Achim Schmitz - Köln
Achim Schmitz
Presenting Cologne's New Class
It’s easy for the girls: little white angels are fluttering around Achim Schmitz. And while other boys arrived in blue for their first communion, he wears a brown corduroy suit, a beige shirt, a brown velvet bow-tie and brown shoes. Maybe that was the moment that put Achim Schmitz on the path of being a truffle pig for fashion. Or maybe it was growing up without the internet: in order to find items like crocodile-leather shoes or a black-and-white new-wave outfit he had to look for analogue sources. After a short period of trading with vintage furniture he finds his way back to the suits: since 2008, he sells them in addition to shirts, trousers, pullovers and shoes that withstand his keen eye for style in his Herrenbude store. Suddenly someone enters his store in Cologne and asks for a pair of trousers that are made of grey jeans fabric. But even Achim Schmitz was not able to find them anywhere – so he orders them to be made. Nowadays, the Herrenbude has its own fashion line by the name of “Hausmarke” – and the customer who provided the stumbling block with his request became an employee. Since 2015, Achim Schmitz offers a consultation for customers for having a suit tailored after your personal taste out of 600 fabrics and 200 designs. He always recognises the perfect choice in an instant: “A man does not look disguised when wearing a really good suit”. Even when everybody else is wearing blue.
Text: Petra Engelke
Foto: Thomas Wiuf Schwartz
Amerika Haus
An Amerikahaus in the former school of the first German chancellor: that is how easy politics after the Second World War was sometimes. Until 2007, the US Information Agency was the tenant and operator of the house, which contributed to the re-education and transatlantic partnership with, among other things, an archive, lectures and films. Nowadays, a registered association whose members are, for example, software producers and holdings, but also the US Consulate General and the City of Cologne, runs things. Concerts, economic dialogues, start-up promotion and programmes such as "Junges Amerika Haus" (Young America House) are the bilateral order of the day nowadays. Those who visit the listed monument building will start at the Fritz-Thyssen-Stiftung, the first major German science funding association after the war. Since 2013, it has ensured the continued use of the house.
Autor: Jens Kobler
Apostelnkloster 13-15 50672 Köln Köln www.amerikahaus-nrw.de
The Bridge
Since 1839, the Cologne Kunstverein (art association) has existed and has been making a noise in the world over the centuries. With early exhibits by Paul Klee and Hans Arp for examples, but after that, also with Fluxus works, it experienced most flourishing times. Since 2003, "Die Brücke" (The Bridge) has been the home of the association and its exhibitions; the former British Council, which still named the house thus in the early fifties as the British Information Centre. In the present, the war memories and -avoidance invoking architecture, is combined with contemporary exhibitions and studio programmes. Art and culture as a means to reach understanding and reconciliation will in this place programmatically fill the name "bridge" with new life in a traditional sense.
Autor: Jens Kobler
Hahnenstr. 6 50667 Köln http://www.koelnischerkunstverein.de text: koelnischerkunstverein.de
Ernst Kaffeeröster
Germany's coffee culture has been making steady progress for decades, not least thanks to activists such as Ernst Kaffee. It is not without justification that the roasting house alleges that "coffee is like wine", thus giving itself the task to adequately represent the diversity of the fruit. This is done in workshops where, depending on the date, various topics such as cupping or filters are discussed, but also of course in the bar, for the ultimate enjoyment: nutty or fruity espresso, rich milk from the local farm, various brewing methods and of course beans, beans, beans let the pleasure and curiosity spread into time and space in this Slow-Bar. Those who have little time, simply use the shop, which manages to break the boundaries of the genre with its product range. A stronghold for coffee in Europe.
Autor: Jens Kobler
Bonner Str. 56 50677 Köln http://www.ernst-kaffee.de
Marcel Struck & Exquisit
It's Friday morning, 10:30. Marcel Struck is on his way from Berlin to Cologne when he calls. For his collection of industrial design, he is on the road so much that no week is the same. He often travels to France, and recently he was in Austria to pick up workbenches from the 1920s to bring them back to Cologne. Whether an object is valuable enough to purchase, for Marcel has nothing to do with whether it is old or new, but whether, according to him, it is beautiful and thus worth preserving. Driven by his own definition of sustainability, he keeps his finds in Cologne in a 400sqm warehouse - filled up to the ceiling.
Marcel has now made his passion for collecting public and runs the shop "Exquisit" in Cologne-Ehrenfeld as a hobby. There, he offers restored furniture and accessories such as lamps or apothecary cabinets for sale every Saturday.
Before he came to Cologne eight years ago, he had worked as a restorer for a long time, among others in Zurich and Hamburg. Today he earns his money with the interior furnishing of companies. Recently, he was responsible for the product presentations of an automotive manufacturer, but most of his commissions come from the gastronomy sector. "That suits me. To me, aesthetics and food simply go together," he says. "The chef needs to know his concept, just like the space needs a red thread." For Marcel's work, this means comprehensive planning, ranging from furniture to flooring to the placement of sockets. His goal is to keep the product at the forefront at all times. In the process, Marcel refuses to provide leftovers, à la looking what is left in the fridge. "If someone says to me, "We've got five or six chairs here, and need some other stuff to go with it”, I don't do business with them."
Even when he needs large numbers of pieces, Marcel can rely on his warehouse, like for example his 120 Tapiovaara chairs, which he bought cheap at an auction. This way he can furnish several branches with originals himself.
It also happens that he is invited to pick up things: "There was an offer from the Stasi prison in Bautzen once, I picked up the complete interior lighting and then re-installed it in a hotel. The same lamp is now hanging in every room."
To ensure that everything looks like it comes from a single source, he works together with subcontractors and hires painters, tilers and electricians.
He still likes to work in his workshop himself. He is currently building the prototype of a table support, which will be presented in 2017.
He is fully booked with commissions up to the end of the year, so to meet him personally, it is best to visit his shop. Because even with 45315 Likes on Facebook, he is economical with online communication. There is no detailed homepage. Everyone who appreciates special finds and Marcel's work in this field, should come directly to Exquisit: "See the dimensions, touch the furniture" and enter into a conversation about it with Marcel.
Autor: Judith Pielsticker
Fotos: Bozica Babic
Fröbelplatz 13 50823 Köln http://www.exquisit-möbel.de
Funkhaus
Beside the Cathedral and the Central Station: the Westdeutsche Rundfunk, in the times of the Bonn Republic as well as nowadays, there is hardly any more obvious symbol of territorial media authority for the media location of NRW. Retro? No, a Cologne original with a friendly café in the Funkhaus at the Wallrafplatz, which combines all the comforts of Rhinish hospitality with media as well as architectural post-war history. One experiences the 50s, resurrected out of the ruins, built on the debris of the Monopol Hotel. And also the present, with a rich daily programme from breakfast over the coffee table to the light restaurant kitchen and a bar with naturally representative cocktails and a generally large selection. The terrace with a great view as well as the guest room, haven of many live transmissions of concerts, talks and readings, perfectly complete the still typical Cologne flair.
Autor: Jens Kobler
Wallrafplatz 3 50667 Köln http://www. funkhaus-koeln.de
Kolumba
Poured into the form of an association by two brothers - one a suffragan bishop, the other a painter – in 1853, the Christian Art of Cologne has experienced several turning points. Until 1927, when the purely gothic ideal was abandoned, the Diocesan Museum at Roncalliplatz was their homestead. During the war, most of the artworks were located in the Westerwald. Thus, only parts of the façade remain, but neither national socialists nor bombs could ruin the collection. It was enlarged with Byzantine and Coptic pieces in 1972, and the entire collection ultimately completely returned to its original site in 1989, and the archbishopric became owner again. Many collection expansions and the development of new formats followed. In 2007, the new building was opened, on the masonry of St. Kolumba, a Romanesque church also destroyed in the war, as well as on the chapel "Madonna in den Trümmern" which followed it.
Autor: Jens Kobler
Kolumbastr. 4 50667 Köln http://www.kolumba.de
Le Pop Lingerie
Can we have a private girl's evening in a lingerie business for once? This is exactly what Le Pop offers with "Toys n Girls", so to speak: "Giggling loudly, trying out something daring, accompanied with drinks!" The boutique with the inverted heart as a logo can be regarded as one of the most interesting lingerie stores in Germany and takes care of the population with a passion in regards of style around their erotic and romantic textile needs. Already noted as the best concept store in Germany, behind the concept is, charmingly, a French woman who also often represents her variant of feminism in the media and at meetings. In the shop itself, occasionally interactive catwalks, pyjama parties and concerts take place, and besides lingerie, swimwear, toys and gifts are also available. Private shopping is possible by arrangement.
Autor: Jens Kobler
Geisselstr. 10 50823 Köln http://www.lepoplingerie.de
Rheinpark Café
At the editorial deadline of this issue, the concrete future of the Rheinparkcafé is still unsure. An initiative called "perle sucht dame" (pearl seeks lady) is working together with the municipality to ensure that a year-round operation is restored after a renovation - after a good 30 years of lying dormant. Planned for 2018 in the magnificent fifties building with its opulent terraces and the water garden, are a café and kiosk on the ground floor and a Mediterranean restaurant and a lounge on the second floor. While the process on the listed monument is pursued with a keen eye, it cannot fill the stomach yet, but at least two alternatives are offered in the 48-hectare Rheinpark: the Rhine terraces and the Rosen café as part of the Claudius Therme spa. It is clear, however, that a functioning park café would not replace either.
Autor: Jens Kobler
Rheinparkweg 50679 Köln http://www.rheinparkcafe-koeln.de
rock-it-baby
Passion for rock as a European phenomenon: The label rock-it-baby has been producing in Slovakia for fair conditions and selling worldwide from Cologne for over ten years. Meanwhile the palet has been expanded with coats, shirts, dresses and accessories, always with material tested for pollutants and from European suppliers. Clear lines can also be found in the shop itself, which, like their online shop, still gives top priority to rock, true to the motto "bring women into Röcke (skirts)!" or meanwhile also "everything but pants." Femininity as a concern In Ehrenfeld means, of course, also in this case, the opportunity to try on outfits together, accompanied by sparkling wine. Especially popular are the collection presentations in the rhythm of the seasons.
Autor: Jens Kobler
Rothehausstr. 3 50823 Köln http://www.rock-it-baby.de