It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when LOFT first began as a concert venue. The only thing that is certain is this: it all started with an idea, a thought, and a process that took on a clearer form over the years. At first, it was abstract: no space, no building, no program—and certainly no anniversary! Just the desire to create a place for music, for taking risks, for freedom… and for encounters.
My father couldn’t get this idea out of his head: it was to be a classroom for himself, but also a concert hall for others. On April 1, 1986, the time had come: he rented a floor in a courtyard right next to the Cologne University of Music and Dance. This was the first LOFT, located in a place where it couldn’t remain for long for such purposes. After moving on November 1, 1987, to Wissmannstraße in Ehrenfeld, and 40 years later, that idea has become history – written by musicians, by the audience, and by all those who worked behind the scenes to ensure that an initial idea became a home.
In April 1989, we celebrated Three Years of LOFT with an exhibition by the late photographer Josef Snobl. At that time, LOFT was not only a venue for music but also a space for art, and an active member of the Ehrenfeld Art Association. Ultimately, however, music remained the central focus, and in September 1989, the purchase of the first Steinway grand piano marked the beginning of a new era: in our view, a concert hall is only truly complete when it houses an exceptional grand piano. Its inauguration marked the start of a regular concert program, a new “zero hour,” and for this reason, we celebrated 30 years of LOFT (in Ehrenfeld!) in September 2019. In January 1993, the A-grand was traded in for a Steinway D-grand, and the LOFT thus became the definitive favorite spot for pianists, far beyond the Cologne scene. And what began with around 70 concerts per year has grown over the years to currently more than 200 concerts a year.
Alongside the regular concert program, a small studio was also established, initially intended only for audio documentation. This gradually developed into a professional recording studio, which has since produced more than 1,500 releases in addition to live recordings and recordings for various radio stations.

It was impossible to foresee that a “idea” would turn into a success story that I have had the privilege of continuing to write for nine years now. The long journey to get here was only possible through initiative, financial resources, enthusiasm, and above all, a great deal of time and hard work. The awards the LOFT has received in recent years are an impressive testament to this journey: since the award was first presented in 2009, we have received the State of North Rhine-Westphalia’s Venue Program Award every year, as well as the German Jazz Prize for Club of the Year in 2021 and 2023, and in 2014 the Federal Venue Program Award / Initiative Musik, with which we – following its restructuring – were once again honored in 2024 and 2025 as the Best Live Music Venue in the form of the APPLAUS award.
This appreciation for our work would not have been possible without the support of many colleagues. We extend our heartfelt thanks to them: sound engineers Ansgar Ballhorn, Stefan Deistler, Christian Heck, and Lukas Lohner; to piano technician and friend Hans Giese and his colleagues Johannes Jee and Martin Lintzen; to our closest colleague and soulmate Christopher Ullrich; to our jungloftler*innen; to the countless musicians who have brought the LOFT to life with their music; to cultural policymakers who recognized and supported the LOFT’s quality early on; and a patient neighborhood in the courtyard and on Wissmannstraße.
We look forward to presenting the LOFT to you on Sunday, April 26th, 2026, during an Open House: featuring numerous artists from the Cologne scene and a musical program that, even after 40 years, remains unparalleled.

I am looking forward to meeting you here!
Dr. Urs Benedikt Müller