Siebter Himmel Cologne

Whenever I am strolling around "Belgisches Viertel" (so called because all the street names refer to Belgian cities) with its nice shops and cafés, I finally end up in one of my favorite bookstores: 7. Himmel!

The concept behind the bookstore was to create a sort of theme park for books - complemented by little islands of designer goods, stationery and fashion. The store is quite spacious without being impersonal. You can walk from room to room and each one is dedicated to a new book world. There is a huge shelf with cookbooks, a corner with DIY guides, a children's corner, fiction, non-fiction, English books, audio books... as the name "7. Himmel" indicates: it's booklover's heaven! In the furthermost angle you can try on fashion and accessories from the Finnish label "Marimekko".

I especially love the magazine room with a fine selection of art, DIY and lifestyle magazines, postcards and notebooks. One shelf is transformed to a shop window like that of an old-fashioned kiosk (in Cologne called "Büdchen" - a veritable institution!) with chocolate bars and a candy machine next to it.

If you plan to visit 7. Himmel, you should make sure you have plenty of time. It's a heavenly delight to discover every single nook of this shop.