Mann-Gymnasium, Neu Sankt Cosmas and Damian, Volkhoven Simultan Hall, Weiler waterworks and numerous old courtyards

The simultaneous hall is remarkable: In the schoolyard of the former Volkhovener village school, a temporary segment of the planned new building for the Ludwig Museum was built in the 1970s. Here the effect of the incidence of light on the pictures in the museum was tried out. After the end of these attempts, the hall was left to local artists as a studio and exhibition hall.

Worringen district
Probably the name of the northernmost district of Cologne comes from a fort (Castrum Boruncum) that the Romans had built to secure the trade route between Neuss and Cologne. The Eburonen tribe and later the Ubier tribe had already settled in this area since the 5th century BC.

Worringen’s first documentary mention comes from the 10th century AD. The district is best known for the Battle of Worringen in 1288, to which a memorial in the town center commemorates. To the south of the village on the Fühlinger Heide, angry Cologne residents defeated the city lord of Cologne, Archbishop Siegfried von Westerburg, and his allies in an alliance with others. From then on the archbishop had to take his residence outside Cologne. The supremacy of the Archbishop of Cologne in the city was broken. This paved the way for the independent, free imperial city of Cologne with citizens who governed themselves.

In the following centuries Worringen developed into the largest town between Cologne and Neuss. It lived from agriculture and from passing trade. In addition, the proximity to the Rhine provided work and bread. The Worringers worked as fishermen, divers, pilots or workers in the port area and were thus able to support their families.

Together with Roggendorf-Thenhoven, Weiler, Fühlingen and Langel, Worringen formed the mayor’s office in the 19th century. In 1922 this mayor’s office was incorporated into Cologne at the instigation of the then Lord Mayor of Cologne and later first Federal Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer. The planning for a large industrial and commercial area on the Rhine was decisive for the incorporation. This is how the Bayer plants in Dormagen came into being, where many residents of Worringen still work today.

The late medieval structures of Worringen are easily recognizable in the center of the village from the old courtyards. In particular, the large courtyards on Sankt-Tönnis-Straße and houses from the 18th and 19th centuries illustrate the original rural character of Worringen. The Rhine dam, which protects Worringen from flooding, is a popular destination. You can hike or cycle over the dam. Other popular destinations that can be reached from the Rheinaue are Rheinkassel or Langel.

Sights
Cemetery, courtyards on Sankt-Tönnis-Straße, new church Sankt Pankratius with rectory, Rheinaue with Rhine dam, battle memorial and Worringer Bruch

The Roman Catholic parish church of St. Pankratius was built in 1837 and supplemented in 1848 by the tower that can be seen from afar. As early as 1866, the church was converted into a three-aisled hall church by installing vaults and two rows of columns. The older medieval building on the old market square, which had become too small, was converted into a school. The old church tower and the nave, which has now been converted into a residential building, are still there. The Evangelical Peace Church was completed in 1961. There is also a house of God of the New Apostolic Church.

The Worringer Bruch nature reserve is located southwest of Worringen. Here there is the possibility of extensive hikes. In the past, the Rhine meadows south-east of Worringen were ideal for a hike. Since spring 2019, however, a compensation area has been created here for the construction of the Leverkusen bridge.