Cologne Photo Gallery - Rheinauhafen

Cologne is famous for its historic architecture but not far from the old town is Rheinauhafen, an island that was once the port with warehouses, cranes, trains, and customs. A design competition was held in the early 1990s to transform the district and now it has become a beautiful riverside community where old and new buildings mix. You enter the island on a 46m-long swing bridge that was completed in 1896, one of the last 3 such bridges left in the country. Beside it is Malakoff Tower, once a military structure that became obsolete at the end of the 19th century and was moved to the mainland when the harbour was redesigned. Once on the island, you will quickly see how the 3 Kranhauser buildings stand out. The bulk of their volume starts from the the 9th and goes up to the 16th floor. They are modern interpretations of the harbour crane. However, tourists do have a reason to come here. The former customs office was repurposed into a chocolate museum in 1993. I wasn't particularly interested because chocolate isn't a local specialty but did browse around the gift shop to find quite a large selection.