About the neighborhood
Cologne's most fashionable independent quarter
The Belgisches Viertel — the 'Belgian Quarter' — is Cologne's most fashionable neighborhood, named for the Belgian cities its streets honour: Brüsseler Platz, Antwerpener Straße, Lütticher Straße, Genter Straße, Maastrichter Straße. The district was laid out in the late 19th century after the Prussian city walls came down, and most of its grand Wilhelminian apartment buildings survived the war intact — a rarity for Cologne, which lost more than 90% of its historic centre to bombing. Rediscovered in the 1990s by a generation of young Kölners priced out of the centre, the Belgian Quarter is now Cologne's densest concentration of independent boutiques, designer fashion, third-wave coffee shops, contemporary art galleries and restaurants. Brüsseler Platz on a summer evening — locals drinking beer on the steps of St. Michael's church, surrounded by brasseries — is one of the great Cologne scenes.
Encyclopedic content adapted from the Wikipedia article on Belgisches Viertel, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
