Museums in Cologne: 15 places with hours, prices and online tickets

In the compact center of Cologne there are more than thirty museums. In one day you can fit in two or three, but only if you know in advance which ones are closed on Mondays.

Below are fifteen Cologne museums with opening hours, closed days, and prices where the museum publishes them. You'll find chocolate, Roman mosaics, 18th-century perfumery, and the Michael Schumacher collection.

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Cologne museums: what's important to know

💡 In short:

• City museums are almost all closed on Mondays, so plan your visits from Tuesday through Sunday.
• You buy a ticket for a specific day and time online and don't wait in line at the ticket office.
• Prices and opening hours: as of 09/2026, verified on the official Schokoladenmuseum website and the city museums portal.

Most museums are located between Cologne Cathedral and the Rhine, so you can walk around the center in a couple of days. Museums change their opening hours by season and on holidays, so check the specific museum's website before your trip. The table below gives a reference point for September 2026.

1. Schokoladenmuseum

© Photo: Arminia , cropped by Elya , · CC BY-SAPhoto: Photo: Arminia , cropped by Elya ,, CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), Wikimedia Commons

The most visited museum in the city, with more than half a million guests a year. The glass and brick building stands on the Rheinauhafen waterfront and is shaped like a ship. Inside, you follow the entire journey of cocoa, from a greenhouse with trees to a mini factory and a working production line.

The main exhibit is visible from afar: a three-meter chocolate fountain with about two hundred kilograms of chocolate circulating through it. Nearby are display cases with antique molds, vending machines, and labels from old brands. Visitors can watch figurines being made by hand, and in the shop you can buy and taste what you just saw being produced in the workshop.

• Ticket: €17.50 on weekdays, €19.00 on weekends; children under six enter free (as of 09/2026, museum visit page).
• The catch: it gets crowded on weekends; the website recommends coming in the morning or closer to the evening.
• Tickets online: Schokoladenmuseum tickets.

2. Farina-Haus (Duftmuseum)

© Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SAPhoto: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), Wikimedia Commons

A house in central Cologne where Johann Maria Farina opened the world's first perfume manufactory in the early 18th century. This is where Eau de Cologne was created, and the city's name quickly became synonymous with eau de toilette. The house's clients included European monarchs, including Catherine the Great.

The rooms have preserved Rococo interiors: bottles and packaging, furniture, tableware, jewelry, and the perfumer's manuscripts. Cedar barrels used to age the cologne are shown separately. On the tour, you'll learn how essences are extracted from orange, lemon, narcissus, roses, and mountain herbs.

• Tours: every hour, about 45 minutes, advance booking required (as of 09/2026, Farina-Haus tours).
• The catch: you won't get in without a booking; groups are small.
• Who it's for: those who want to see where the history of cologne began.

3. Cologne House No. 4711

© Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SAPhoto: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), Wikimedia Commons

The city's oldest perfume company occupies a Gothic house on Glockengasse. The brand name comes from the house number, not from a recipe. A shop operates on the ground floor, and a small collection is displayed upstairs.

The display window is visible from the street: hundreds of bottles behind glass. In the foyer there's a tap pouring Eau de Cologne, with perfume for women and men sold nearby. On the second floor, photographs, certificates, awards, and personal belongings of the house's owners are on display.

• Not for: anyone looking for a large museum; this is more of a historic shop with a display.
• Tickets: check the museum's website.

4. Museum Ludwig

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The building stands right next to Cologne Cathedral and the main train station, so people often stop in on their way past. The core of the collection came from the private holdings of industrialist Peter Ludwig, who bequeathed the works to the city. The exhibition spans four floors.

It showcases avant-garde, surrealism, cubism, pop art, and expressionism, as well as photography and installations. The galleries feature works by Picasso, Malevich, Dalí, Chagall, Warhol, and Kandinsky. A separate room is dedicated to sculptural installations.

• Tickets: included in museum admission; hours: 09/2026, Museum Ludwig hours.
• The catch: there is almost no classical art here; for old masters, go to the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum.
• Tickets online: Museum Ludwig tickets.

5. Wallraf-Richartz-Museum

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The city's picture gallery holds paintings from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century. The museum is named after two Cologne residents: Professor Franz Wallraf and patron Heinrich Richartz.

The cube-shaped building spans five floors and displays altarpieces, graphic art, and canvases from the Flemish, Dutch, French, and German schools. You will see works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, and Van Gogh. Be sure to see Stefan Lochner's "Last Judgment" and "Madonna of the Rose Bower."

• Tickets: included in museum admission; hours: 09/2026, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum hours.
• Who it's for: lovers of old masters from the Middle Ages to the 19th century.

6. Käthe Kollwitz Museum

© Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SAPhoto: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), Wikimedia Commons

The artist's dedicated museum is located right in the Neumarkt Passage shopping center, with an entrance from the street. Käthe Kollwitz worked in the early 20th century and is known for her graphic art, prints, and sculpture.

The galleries house the cycles "The Weavers' Revolt," "Proletariat," and "War." The works deal with poverty, labor, and loss, and the artist herself lived through two wars. That is why visitors often leave feeling reflective, and one hour is enough for your visit.

• The catch: the museum is compact, so do not expect a large hall here.
• Tickets: check the museum's website.

7. Römisch-Germanisches Museum

© Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SAPhoto: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), Wikimedia Commons

The museum's main building next to Cologne Cathedral has been closed for renovation since 2018. The exhibition is temporarily housed in the Belgisches Haus. The museum holds around three million finds from the Roman colony on the Rhine. Most of the objects date from the first centuries AD.

In the galleries you will see sculptural groups, sarcophagi, statuettes, tombstones, jewelry, weapons, tableware, and wall fragments with reliefs. Gold laurel wreaths and imperial rings are displayed separately. The Dionysus mosaic from the floor of a Roman villa remains in the closed main building.

• Tickets: included in the museum ticket; hours: 09/2026, Römisch-Germanisches Museum hours.
• The catch: the main building is closed, and the Belgisches Haus shows only part of the collection.

8. Kolumba

© Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SAPhoto: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), Wikimedia Commons

The archdiocesan museum grew up on the ruins of St. Columba's Church: a fragment of the old wall is built directly into the facade. Inside, sixteen galleries display art from antiquity to the present day.

The collection spans more than two thousand years. There are no labels with dates and descriptions here, and that is intentional: you look at the works without prompts. In the basement you can see the excavated foundations of the church and a statue of the Virgin Mary, while the galleries include the 15th-century "Madonna of the Violets."

• The catch: without explanatory labels, it is harder to make sense of the exhibits.
• Tickets: check the museum's website.

9. Museum Schnütgen

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The former Romanesque basilica of St. Cecilia has become one of the city's most unusual museum spaces. Beneath its high vaults is a collection of medieval religious art.

The exhibition includes church furnishings, tapestries, paintings, stained glass, textiles, and liturgical vestments. The wooden, gold, silver, and ivory sculptures of the Virgin Mary draw particular attention. The core of the collection was given to the city by Archbishop Alexander Schnütgen.

• Who it's for: anyone who loves sacred art, stained glass, and medieval sculpture.
• Tickets: included in the museum ticket; hours: 09/2026, Museum Schnütgen hours.

10. NS-Dokumentationszentrum im EL-DE-Haus

© Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SAPhoto: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), Wikimedia Commons

The museum occupies the former Gestapo building, and the house itself is considered an exhibit. The exhibition tells how National Socialism came to power in Germany and how the apparatus of repression worked.

It brings together documents, posters, brochures, photographs, audio, and video. The basement still has prison cells, and the walls bear inscriptions left by prisoners, some of them in Russian. Visitors leave these rooms in silence.

• The catch: the subject matter is heavy, and it will be difficult with small children.
• Tickets: included in the museum ticket; hours: 09/2026, NS-Dokumentationszentrum hours.

11. Deutsches sport & olympia museum

© Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SAPhoto: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), Wikimedia Commons

The sports museum is housed in an old customs gallery on the Rheinauhafen waterfront. Across more than two thousand square meters, it displays medals, trophies, equipment, and photographs.

There are plenty of hands-on activities too: you can step into a boxing ring, ride a bicycle in a wind tunnel, play soccer or hockey, and take a bobsled ride. Separate pavilions are dedicated to the Ferrari and Benetton cars driven by Michael Schumacher.

• Who it's for: families with kids and motorsport fans, because here you can touch and try everything.
• Tickets: see the Sportmuseum visit page.
• Tickets online: Sportmuseum tickets.

12. Museum für Angewandte Kunst

© Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SAPhoto: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), Wikimedia Commons

The Museum of Applied Arts was founded in the late 19th century and stands next to the cathedral and the train station. Its collection includes around one hundred thousand objects: tableware, furniture, textiles, ornaments, jewelry, and household appliances.

A separate display features pieces from a German faience manufactory with gold painting, plus a fashion exhibition spanning from the early 19th century to the present day. Behind glass you'll see boxes shaped like figures and animals, and next to them table services, jugs, and vases.

• Tickets: Cologne residents get free admission; after 5:00 pm tickets are cheaper (as of 09/2026, MAKK prices).
• Who it's for: anyone who loves design, porcelain, and the history of costume.

13. Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst

© Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SAPhoto: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), Wikimedia Commons

The Museum of East Asian Art opened back in the early 20th century and collects works by masters from China, Japan, and Korea. The building was designed by Japanese architect Kunio Maekawa.

The galleries feature Buddhist painting, painted screens, wooden sculpture, lacquer boxes, porcelain, prints, and books. In front of the entrance there is a Japanese garden with stones, a pond, and flowering trees; it's especially quiet here in summer.

• The catch: the museum opens later than others, only at 11:00 am.
• Tickets: with a museum ticket; opening hours: 09/2026, Museum für Ostasiatische Kunst opening hours.

14. Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum

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The ethnological museum holds more than sixty thousand artifacts, one hundred thousand photographs, and forty thousand volumes of scholarly publications. The exhibition is organized by theme: rituals, everyday life, religion, family, and the role of the individual in different cultures.

The objects include ornaments, clothing, figurines, and sacred artifacts from Oceania, Asia, America, and Africa. Some pull-out drawers are equipped with touchscreens showing photos and videos, and one room is set up as the bedrooms of teenagers from Japan, Canada, Turkey, Germany, and Sierra Leone.

• Who it's for: anyone interested in the everyday culture of different peoples.
• Tickets: with a museum ticket; opening hours: 09/2026, Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum opening hours.

15. Michael Schumacher private collection

© Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SAPhoto: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), Wikimedia Commons

The private collection of the seven-time world champion opened a few years ago on the site of a former airfield near Cologne. For motorsport fans, it houses more than two hundred exhibits: trophies, helmets, race suits, gloves, photographs, and personal items.

At the center of the exhibition are the race cars in which Schumacher won his titles. Some of the cars were given to him by the Ferrari, Mercedes, and Benetton teams.

• Not for: anyone indifferent to motorsport.
• Tickets: check the museum's website.

Cologne museums on the map

All fifteen museums are marked on one map. Open it on your phone and plan a day's route so you don't waste time traveling between them. The map opens in your phone's browser.

Museum opening hours sometimes change on holidays, so check the museum's website before leaving your hotel.

⁉️🤔 Frequently asked questions

When are Cologne's museums closed?

Almost all city museums are closed on Mondays. Schokoladenmuseum, Farina-Haus, and the Farina Fragrance Museum at No. 4711 are open on Mondays. Kolumba is closed on Tuesdays. Schokoladenmuseum is open daily 10:00-18:00, but is closed on certain Mondays in November (as of 09/2026, Schokoladenmuseum schedule). Before your trip, check the specific museum's website: hours change by season.

How much do Cologne museum tickets cost?

Admission to Schokoladenmuseum costs €17.50 on weekdays and €19.00 on weekends (as of 09/2026, Schokoladenmuseum tickets). At Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Cologne residents get free admission, and after 17:00 tickets are cheaper (as of 09/2026, Museum für Angewandte Kunst rates). Other museums publish prices on their websites, and children's tickets are usually cheaper.

Where can I buy tickets without waiting in line?

Online, for a specific day and time: on weekends the ticket office gets a line, but with time slots you walk right in. Tickets for Cologne museums and tours are easy to browse on GetYourGuide.

Is one day enough for Cologne's museums?

One day is enough for two or three museums if you pick ones that are close together. Museum Ludwig, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Römisch-Germanisches Museum, and Museum Schnütgen are all in the center near the cathedral, and you can walk between them. Schokoladenmuseum and Deutsches Sport & Olympia Museum are next to each other at Rheinauhafen. It's about a 15-minute walk from the cathedral to them, so they're easy to add to a center itinerary.

Which Cologne museums are good for kids?

Deutsches Sport & Olympia Museum, because you can touch the exhibits, stand in a boxing ring, and ride a bobsled. At Schokoladenmuseum, kids love the chocolate fountain and the production line. The Michael Schumacher collection will appeal to teenagers, and Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum shows recreated teenage bedrooms from different countries.

In short: what's worth booking

Cologne is convenient because the main museums are all in one area, and you can walk between them. Plan your time so you don't do two big museums back to back.

• If you have one day: Schokoladenmuseum and Museum Ludwig.
• If you're with kids: Deutsches Sport & Olympia Museum.
• If you love art: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum and Kolumba.

Book timed tickets in advance on GetYourGuide, and look for accommodation on Trip.com.