Cologne Ring

The ring road encircles the old town of Cologne on its southern, western and northern boundaries on the site of the former medieval city wall.

Of the once twelve medieval city gates, only the Eigelsteintorburg at Ebertplatz, the Hahnentor at Rudolfplatz and the Severinstorburg at Chlodwigplatz still stand today.

The following is a list of these sections, clockwise from south to north: The Ubierring is the southern end of the Cologne Ring and is named after the Ubii, a Germanic tribe and first inhabitants of the new founded Roman city of CCAA.

Ubierring is some 400 metres long and joins with Agrippinaufer (a river embankment road along the redeveloped Rheinauhafen, which leads into Bayenthal and Rodenkirchen) to the east and Chlodwigplatz to the west.

The Chlodwigsplatz 50°55′16″N 6°57′35″E / 50.92111°N 6.95972°E / 50.92111; 6.95972 is a centre of the Severinsviertel, a busy traffic roundabout and a 5-way intersection of Ubierring from the east, Karolingerring from the north-west, Severinstraße from the north and Merowinger and Bonner Straße from the south.

This 800-metre-long section of the ring road is bounded by mostly free-standing, modern office blocks, as well as the early 13th century Ulrepforte.

As several roads and tram lines meet at Barbarossaplatz 50°55′45″N 6°56′30″E / 50.92917°N 6.94167°E / 50.92917; 6.94167, the square is an important hub for private and public transportation in Cologne.

The square is named after Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa (1122–1190) and was originally laid out as an oval space with two circular traffic islands.

Halfway along its course, Hohenstaufenring passes the Sacred Heart Church (Herz-Jesu-Kirche) on Zülpicher Platz, the latter also serves as a tram station.

It is an important hub for private and public transportation in Cologne, as several roads and tram lines meet at Rudolfplatz.

The Hohenzollernring is the main entertainment district of Cologne, with numerous restaurants, cafes, movie theaters, discothèques and night clubs along its course and in the adjacent side streets.

[2] Since the 1990s, competing gangs of bouncers have fought over control of the nightclubs here, extorting money from the clubs and befriending girls for exploitation as prostitutes.