Cologne in the festival frenzy: philosophical food for thought and chocolate fun!

Cologne in the festival frenzy: philosophical food for thought and chocolate fun!

Things are going well in Cologne this week! The eagerly awaited phil.Cologne festival, Germany's largest festival for philosophy, starts on Monday, June 23, 2025. Over eight days, visitors can look forward to numerous events at various locations in the city, including excursions on current topics such as artificial intelligence, democracy and global crises. The festival offers a total of 38 individual events in the adult program and is accompanied by well-known personalities. So to start with the writer Daniel Kehlmann with the philosopher Mark Gabriel talk about the effects of artificial intelligence and focus not only on art but also on social order.

Among the guests at this year's festival are also great minds like Peter Sloterdijk, Robert Habeck, Luisa Neubauer and Yagoda Marinic. The aim of the “KlasseDenken” program is to also reach the younger generation and give them ideas for individual and social coexistence.

Festival and cultural events

While the philosophical festival stimulates people's minds, there are other exciting events on the agenda in Cologne. On Tuesday, June 24th, in Chocolate Museum the new exhibition “Chocolate is a feeling” and “Cocoa's journey through time” were ceremoniously opened. The guests of honor at this opening include Mayor Henriette Reker and North Rhine-Westphalia Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst. The redesign of the museum, which has been carried out in several stages since 2018, will be completed with this event.

But that's not all that Cologne has to offer: on Saturday, June 28th Fühlinger Lake to the venue of the Rainbow Festival, which features over 20 acts such as No angels and Loreen is celebrated. At the same time, the Bundeswehr Service Center invites you to a Bundeswehr Day at the Cologne-Wahn air force barracks, where a colorful program with service dogs, aviation technology and culinary delicacies awaits visitors.

Political and cultural decisions

Cultural and political decisions are also an issue. On Monday, the building committee will discuss an interim location for the city center fire station. The city administration has set its sights on Löwengasse after original plans for the former Kaufhof headquarters were scrapped. In addition, the cultural committee is tasked with restoring the crenellated masonry on the Roman tower, and money is to be released for the repair of the facade of the west tower on the Eigelsteintorburg.

This week in Cologne is full of highlights - from philosophical exchanges to new cultural openings to colorful festivals and important political decisions. Definitely worth a visit!