Fürstenhof

Fürstenhof stands in Cologne’s Altstadt-Nord, directly opposite Cologne Cathedral at the meeting of Trankgasse and Marzellenstraße. Its curved façades, decorative figures, and stone balustrade follow Carl Moritz’s classical-baroque architectural language. The upper storeys rise above a ground floor altered several times since the Second World War. A seated, bearded figure watches from the corner above the second floor.

Carl Moritz designed the building between 1911 and 1912, replacing the Hotel Englischer Hof, a distillery, and a butcher shop. The original hotel included shops, a café facing the cathedral, and rooms above. In 1936, Schwabenbräu transformed the lower levels into the Zur Pauluswache tavern, a restaurant, and an afternoon café. Wall paintings of Cologne history and legends filled these rooms, while Heinrich Hecker supplied wrought-iron lighting. Hotel use ended in 1966, and offices later occupied the upper floors. The ground floor then became a Volkswagen showroom before a McDonald’s restaurant arrived in the mid-1970s. Since 1987, the protected monument has remained a prominent part of Cologne’s cityscape.