Comfort and Modernity – Cologne 1918–1926

Cologne in the years following the First World War was marked by political uncertainty, economic hardship, and foreign occupation, yet it was simultaneously a site of remarkable cultural renewal. The exhibition “Gemütlichkeit und Moderne. Köln 1918–1926”, which runs until March 15, 2026, presents a compelling panorama of a city in transition. The title of the exhibition proves a precise guiding principle: Cologne does not appear as a radically modern metropolis, but as a city in which the desire for familiarity and social connection intertwines with cautious, yet deliberate steps toward modernity.

This tension is particularly evident in the realm of design. Everyday objects, furniture, and graphic works reveal how the city’s aesthetics oscillated between artisanal tradition and functional innovation. Many designs still rely on ornamentation, warm materials, and bourgeois comfort, while at the same time clear lines, sober forms, and a new functional logic begin to emerge. Design here is not an autonomous aesthetic experiment but a response to changed living conditions. The exhibition makes it clear that in Cologne, design was conceived as an integral part of daily life: living, working, and leisure were reorganized without abandoning the emotional attachment to familiar forms.

The art on display follows a similarly mediating approach. Cologne is not presented as a center of radical avant-garde movements, but as a city in which multiple artistic currents coexisted. Expressionist and New Objectivity works respond to the experiences of war, social tensions, and societal change, without entirely abandoning local traditions. Notably, art was deeply embedded in urban structures: museums, associations, and exhibitions functioned as spaces of exchange, where art was understood as a commentary on society. The exhibition conveys an image of art that seeks less to provoke than to guide and reflect.

A similar pattern emerges in architecture and urban planning. Despite limited resources, Cologne developed ambitious visions of itself as a modern metropolis. New residential districts, transportation projects, and exhibition halls reflect a functional, forward-looking approach closely tied to social reform ideas. Architecture is understood not only as a formal discipline but as a means to improve living conditions. At the same time, the historic urban fabric remains present, creating the impression of a consciously chosen coexistence of old and new. Modernity appears not as a rupture, but as an extension of the existing.

The exhibition comes alive particularly when it focuses on the city’s cultural life. Theater, music, carnival, dance halls, and early cinemas paint a picture of a society that, despite political uncertainty, sought pleasure, community, and forms of expression. The “Cologne gemütlichkeit” is not presented as a nostalgic cliché but as a social practice that fostered cohesion and made modernization feasible. New media and leisure forms transformed urban life and contributed to the development of a modern, widely accessible cultural consciousness.

“The panel exhibition takes a look behind the scenes: from the end of the war and the British occupation to city life, leisure and the arts. Cologne is a city on the move yet still rooted in tradition, oscillating between a cosy local identity and big-city modernity. Much like today.

After the British withdrawal in early 1926, Butzweilerhof Airport develops into the “Air Hub of the West”. When the Cologne–Paris air route opens in May 1926, Adenauer lets himself be photographed in the cockpit – a striking image of a city embracing the future. Despite its challenges, the Weimar Republic promises progress. The global economic crisis is still years away, the Nazis just a tiny fringe group. Much that once seemed impossible now looks within reach – also and especially in Cologne. This young democracy’s future collapse is by no means a foregone conclusion.“ [1]

The exhibition impresses with its calm, nuanced narrative. It avoids simplistic narratives of progress and instead shows how modernity in Cologne was lived as a process of negotiation—between tradition and renewal, local identity and international influence. These subtle tensions make “Gemütlichkeit und Moderne. Cologne 1918–1926” a remarkable exhibition, one that bridges historical distance with striking relevance and invites reflection on the interplay of city, culture, and social change.

Comfort and Modernity
Cologne 1918–1926
Exhibition venue:
LVR-Landeshaus, Cologne-Deutz
Kennedy-Ufer 2, 50679 Cologne

11 December 2025 – 15 March 2026
Open daily, Monday to Sunday, 10 am–6 pm
Free admission

Events (in German only)

Individual tours at: museenkoeln.de

For all public tours: Participation and admission are free.

Kuratorenführung – Mit Dr. Mario Kramp durch die Ausstellung
Do., 18. Dezember 2025, 18 Uhr

Öffentliche Führung des Museumsdienstes Köln
So., 21. Dezember 2025, 14 Uhr

Kuratorenführung – Mit Dr. Mario Kramp durch die Ausstellung
Fr., 9. Januar 2026, 16.30 Uhr

Familienführung des Museumsdienstes Köln
Sa., 17. Januar 2026, 14 Uhr

Kuratorenführung – Mit Dr. Mario Kramp durch die Ausstellung
Do., 22. Januar 2026, 18 Uhr

Senior*innenführung des Museumsdienstes Köln
Sa., 24. Januar 2026, 14 Uhr

Kuratorenführung – Mit Dr. Mario Kramp durch die Ausstellung
Fr., 6. Februar 2026, 16.30 Uhr

Familienführung des Museumsdienstes Köln
So., 15. Februar 2026, 14 Uhr

Öffentliche Führung des Museumsdienstes Köln
Sa., 21. Februar 2026, 14 Uhr

Kuratorenführung – Mit Dr. Mario Kramp durch die Ausstellung
Do., 26. Februar 2026, 18 Uhr

Senior*innenführung des Museumsdienstes Köln
Sa., 7. März 2026, 14 Uhr