Kölner Haie - Season 2026/27

The lights go out, the video cube flickers, then the players skate onto the ice through a wide-open shark’s mouth – and in a sold-out arena, 18,000 people rise to their feet at the same time. Wow.

What Cologne locals affectionately call the “shark tank” is actually the LANXESS arena in Deutz, nicknamed “Henkelmännchen” by people in Cologne because of its arched roof. On Kölner Haie home game days, it is one of the best-attended ice hockey arenas in Europe.

Why a home game belongs on every Cologne list

In the stands, the season-ticket veteran sits next to a family with children, jerseys next to after-work shirts. Before the puck drops, the club anthem plays in Kölsch – and everyone sings along, no matter where they’ve travelled from.

Then there’s the sport itself: fast, physical, decided in seconds. If you’re looking for the biggest thrill, keep an eye out early for the Rhine derby against Düsseldorf – these games are popular and traditionally sell out quickly.

Kölner Haie on the ice since 1972: eight championships, a city behind them

It all began with a breakaway: in 1972, the ice hockey department of the Kölner Eis-Klub became independent – and promptly moved up into Germany’s top division, where the Haie have played continuously ever since. They have been German champions eight times, three of them in a row in the late eighties. In 1994, they were among the founding members of the German Ice Hockey League and immediately won its very first championship. Until 1998, the ice stadium on Lentstraße was their home port; then the club moved across the Rhine into Cologne’s biggest living room.