Health Cologne - PAN Klinik am Neumarkt

In addition to its historic architecture,
Cologne also has a modern face:
Rheinauhafen is a new quarter built on
the banks of the river Rhine not far from
the Old Town, with breathtaking crane
buildings and a wide range of catering
outlets and cultural activities.
On walking round the 750 year-old cathedral,
which was declared part of the
World Cultural Heritage in 1996, visitors
can reach many of Cologne‘s museums
on foot: renowned establishments, such
as the Ludwig Museum for Modern Art
with the largest Warhol collection outside
the USA, the Roman-Germanic Museum
with its archaeological collection,
or the architecturally impressive diocesan
museum „Kolumba“, which recently
took up residence in new, historically
significant surroundings. The Wallraf
Richartz Museum - Fondation Corboud,
the „mother“ of all the city‘s museums
between the Town Hall and Gürzenich,
shows paintings and sculptures from the
Middle Ages to modern times, together
with the Impressionists collection of the
Fondation Corboud.
Just a few steps further away, a peninsular
in Rheinauhafen is home to the
Imhoff Chocolate Museum, Cologne‘s
sweetest establishment of this type.
Among others, here visitors can enjoy
fresh chocolate from a unique choco-
4 Health Cologne
late fountain. Next door is the German
Sport and Olympic Museum, a handson
museum that invites visitors to get
actively involved. Cologne‘s Carnival
Museum is the largest of its kind in German-speaking
countries and another
highlight in the city‘s range of museums,
tracing the history of Cologne‘s carnival
tradition back to ancient times. Cologne
is rightly proud of its cultural landscape.
Musical highlights are provided all year
round in the architecturally impressive
Kölner Philharmonie, the Opera and the
Musical Dome. Classic events such as the
city tour festival „Expedition Colonia“
and the huge fireworks display „Cologne
Lights“ on 11 July 2009 always attract
hundreds and thousands of enthusia-
stic visitors. The LanxessArena with its
18,000 seats is Germany‘s largest indoor
arena. Since it was opened in 1998, the
elegant building has been an absolute
must for stars such as Luciano Pavarotti,
Elton John, Rod Stewart and many more
besides.
But it is not only cultural diversity which
brings visitors to Cologne from all over
the world: the city also has a reputation
as a shopping paradise. Cologne‘s shopping
miles, malls and galleries invite vi-
sitors to stroll and shop. All shopping
streets in the city centre are within easy
reach of each other on foot. Cologne‘s
Hohe Straße with 17,145 passers-by per
hour is one of Europe‘s most highly frequented
shopping streets: in 1967, this
was Germany‘s first pedestrian precinct.
Over a distance of nearly one kilometre,
it leaves no shopping desires unanswered:
fashion, shoes, jewellery, clocks and
watches, consumer electronics, books,
catering outlets . . . it joins onto another
pedestrian precinct Schildergasse just
around the corner, voted Germany‘s
„Number One Shopping Street“ in 2008.
This consists mainly of large fashion
and shoe stores, perfumery specialists
and lots of cafés. Right behind Schildergasse
is the large Neumarkt with the
Neumarkt Galerie, offering 65 shops on
three storeys in modern surroundings
with lots of glass and stainless steel.
Less than 10 minutes away, there‘s Mittelstraße,
what must be the city‘s most
exclusive boulevard with noble brands
for fashion, jewellery and home textiles.
The shopping paradise continues in the
surrounding streets Pfeilstrasse, Minoritenstraße,
Ehrenstraße and Breite Straße.
What‘s more, visitors from non-EU
countries can reclaim 19% VAT as a global
refund on leaving the country – that
makes a shopping tour in Cologne real
value for money by international comparison.