Living in Bickendorf, Cologne

Bickendorf belongs to the Ehrenfeld Stadtbezirk, northwest of the city centre. Ossendorf lies to the north and northeast, Ehrenfeld to the south and southeast, Vogelsang to the west. Around sixteen thousand people live in its 2.33 square kilometres. It was a farming village until Cologne absorbed it in 1888, and the city rebuilt it as housing in the decades that followed.

What it is

A district of planned estates rather than speculative apartment blocks. From about 1915 the municipal housing company GAG laid out several hundred workers' flats here, and from 1923 came the Rosenhof estate, designed by a group of architects including Wilhelm Riphahn, whose builders worked to the Cologne motto Lich, Luff und Bäumcher - light, air and a few trees. That principle is still visible: low terraces around planted courtyards, wide grass verges, the green called Der Rosengarten at the heart of the Rosenhof. Between the estates run ordinary streets of small apartment houses and post-war infill. The Rochuskirche, finished in 1849, and the square in front of it are the historic centre; Venloer Straße runs through the district as the continuation of the Ehrenfeld high street.

Who lives here

A genuinely working-class and multicultural population, with a share of foreign-born residents and a rate of unemployment both clearly above the Cologne average. Long-settled Turkish, Kurdish, Moroccan and Italian families, older German residents who grew up in the GAG estates, and an increasing number of younger tenants and small families pushed out of Ehrenfeld by rents. That last group is the reason to look here: Bickendorf is the closest thing to affordable that still has two Stadtbahn lines and a real high street.

What it's like during the day

Everyday and unpolished. Venloer Straße carries the shops - greengrocers, butchers, bakeries, phone shops, discount supermarkets, kebab counters - and the pavements are busy from morning on. Around Rochusplatz and the weekly market on Vitalisstraße the district has its social centre. The estate streets behind are quiet, with kids on bikes and washing on balconies. Green space is scattered rather than concentrated: the Rosengarten, the courtyards of the estates, and the larger parks just over the boundary in Ossendorf and Neuehrenfeld.

What it's like in the evening

Quiet, local and early. There are corner Kneipen, Turkish cafés, a few restaurants along Venloer Straße, and not much else - no clubs, no bar strip, no crowd. Bickendorf's evening life happens one stop down the line, in Ehrenfeld, where the music venues and the late bars are, and both lines run back afterwards. Some streets can feel bleak after dark, particularly around the wider roads and the industrial edges towards Ossendorf; the estate streets themselves are unremarkable and normal.

Getting around

Stadtbahn lines 3 and 4 both run through the district and stop at Wolffsohnstraße, Akazienweg and Rochusplatz. From Rochusplatz they run east through Leyendeckerstraße, Venloer Straße/Gürtel, Körnerstraße and Piusstraße - the heart of Ehrenfeld - to Hans-Böckler-Platz/Bf West, Friesenplatz, Appellhofplatz and Neumarkt, so the centre is around a dozen minutes and Ehrenfeld is three or four. Line 3 continues north to Bocklemünd and the Görlinger-Zentrum; line 4 turns off to Bocklemünd as well and, in the other direction, crosses the Rhine to Mülheim and Schlebusch. Bus lines 139, 140, 141 and 143 cover the streets away from the tram. The ground is flat and cycling into the centre takes about twenty minutes.

Eating and shopping

Cheap and well stocked. Venloer Straße has discount supermarkets at both ends, Turkish and Middle Eastern greengrocers that undercut the chains on fruit and vegetables, halal butchers, and bakeries that open very early. The weekly market on Vitalisstraße near Rochusplatz covers fresh produce. Eating out means Turkish, Kurdish, Syrian and Italian, at prices that would be impossible in the Neustadt, plus the usual Imbiss counters. For anything more ambitious, Ehrenfeld is three tram stops away.

When NOT to pick it

Do not pick it if you want a polished street scene, a nightlife district or a cafe culture - none of that is here, and the parts near the industrial edges are plainly rough. Do not pick it if you want Altbau with stucco ceilings, because the stock is mostly inter-war estate housing and post-war blocks. Do not pick it if you need a park at the door or if you dislike main-road noise, since Venloer Straße is loud. If you want the same connection with more life and can pay more, look southeast to Ehrenfeld or Neuehrenfeld; if you want quieter and greener at a similar price, look west to Vogelsang.

Bickendorf is the right choice if your budget is the constraint and you still want to reach the city centre in a quarter of an hour without changing: two Stadtbahn lines, a working high street, a weekly market, and rooms at prices that have disappeared from the districts nearer in. For students, apprentices, new arrivals and anyone counting the rent, it is one of the best-value addresses in Cologne.