Fotoeins Fotografie

location bifurcation, place vs. home

Posts tagged ‘Ehrenfeld’

25T89 Cologne Ehrenfeld: “Ihrefeld is my kinda Veedel”

E88, C05.

Some of my best friends in the country are in Cologne, as I’ve known them for almost 25 years. Back in 2002, I’d been introduced to the city’s big football team, as well as the Ehrenfeld district, to which I try and get back when I’m in town. (I tried to stop at Kebapland, but the 630pm queue was already crazy long, and I remember good alternatives in the near.)

To begin my walk west, I’m at the Innerer Grüngürtel (Inner Green Belt) Park, within sight of the Deutsche Telekom building, the 266-metre Colonius telecommunications tower, and the 102-metre Hercules high-rise from left to right, respectively.
I’ve gotta try to time my stay next time, so I can get a tour of the city’s central mosque. The place opened in September 2018.
“the wait was torture” // Magic Play
Opened in 1912, the Neptune Baths have been converted to a fitness and wellness facility since 2002.
Helios is a local landmark in Ehrenfeld.
That’s not a real maritime lighthouse; it’s a structure marking the location of a big factory that once manufactured electrical equipment including maritime lights. I wrote a short blurb about Helios here.
Kölsch Bloot (Cologne blood) is a clothing company based in Ehrenfeld, which explains the Helios structure, the city’s coat of arms, and the silhouette of the city’s cathedral.
A 2nd-ad in the Veedel for Netflix and the upcoming 2nd season of “Wednesday”. That queue for Kebapland at lower- right is too long for my state of “hungry.
This, is Ehrenfeld.
This little tiled piece represents the logo for football team 1. FC Köln. It’s not obvious, but plain as day for fans and for those who know.

I made all images above with an iPhone15 on 4 August 2025. This post composed within Jetpack for iOS appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com.

My Cologne: wandering the streets in Ehrenfeld

For many, the German city of Cologne brings to mind the Cathedral, Karneval, and perfumed water.

For me, Cologne brings to mind great friends, tasty Turkish nibbles, football side 1. FC Köln, and Ehrenfeld.

My friend Y wanted to test her new camera on the streets, and when she suggested the Ehrenfeld neighbourhood, I readily agreed. My many visits to this city on the Rhine have frequently ended up in Ehrenfeld that’s largely Turkish and working class, an immigrant blue-collar area with which I readily identify and it’s why Ehrenfeld is my K-‘hood.

( Click here for images and more )

My Cologne: there’s a lighthouse that never goes out

Above/featured: Mural of the Helios structure, Köln Ehrenfeld, 9 Jan 2013 (450D).

Why is there a lighthouse located in the middle of the city? That makes no sense!

Did the Rhine river once flow here? Is that why there’s a lighthouse?

Is the structure some kind of forgotten remnant of the past?

Maybe that’s not a lighthouse, but rather a beacon that lets people know about a fire somewhere in the neighbourhood.

These are some of the questions and statements posed by Cologne residents when asked if they know anything about the lighthouse in their midst.

Located in the Ehrenfeld1 borough of Cologne is a red brick 44-metre (144-foot) high lighthouse. But why is there a lighthouse at all in the “middle” of Cologne? The Rhine river flows through the city, but the river is hardly visible from the lighthouse at a distance of about 3 kilometres (2 miles). The structure is not an actual operating lighthouse; it’s a symbol of early 20th-century enterprise from what was once one of the most important companies in Europe and marking the location of a big factory that once manufactured electrical equipment including maritime lights.

Founded in 1882, Helios2 established their presence in the town of Ehrenfeld before the latter was incorporated into the greater city of Cologne in 1888. The company once boasted a staff complement of over 2000 people, with products sold in Germany and Europe ranging from electrical generators and transformers, light bulbs, light fixtures in public spaces, and electrical streetcars. Helios also built light towers for the North and Baltic Sea coastlines, including ones at Roter Sand (Weser river estuary), Borkum and Wangerooge (East Frisian Islands), and Sylt. The onsite lighthouse in Ehrenfeld was constructed as a testing facility and never used as a navigational aid or marker. The company overextended its financial reach until Berlin’s AEG3 purchased Helios in 1905. Manufacturing operations in Ehrenfeld ceased in 1930, bringing a final end to Helios’ business presence in Cologne.

The present-day buildings which remain are used as office- and art-space. As historical landmark, the “Helios Leuchtturm” remains as part of the urban heritage in Ehrenfeld and Cologne. If the people in both borough and city have any final say in the matter, the lighthouse will never have to go out.4

( Click here for images and more )