General information

Welcome to Cologne!

Source: Campus Germany
Carnival, Churches and Culture
"Kölle Alaaf!" That's the battle cry you hear in Cologne every spring. It signifies that carnival has arrived - a time of year that is known here as the "fifth season". Carnival enthusiasts wearing brightly coloured costumes take control of the city. They crowd the streets, bars and even the supermarkets. Musicians beat their drums or play popular carnival songs on their trumpets and flutes. And everybody feels free to sing and dance along. Cologne seems to be out of its mind for five days and nights on end. The only thing left to do for any visitor is to hop right in and join the party. But don't be late, the festivities end abruptly on Ash Wednesday.

We don't want to create the impression, however, that Cologne has nothing to offer but its party atmosphere during carnival. There's hardly another German city with quite as much zest and friendliness. No one stays alone at one of the many bars or restaurants that serve Cologne's standard brew Kölsch.

But there's more than just Kölsch culture as well. With approximately one million inhabitants Cologne is Germany's fourth largest and oldest city. The Roman Empire stretched to the Rhine River 2000 years ago, and it was here that the Romans established a trading post they named Colonia. Their influence can still be seen today. Over time, the Rhine river became ever more important as a trade route, shipping goods from the Alps to the North Sea or upstream. During the Middle Ages, Cologne prospered as a centre for trade. Twelve major Roman churches and three fortress-like city gates testify to the importance of Cologne during this period.

Cologne's most famous landmark is its cathedral, the Kölner Dom. It is one of Germany's best-known cathedrals and tourist sights and attracts countless tourists from all over the world every day of the year. This masterpiece of gothic architecture took hundreds of years to build and wasn't completed until the nineteenth century. The cathedral's twin spires rise some 157 meters into the sky and dominate the city's skyline.

One can get a sense of how Cologne looked before World War II through the individual architectural monuments scattered about the city as well as the picturesque Old Town south of the Cathedral, with its gabled houses and narrow alleyways. The war exacted a heavy price, and 90 percent of Cologne's downtown district was destroyed by Allied bombs. Today Cologne's cityscape is primarily characterised by the functional buildings that went up during the city's speedy reconstruction.

Cologne has much more to offer culture-vultures than just its long and fascinating history. The city is regarded as a metropolis of contemporary art and boasts numerous art galleries. It has a lively art scene - the Ludwig Museum as well as the renowned art fair "Art Cologne" draw crowds.

In addition, Cologne is one of Germany's premiere media centres with ten radio and television stations. West German Broadcasting (WDR), the RTL TV station and around 400 production companies have their headquarters in Cologne. It's become Germany's most important television centre and is experiencing ever greater investment and expansion. The "Media Park" media centre that has gone up over the last decade is one good example.

Careful, typically Kölsch!

Source: Campus Germany
The Rhenish Way of Life

The legendary "Rhenish Joviality" really is part of daily life in Cologne. If the weather plays along, then life moves to the sidewalk cafés and beer gardens. The "Ring" is a semi-circular boulevard that stretches around the inner city, following the course of the old city walls. It's home to numerous bars, restaurants, discos and movie theatres.

The locals don't necessarily find downtown very attractive. When the sun sets, they'd rather stay in their own districts, the so-called Veedel. They'll meet and drink a few in the corner bar where almost everybody knows them, and where people get to know each other quickly. The favourite pastime in Cologne is to sit in comfortable surroundings with a group of friends and to shoot the breeze. Most bars are the regular haunts of the innumerable carnival clubs, and here you can speak and drink "Kölsch," the name for both the local beer and the local dialect.

The multi-faceted cultural offerings add to the quality of life in Cologne. There are more than 150 galleries and 50 museums to visit. Fine examples are the Ludwig gallery, with its display of contemporary art and the Roman-Germanic Museum and its exemplary collection of antiquities. More exotic locales like the Sports or Chocolate museums also attract their fair share of visitors.

Friends of the stage will have a field day in Cologne. There are just so many theatres to choose from beginning with the municipal theatre and Cologne's Opera House as well as many smaller independent stages. It's a colourful potpourri ranging from an evening of ballet or opera, to public theatres, stand-up comedy and political cabaret.

Music lovers of every ilk can find what they crave in Cologne: be it a classical concert, avant-garde improv' or techno and bubble gum style "world music". Jazz should be noted as well. Cologne's "JazzHaus" has a reputation far beyond city limits or even the German border, and regularly attracts jazz greats from all over the world.

Cologne also hosts Europe's biggest pop music festival, "PopKomm". Three days of non-stop music on stage, in clubs and on the streets. Internationally renowned bands and thousands of fans ensure a super party every summer. Nor will visitors and locals be able to escape "Kölsch" music - the dialect typical of groups such as BAP or De Höhner.

In addition, Cologne celebrates one of Europe's biggest gay-pride celebrations every July. The people of Cologne are known to be very tolerant, so the city has become very popular with gays and lesbians. Homosexuals are said to make up about ten percent of Cologne's population. There are scores of bars, night-spots and events that cater to the gay and lesbian crowd.

Cologne also scores points in the consumer department. The central shopping streets between the cathedral and the Neumarkt entice shoppers to a day of car-free consumption. And there are department stores as well as smaller shops in the various city districts.

A speciality in Cologne is the high density of newspaper stands or Kiosks. You'll find one on almost every street corner - and these kiosks or 'Büdchen', as they're also called here, sell much more than just newspapers. From the wee hours of the morning until way past midnight, if it's a pound of coffee you want or an international paper, a keg of beer or just a litre of milk, you're likely to find it at a Kiosk. And you'll probably have a nice chat as well. Anyone who wants to live a happy life needs certain things…sometimes even after the regular stores close.

Where is Cologne University of Applied Sciences?

Cologne University of Applied Sciences has three locations: The Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum (Humanities Centre) in the south of Cologne, the Ingenieurwissenschaftliches Zentrum (Engineering Sciences Centre) in Cologne-Deutz and Campus Gummersbach. Here you will find a description of the locations, maps of how to get there, also in printable version.

Do I need a visa to travel to Germany?

EU citizens and students from Andorra, Australia, Honduras, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Canada, Korea, Liechtenstein, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the USA can enter Germany to study without a visa. They only need a valid passport or ID card and must then apply for a residence permit for study purposes within the first three months of their stay with the foreign nationals office.

Students from all other countries must apply for a visa with the German embassy before immigration, for which you need a notice of admission (Zulassungsbescheid) from Cologne University of Applied Sciences. Please make inquiries with the German embassy in your home country in due time about the formalities of applying for a visa.

On no account should you travel to Germany on a tourist visa. It cannot be exchanged for a study visa! You will find more information on visa and residence permits in the leaflet of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) on Residence Law for Foreign Students and University Applicants on http://www.daad.de/deutschland/de/2.3.3.html

What customs formalities must I observe?

You can bring your luggage with you without customs formalities and without extra charges. No customs dues are payable on equipment, learning materials and other objects that you need for learning and studying - this is important, if you want to take your laptop to Germany, for example. For gifts, coffee, tobacco products and similar items certain value and quantity restrictions apply. For more information consult the import conditions for students (also in English) on the German customs authority's website: http://www.zoll.de.

Special information for Gummersbach!

Source: Gummersbach.de

The metropolis of the Oberbergisches Land is also the "world capital" of handball, since VfL Gummersbach is the world champion and has made Gummersbach famous with its many victories. But Gummersbach is not just a handball dorado. Gummersbach is the capital of the Oberbergisches Land district with a population of 54,000 in an area of 95 square kilometres.

Gummersbach is a culture and economic hub, a shopping and services centre, offering fast access to the Rhine and Ruhr areas thanks to the "Sauerland route" motorway between Dortmund, Gießen and Frankfurt (A 45), the Aachen-Cologne-Olpe motorway (A 4) and the city express that commutes between Cologne and Gummersbach. Cologne/Bonn airport is just a 40-minute car ride away.

Gummersbach offers jobs for approximately 26,000 people in almost 2,000 companies and over 400 retail businesses but is still a green city with lots of leisure and recreation options.

One of the main domestic economic sectors used to be the textiles industry. That's the reason for the spindle in the Gummersbach coat of arms. In the course of time this has shifted to many other segments such as machine and plant engineering, electrical engineering, plastics processing and energy and environmental technology.
Also, Gummersbach is home to many public institutions and service providers. For example, its New Business and Technology Centre has an impact on the entire region, there's the district government, local court, employment office, tax office, and Gummersbach's modern district hospital with state-of-the-art medical equipment and 597 beds, LVA Rheinprovinz and the Theodor Heuss Academy.

Gummersbach's school, education and culture offerings, not to forget 26 nursery schools for the little ones, meet the standards of a mid-sized city.

Alongside special-needs, primary and secondary schools, a comprehensive school, two grammar schools, two intermediate schools and two vocational colleges for various professions, Gummersbach also boasts its own department of Cologne University of Applied Sciences and the studies centre of Hagen Distance Teaching University.

Moreover, the city's Volkshochschule (open university) offers a multi-faceted leisure and further education programme. The academy of music, a district and municipal library, a theatre that has made a name for itself well beyond the region with its own productions and the Bruno Goller Haus round off the range of culture offerings.

Gummersbach is also a shopping magnet, with many shops lining the inner city's spacious pedestrian precinct offering shoppers a wide selection and affordable prices. Bergischer Hof shopping centre with its Karstadt department store, Alte Post and Kaiserstraße 1 shopping centres, Bismarckplatz, where C & A has opened a shop, plus countless other speciality retailers like Saturn are ideal for a shopping sprees. Parking garages and spaces in the immediate vicinity ensure fast access.

But Gummersbach is not just a place to shop and stroll. After closing time, old and young can enjoy the nightlife (after some fortification in one of the excellent restaurants). A traditional brewery, rustic pubs, cosy bistros and hip clubs invite you to party the night away or simply spend time with your friends.

And Gummersbach has another face worth exploring, as recreation and leisure are major factors here.

The numerous small villages within the town, including gold villages Hülsenbusch and Lieberhausen, invite you to spend a relaxing holiday or refreshing weekend. Cosy places give you an opportunity to relax from everyday stress, and if you don't just want to be "lazy", hiking (300 km of excellent hiking paths), sailing, fishing, camping, horse-riding and tennis, or a visit to the new Gumbala swimming pool will make your holidays even more attractive. And you needn't go hungry either - be it nouvelle cuisine or hearty fare - Gummersbach has something to suit every taste.

Of course, the development of the town's infrastructure is a top priority. Be it support for existing or future businesses, creating new housing areas or offers for children, adolescents or senior citizens - Gummersbach is "an attractive up-and-coming location" - says the Cologne Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

Gummersbach, a vibrant centre!

www.gm.fh-koeln.de

Gummersbach lies right in-between the three cities of Hagen, Cologne and Siegen and is the largest town in the Oberbergisches Land district with a population of 54,000. The town is a shopping and services hub and offers jobs to the approx. 150,000 inhabitants of the region. With its new pedestrian precinct the friendly green city has become even more attractive. Almost 2,000 enterprises and over 400 retailers have settled within the town borders, creating 26,000 jobs. In 1996 Gummersbach opened its New Business and Technology Centre in Windhagen, where many innovative companies have found a home, including start-ups of Gummersbach university graduates.

You will find more info about Gummersbach and the region on the web on:
external link http://www.oberberg-online.de

Gummersbach has over 100 pubs, beer gardens and restaurants, plus over 20 cafés and ice cream parlours. You can dance the night away in four discos. It's only a ten-minute walk from the university to the city centre. Several cinemas, including five in the city centre, show the latest films. The theatre with its own ensemble is just a five-minute walk from the university and stages both own productions and guest performances. The Bruno Goller House regularly organises exhibitions and culture events. Musically, jazz is a focus of the Gummersbach region, an annual highlight being the Wiehl Jazz Days.

Of course, the famous handball team Vfl Gummersbach is not the only sports attraction in Gummersbach. 70 sports clubs offer everything from fishing through balloon riding, golf, horse riding, sailing, gliding, cross-country skiing and tennis to volleyball. The university department and student services (AStA) also offer courses (e g. badminton, basketball, football and gliding).

In the district Volkshochschule (open university) over 200 lecturers offer courses including computer science, foreign languages, psychology and rhetorics. Theodor Heuss Academy and Alfred Nau Academy are well-known even beyond the region as institutions of further education.

If you are looking for a wider range of shopping and going-out choices, the metropolis of Cologne is not far: just half an hour's car ride on the A4 motorway, and you're there.

The university region owes its healthy economic infrastructure to many small and mid-sized companies that can adapt fast to market changes thanks to their flexibility. Just over half of all employees work in the processing industry, most of them in metal and plastics processing and electrical engineering, followed by vehicle construction, steel construction, toys and jewellery. Private services are the second-largest sector, followed by trade, transport and construction.

With huge forests, five river dams and an altitude of 300 metres the Oberbergisches district in the immediate vicinity of the university has a great leisure and recreation value.