Schildergasse

The Schildergasse (German: [ˈʃɪldɐˌɡasə]; Kölsch: Schelderjaß [ˌʃel²dɐˈjasˑ]) is a shopping street in central Cologne, Germany. With 13,000 people passing through it every hour, it is the busiest shopping street in Europe, according to a 2008 suey by GfK.[1][2] The Schildergasse is a designated pedestrian zone and stretches for about 500 meters from the Hohe Straße at its eastern end to the Neumarkt at the western end.

Schildergasse as seen from the roof top of Galeria Kaufhof

The street dates back to Roman times, when it was the city's Decumanus Maximus. During the Middle Ages it was home to many artists who painted heraldic coats of arms, whence the street's name (Schilder means signs or escutcheons). Among today's landmarks on Schildergasse are the Atoniterkirche, the oldest Protestant church in Cologne, and Peek & Cloppenburg's Weltstadthaus, designed by Renzo Piano.

Nearby places of interest

See also

References
  1. Deutsche Welle: Europe's Busiest Shopping Street – The Schildergasse in Cologne Archived 2011-08-15 at the Wayback Machine, 2008 survey by GfK (in English)
  2. Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: Schildergasse ist Europas Nummer 1, 2008 survey by CB Richard Ellis (in German)

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