Every design for Kerpen

Kerpen lies on the flat land of the Cologne Bay, about 20 kilometres south-west of Cologne, with the Erft flowing past the town centre and parts of the Hambach lignite mine and the Hambacher Forst inside its boundaries. It is the most populated town in the Rhein-Erft-Kreis, formed in 1975 when Kerpen joined with nine neighbouring villages, among them Horrem, Sindorf, Buir and Türnich.

Few towns its size can claim such a cast of famous names. Adolph Kolping, the Catholic priest and social reformer, was born here, which is why Kerpen has carried the title Kolpingstadt since 2012. Motor racing runs just as deep: Wolfgang von Trips, and later Michael and Ralf Schumacher, all belong to Kerpen's story, as does the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. And for nearly two centuries, until 1712, this was a Spanish outpost in the middle of the Rhineland.

Between the Geburtshaus Adolph Kolping, Burg Mödrath, Schloß Lörsfeld and the woods of the Bürgewald Dickbusch und Lörsfelder Busch, Kerpen holds more than most visitors expect, and returning to it always feels like coming home.