The Best Independent Bookstores in Cologne

Taschen, Cologne | © Achim Hepp/Flickr
Taschen, Cologne | © Achim Hepp/Flickr
Photo of Evelyn Smallwood
25 June 2017

Though there are major publishing houses in Germany, there are many, many small presses, most of whom have their own bookshops. The larger of the small ones sell their books exclusively, and the smaller of the small ones offer older or used books along with a selection of work from other houses. It’s Germany, and books are serious business, so naturally it’s complicated. Here are the best independent bookstores to check out when in Cologne.

Taschen

Bookstore
Map View
Founded by Cologne local Benedikt Taschen, this publisher puts out anything from $40 books about record covers or iconic t-shirts to super-deluxe $15,000 books about Mohammed Ali. Taschen started out as a comic book collector and decided early on to devote his business to super niche markets. A single book will take up nearly all of your baggage allowance; still, even just looking around is a sumptuous feast.

Buchhandlung Klaus Bittner

Bookstore
Map View
Old Books
Old Books | Pixabay
A bookshop in the American model that offers children’s books, bestsellers, and *gasp* e-books, Klaus Bittner is unique among small booksellers in that it doesn’t try to pretend that the modern world doesn’t exist. The comfy chairs and room to browse shouldn’t be confused for Indigo! or Chapters, but it is a good halfway between the church vibe other shops cultivate.

Stefan Schuelke

Bookstore
Map View
In addition to the usual exhibition catalogues, posters, magazines, photographs, and ephemera normally found in an art bookshop, Stefan Schuelke offers special editions from the 1960s-1980s and contemporary art. Every couple of months or so, there are events devoted to artists, authors, or topics of special interest. Staff at the shop are very happy to help with search requests and help develop collections.

Antiquariat Ulrich Doege

Map View

Antiquariat Ulrich Doege

Book lovers who are into signed books, illustrated books, French literature, Gotheana, or books written by hermits will love Antiquarian Ulrich Doege. It is possible to buy the books online, but when it comes to old books, there’s nothing quite like holding a possibility in your hand and giving it a good old sniff before committing.

Antiquarian Ulrich Dodge, Weyertalstr 19, Cologne, Germany

Older Books | Pixabay

Die andere Buchladen

Bookstore
Map View
Nestled on a side street in Sulz, a leafy inner suburb in the southwest of the city, just over the road from Ulrich Doege, Die andere Buchladen (the other bookstore) takes its title from a quote by Rimbaud. The inventory follows from there. Long a 1960s, wild child hotspot, the shop takes pains to stock books and magazines that aren’t available elsewhere. “Our passion for critical and ambitious literature is as unbroken as our libertarian debates.”

Zentral Antiquariat

Bookstore
Map View
With over 80,000 used books crammed in the 110-square-meter shop, Zentral Antiquariat is well worth the short journey outside of Cologne. Browsing is encouraged, and there are often readings and art exhibitions. Easily reachable by S-Bahn from the Central Station or Deutz, go on a sunny day and stop in at the Japanese Gardens on the way home.
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/germany/articles/the-best-independent-bookstores-in-cologne/
theculturetrip.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2020-45
325001
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:BNHX7TTY2V46ETCJ4W575VZBGRMDZS4U
<urn:uuid:86b25336-203c-4461-9f1f-15b6507d3f60>
2020-10-31T19:40:08Z
13.249.43.113
text/html
sha1:OU2OGSXFS6DRDV3TSLZWLWNAZ2WWJZU2
<urn:uuid:9c28717c-3239-4d9a-b890-66930ad90979>
https://theculturetrip.com/europe/germany/articles/the-best-independent-bookstores-in-cologne/
response
<urn:uuid:d613cca0-b72b-4643-a7a3-5ca1f8811b7c>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2020-45
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for October 2020
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-201.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.17 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: http://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/