On April 9 at 4:30 AM, a delegation from the SPD parliamentary group, including the group leader Jochen Ott, the environmental policy spokesperson René Schneider, and the two Cologne representatives Lena Teschlade and Carolin Kirsch, will visit the Cologne wholesale market. The reason for this visit is the SPD group's application dated October 17, 2023, in the NRW state parliament titled "No wholesale market, no weekly market." A panel of experts already formed at the end of January 2024, and at the end of April 2024, the debate in the state parliament will follow and a decision will be made.
As 1. FC Köln decided to forego the relocation offered by the city administration to Marsdorf, to areas previously reserved for the development of a modern wholesale and fresh food center, it becomes clear that with the closure of the wholesale market at the end of 2025 and the relocation to Marsdorf in Raderberg decided in 2007 and not yet realized, there will no longer be a wholesale market in the future.
Driven by the parliamentary coalition of Bündnis90/Die Grünen, the CDU, and Mayor Henriette Reker, the city administration has also reset the planning status to zero, as they have failed to find an investor for the construction and operation. At the end of April, a first workshop will take place, focusing on a two-story construction on the areas in Marsdorf, which have been reduced to less than eight hectares.
"The current situation at the existing site is dystopian and can be considered damaging to business, for the local traders and entrepreneurs as well as all stakeholders, such as suppliers and customers including restaurateurs, weekly markets, food retail, etc.," says Michael Rieke, spokesperson for the Cologne Wholesale Market Interest Group e. V.
For more information:
www.koelner-grossmarkt.de