Germany Guide
North Rhine-Westphalia
The Belgisches Viertel, Zülpicher Viertel and Severinsviertel
West of the Ring, the beautiful Jugendstil apartment buildings of the Belgisches Viertel escaped wartime bombing and are now among the most sought-after in the city. Cologne's most fashionable district, it's a great place to linger over a Milchkaffee or glass of wine between extensive bouts of window-shopping in the area's numerous small boutiques. From Zülpicher Platz, Zülpicher Strasse heads southwest to define the so-called Kwartier Lateng, which in recent years has become a funky strip of student-friendly bars, restaurants and shops, thanks in part to its proximity to the university. On Chlodwigplatz at the southern tip of the Ring, the medieval Severinstor leads into the Severinsviertel, presided over by yet another Romanesque church, the Severinskirche, and with something of the air of a separate town – if you've seen the Mercator plan in the Stadtmuseum, you'll understand why, for in the Middle Ages the Severinsviertel, though within the city walls, was separated from Cologne's centre by extensive vineyards. At Severinstrasse 15, the tall, gabled Haus Balchem dating from 1676 is one of the best-preserved historic merchant's houses in the city.