The Pyramid Park in Cologne From tram depot to district park

The park is characterized by an elongated pyramid of grass that rises to 8 m and offers views of the diverse surroundings from its highest point. The pyramid separates the park from a large car park. From the neighbouring Old Deutz Cemetery an ascending path, along which terraces of fruit trees are staggered, leads to the linear main path. Parallel to this runs a railway track which ends at a buffer stop. This detail is reminiscent of the former tram depot of the Cologne public transport company on this site. At the entrance to Deutz-Kalker Straße, a summer-cool square of chestnut trees, which continues the tree backdrop of the cemetery, invites visitors to linger. Its formal structure gradually dissolves, creating a continuous transition from shade to sunny park. In the center of the Pyramid Park lies a spacious lawn, which, without any usage guidelines, invites to play, linger or picnic. For the neighbouring districts of Deutz and Kalk, which are seriously undersupplied with green spaces, as well as the University of Applied Sciences with its 7,000 students, the park represents a great enrichment. This was the aim of the Stadtsparkasse Köln, which wanted to make a sustainable contribution to the expansion of Cologne's green spaces as part of Agenda 21. The site, which had previously been almost completely sealed, offered great development potential for this piece of urban repair. The Pyramidenpark is the link of a traffic-free green zone, which leads from the Stadthaus and KölnArena over the islanded cemetery to Kalk. The park was opened in the year of the introduction of the Euro. In memory of the old European currencies and as a reference to the sponsor, plates with lire, francs, guilders and the coinage of all other countries are embedded in the main path.