Roman burial chamber in Cologne-Weiden

One of Cologne's most outstanding testimonies from Roman times

In the middle of Cologne-Weiden (Aachener Straße 1328) lies one of the greatest archaeological treasures in North Rhine-Westphalia: a Roman burial chamber.
Since the middle of the 2nd century AD, a rich estate family buried their deceased relatives there. For a long time, the burial chamber was not accessible - only since July 2019 has it been opened as part of an attractive learning and experience site and can be visited.

Discovered rather accidentally in 1843 during excavation work, the Weiden Roman tomb is today one of the best-preserved and most impressive burial sites from Roman times north of the Alps. It shows a large part of its original furnishings - pure antiquity. The underground burial chamber would also be something special in Rome.

The burial chamber provides a variety of insights into the Romans' ideas of the afterlife, burial practices, the cult of the dead and funerary art. It opens the door to the realm of the dead, but also tells a lot about the living.

Visitors can expect a unique spatial impression with emotional fascination reinforced by the mysterious, almost magical twilight that enters through the opening in the floor of the superimposed protective structure.

And that, too, is the burial chamber in Weiden: one of the earliest testimonies to state preservation of historical monuments in Germany. The restoration and safeguarding of the archaeological findings, the erection of a protective building above it and a guardhouse right next door by the Prussian provincial administration, its public presentation and accessibility in 1848 are still unprecedented today - a good 170 years later. Moreover, the entire ensemble is associated with none other than the former Cologne Cathedral master builder Ernst Friedrich Zwirner.