Artheater

Artheater is a club, concert venue and theatre in Ehrenfeld, Cologne, at Ehrenfeldgürtel 127. Actors Stefan Bohne and Bernd Rehse established it in 1998 after conceiving the space together, and have run it jointly since. Its programme combines electronic music, jazz, pop and independent theatre with other events. The production Kissenmann won the Cologne Theater Prize in 2006.

The main floor holds 300 people, the basement 200 and the bar area 100. Funktion-One speakers serve the Mainfloor; the Basement has an AD24 system with tops and subwoofers. Concerts, theatre and club nights share the programme, with the club focused on techno, trance and house. Recurring club nights include Aura, TagX, Bergwacht, Lichtblick and 303. Jazzorama is a weekly Tuesday session; the venue also runs a monthly Latin Session and hosts Jazz Against the Machine twice a year. Artheater presents around 240 concerts annually.

SYNONYM and KatanaTechno are among the promoters that have held events at Artheater. Badlokk and Omon Breaker have performed there, while AnnenMayKantereit took some early artistic steps at the venue. In December 2024, the operators bought the neighboring property at Ehrenfeldgürtel 129, formerly a car dealership, for planned cultural programming, club events, concerts, experimental formats and gastronomy. The acquisition also helped secure the local cultural-protection zone.