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Dark Side of the Dom: Cologne's Haunted Past
4.8
45 Ratings
Köln
Explore Cologne’s eerie past with tales of witches, ghosts, and medieval misery. Uncover secrets of the Dom and haunted legends.
Explore Cologne’s eerie past with tales of witches, ghosts, and medieval misery. Uncover secrets of the Dom and haunted legends.
Duration:
2 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Heumarkt - Begin the journey in this square, renowned for its vibrant Karneval atmosphere, originally known for grain trading and public executions. Here, meet the guide and fellow travelers, and discover what the tour has in store!
- Gurzenich von Koln - Uncover the tale of this Medieval Gothic festival hall. Explore how people lived during…
- Heumarkt - Begin the journey in this square, renowned for its vibrant Karneval atmosphere, originally known for grain trading and public executions. Here, meet the guide and fellow travelers, and discover what the tour has in store!
- Gurzenich von Koln - Uncover the tale of this Medieval Gothic festival hall. Explore how people lived during the Medieval era in Germany as the tour delves into Dark Ages history.
- Sankt Alban - Explore the remains of one of Cologne’s famous churches, a poignant reminder of World War II’s destruction and its associated horrors.
- Gülichplatz - Visit the former residence of Cologne’s Robin Hood, which is also the site of his execution. Discover why Cologne struggled to maintain its treasures.
- Cologne Cathedral - Under the vast shadow of Cologne’s most cherished building, learn about the devil’s role in its construction and why it remains unfinished. Also, delve into Cologne’s history with witches.
- Die roemische Hafenstrasse in Koeln - Stroll along the original Roman road in Cologne and learn about the city’s controversial founder, seen as both a heroine and a villain.
- Gross St. Martin - Listen to tales of Germany’s most haunted house, located near Cologne, while standing in the shadow of one of its most iconic churches.
- Fischmarkt - Discover Cologne’s renowned fish market, where trade brought not only wealth but also Europe’s greatest killer.
What's Included
- English Speaking Guide with Local Stories & Tips
- Tips & Recommendations for Cologne
- English Speaking Guide with Local Stories & Tips
- Tips & Recommendations for Cologne
What's Not Included
- Gratuities if you like our tour!
- Gratuities if you like our tour!
Additional Information
Prepare to encounter witches, ghosts, murderers, and the harsh realities of life in Medieval Times.
Cologne is now celebrated as a hospitable city, rich in culture, music, festivities, and joy. However, it wasn’t always this way. Uncover the shadowy aspects of Cologne’s history and its Medieval past, with occasional glimpses into more recent times….
Prepare to encounter witches, ghosts, murderers, and the harsh realities of life in Medieval Times.
Cologne is now celebrated as a hospitable city, rich in culture, music, festivities, and joy. However, it wasn’t always this way. Uncover the shadowy aspects of Cologne’s history and its Medieval past, with occasional glimpses into more recent times.
Starting from Heumarkt, wander through Cologne’s historic city center while listening to tales and legends from the Dark Ages, featuring northern murderers and Cologne’s most haunted house.
Discover the witches who initiated and concluded Cologne’s Witch Hunts, all while enjoying views of the Dom at night.
Learn about the Devil’s role in both aiding and obstructing the Cathedral’s construction, and how one woman thwarted Satan while another helped shape the city.
Meet the zombies, thieves, and doomed souls of the Black Plague, and find out what led to the demise of Cologne’s Robin Hood.
Please choose the language for your tour separately.
Location
Heumarkt 47
Heumarkt
Meet us outside at this address in the center of our city. You'll find your guide with a name tag right outside!
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.8
(45 Ratings)
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Fl451
Dec 20, 2025
Wonderful tour - I did this tour yesterday eve, Dec 19th. Sander, our guide, was excellent. Warm, engaging, fun, knowledgeable and his enthusiasm shows through in his stories! It was great to hear the history of the city, see different areas, and get the inside gossip lol.
Unfortunately our tour was somewhat spoiled by a large family group from the USA, who clearly didn’t want to be there ( why book??!! ) They kept disappearing to buy more beer, so the guide had to wait or go look for them. They then proceeded to laugh and talk amongst themselves whilst the guide was speaking. When I asked them to be quiet they became abusive and bullying. Disgusting behaviour, rude and disrespectful.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Beti-blodyn
Dec 10, 2025
Just the thing to cap off my first full day in Cologne - Not quite a ghost tour per se, but there's plenty of gruesome things to hear about in the Dark Side of The Dom! This was my second walking tour of the day and a wonderful compliment to the daytime tour I'd taken with a different provider.
First off, our friendly guide Sander broke the ice with us all by asking us to introduce ourselves and where we came from, and our favourite thing about our country or town of origin (mine was that a good cup of tea fixes everything in the UK). Sander himself is not German, he's Norwegian, but he stayed in Cologne after university when he fell in love with both the city and his partner. You can tell he's very enthusiastic about his job and that he loves the city!
After the ice-breaker, we stopped at a kiosk to grab a kolner and learn how to properly toast in German (it's not compulsory to buy one, but a nice thing to do) before moving on. Given how packed the streets were thanks to the Christmas Markets, Sander did a fantastic job at leading us all through the chaos including taking a few diversions here and there without compromising the content of the tour. My favourite stories were of the mayor's wife who narrowly escaped a live burial thanks to grave-robbers, and how a deal with the Devil (and an attempt to outsmart him) interfered with the building of the Cathedral. The streets are so beautifully lit at night, so be sure to take lots of photos with the night-setting on your phone camera!
Sander also shared some interesting trivia for a visitor to Cologne, including which Christmas Markets attract the locals, the long-standing sibling rivalry between Dusseldorf and Cologne (oddly, this doesn't carry over to football!) and the dark and blood-spattered history of Agrippe, the black widow founder and her son Nero.
It can get a little nippy in the evenings and you'll be out in the elements for two hours, so ensure you wear some layers and bring an umbrella just in case - and good comfy shoes are an essential. Tour groups are capped at 15 people and we had a full house, so get in and pre-book early.
A fantastic end to the first day of my trip, thank you Sander!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Janzw4329im
Dec 9, 2025
Super fun tour to do - Super fun tour. Varied, humorous and informative. We were a group of about 13 people. I think all participants had a very nice tour. Our German-speaking guide, Michel, was excellent. Knew to captivate and was a smooth storyteller. Next time we will see this part of Cologne with different eyes.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Isabelmo8936gy
Dec 9, 2025
Tour of 10. - Super recommended tour. We have learned a lot about Cologne and Angela that has been our guide, great 💯. Totally a hit and super lovely. Thanks for everything Angela.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
431lasarita
Dec 9, 2025
A very interesting tour - Angela's been lovely. We really liked it. The tour has been very interesting. We did the tour today and he told us many stories
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Marina_m
Dec 8, 2025
A fun tour - Ok. So, the weather was miserable. It was cold and pouring rain. Definitely not the best for a walking tour. But our tour guide Sander made it fun. And the weather almost contributed to the atmosphere of the tour. Do even though I was soaked to the bone and probably looked like drowned cat, I still had fun.
I definitely recommend the tour but maybe, check the weather first 😁
Review provided by Viator
M1029crmichaelc
Dec 6, 2025
Don't miss the Dark Side! - What an incredible dive into the city's spooky history! More than just ghosts, also some medieval background was greatly appreciated!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Anoctato
Dec 3, 2025
Amazing! - I highly recommend it! Angela is an excellent guide, and I loved learning about the history of Cologne through her!!! :)
Review provided by Tripadvisor
R5199lqsimons
Jan 9, 2026
Great experience - It was a fun tour overall. It was a bit long at around two hours, and the weather was extremely cold, but we still enjoyed it. We didn’t realize that we wouldn’t be able to go inside the cathedral, however the guide gave us some really nice tips about it, which we appreciated.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Andrew_j
Dec 11, 2025
Nice walk round the city. But not as expected - Wasn’t really what I expected. Not many local stories. A lot about romans etc. guide was good but a few left the tour half way through. Was expecting more local stories etc
Review provided by Viator
