Overview
- At 11:11 the 2025/2026 session began with thousands celebrating in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Mainz under sunny skies.
- Cologne deployed about 1,000 police plus 450 city staff and roughly 1,200 private guards, enforcing a daytime glass ban and an official drone ban over central hotspots.
- Capacity limits triggered early closures at the Zülpicher Straße/Kwartier Latäng entrances, with additional temporary shutdowns reported at Heumarkt and selected access points.
- City aid stations treated about 96 people by early evening and transferred 13 to hospitals, and youth-protection checks found 21 of 30 tested shops selling alcohol or tobacco to minors.
- Köln Hauptbahnhof was temporarily closed after trespassers entered the tracks, then reopened with lingering delays and cancellations across regional services.