One of the premier cities of Germany Cologne has everything for all visitors in every age group and with varied interests. The art and culture centers in cologne includes churches with unique Romanesque architecture, museums, historical buildings, theatres, memorials and wells, parks and gardens, musical hotspots, cinemas, shops, restaurants and cultural tours. Below are mentioned some of the prominent centers of attraction in cologne.

• Cologne Cathedral: It is a Roman Catholic Church in Cologne, Germany and is seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and presently is under the administration of the archdiocese of Cologne. It has reputation in German Catholicism especially with respect to Gothic architecture and faith and perseverance of the people in cologne. It is dedicated to Saint Peter and the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a World Heritage Site and one of the best known architectural monuments in Germany as described by UNESCO as an “exceptional work of human creative genius”. It is visited around 30 thousand people every day. Construction of Cologne Cathedral started in 1248 and was completed in 1880 in bit and pieces. It is a 144.5 metres long, 86.5 m wide and its towers are approximately 157 m tall. It is one of the world’s largest churches and the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. Cologne’s medieval builders had planned a grand structure to house the reliquary of the Three Kings and fit its role as a place of worship of the Holy Roman Emperor.

• Excelsior Hotel Ernst, Cologne: The Excelsior Hotel Ernst with perspective of Cologne Cathedral, the ‘Dom’, was constructed in 1863. He was the first owner of the hotel and used to name as “Hotel Ernst” The Hotel Ernst was renovated from 1908 to 1910 and re-opened as the Grand-Hotel Excelsior Hotel Ernst In 1918, after eight years of re-opening, the British Army moved into the hotel after soon as the war was over. Another re-opening occurred at the end of World War II. Family Kracht Roulet is still today the owner of the Excelsior Hotel Ernst. Since Mai 2004 Wilhelm Luxem is the general manager of the hotel.

• Lanxess Arena: It is an indoor arena in Cologne, North Rhine – Westphalia, Germany It was inaugurated in 1998 and there around 20,000 spectators can easily be accommodated. It is generally used by VfL Gummersbach, a handball team, Kölner Haie (ice hockey) and for concert purposes. In June 2008, it was decided that it would be named as Lanxess Arena for a period of around ten years. Since then it has hosted concerts by Paul McCartney, Cliff Richard, Elton John, Rod Stewart, U2, Depeche Mode, Take That, Shania Twain, Westlife, a-ha, Roger Waters, Aerosmith, Anastacia, Tina Turner, Coldplay, Mariah Carey, Shakira, P!nk, Raygun, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Backstreet Boys, Gwen Stefani, David Bowie, George Michael, Britney Spears, Spice Girls, Destiny’s Child, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Kylie Minogue, Tokio Hotel & Celine Dion, among others. For another interesting purpose, the arena was used for World Wrestling Entertainment in 2002, 2003, 2006 and in October 2007.

• MediaPark: It is an urban regeneration close to Cologne and was completed in year 2001. It was made to keep fit and appropriate the companies with point of view of accommodating them for those which belongs to media and communication industry. It was also built with view to accommodate companies from media and communication industry as well as cultural institutions and hotels. It is located at Neustadt-Nord around area of some 20 hectare. The project was designed by the Canadian architect Eberhard Zeidler having construction from 1990 to 2004. It is home to around 250 companies and workforce of around 5,000 people. Among the corporate companies at MediaPark the prominent ones are EMI Music Germany, Radio Köln and Westdeutscher Rundfunk studios of 1LIVE. The cultural institutions at media park includes, the Filmbüro Nordrhein-Westfalen, the Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, the musikFabrik and SK Stiftung Köln with the Akademie för uns Kölsche Sproch.

• Rheinauhafen: It is a 15.4 hectare urban regeneration project in Cologne, Germany situated along the River Rhine between Südbrücke and Severinsbrücke situated at the inner city’s historic old town. It is about to develop around the Rheinauhafen, an Industrial harbour developed during 1880s. The project started in 2002 and is slated to be completed by 2011. This project is consisted of about 250,000 meter square waterfront floor area, primarily used for offices, cultural institutions, hotels and dwellings. The earlier commercial port here is being used as a marina. The new Rheinauhafen is home to a good number of companies in field of creative industry and among them the most popular are Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Electronic Arts and Microsoft. In the vicinity cultural organizations are German Sport & Olympia Museum and Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum.

• The Zoo: The Aktiengesellschaft Cologne Zoological Garden features around 7,000 animals of more than 700 species in an area spread around in 20 hectares. This zoo has an international reputation with an attached aquarium and invertebrate exhibits with an emphasis on primates like as bonobos and lemurs. Moreover, in-the-wild conservation efforts and research focussing on animals of Madagascar, the Wallacea, and Vietnam are being actively promoted and supported through and in cooperation with Cologne University and local projects, like as Przewalski’s Horses.

• Museum Ludwig: Museum Ludwig, located in Cologne, has collection and exhibits of modern art. It exhibits works from PopArt, Abstract and Surrealism, and has one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe. It also includes works from Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. Another integrate and important section of the museum is the Sammlung Ludwig, a collection of art by Picasso, Russian avant-garde and American Pop-art artists.

Other places for attraction in cologne are Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Claudius Therme, Sachsenbergstraße, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Römisch-Germanisches Museum and Karneval.