This is the new skate spot in Köln, on the ‘other’ side of the Rhein, underneath the Zoobrücke.
It is not DIY. Otherwise, it would be much better. But I won’t waste this space complaining about how rad it would have been if there was some kind of a bowl, instead of these little concrete obstacles strewn here and there.
In progress: In the small town of Eitorf, outside of Siegburg, which is about 20 minutes from Köln, Germany is a fairly decent sized skatepark being built by Minus Pools.
Arty Farty gallery in Cologne joined forces with Wasted Box Skateshop and belgium illustrator ELZO … Keep reading
Confusion Magazine – Issue #4 – release date end of Janauary, 2012. Featuring Adam Benson, Matt Grabowski, Balder Lehmann, Ferit Batir, Phil Jackson and Sadam Yoshizawa.
I first checked out Scheisse Manelli back in 2006 at the Jury Room in Santa Cruz. Advertised as “skate punk” from Germany, I had to go check them out. Classic hardcore punk ‘n’ roll with humorous songs about skateboarding, rebellion, and running from the cops. I asked the singer, Samuel el Action for a CD after the show, to review it in my old magazine, Concussion. For the next five years, every time they were playing in California, I was in Germany, and every time they played in Germany, I was in California. Finally, five years later, we were both in the same city at the same time.
October 1st was a momentous day in Cologne with the opening of the first concrete bowl in Germany’s fourth largest city. Built by IOU Ramps and the local skaters of Cologne, the OWL BOWL is located at the NorthBrigade Skatepark, which has been open since the 1980s. Skaters from around Germany showed up for the opening party which was graced with sunny skies, which at this time of the year is a treat, as there was just as much chance the rain would shut down the event.
Finally, in Cologne, Germany, at the NorthBrigade skate park a new concrete bowl is being built!
Lohse Ramp. Cologne, Germany. September, 2010
Locals Only!
No bands.
No food.
No story.
Sometimes you can’t always live in the past. Today the sun was shining and we headed to the North Brigade for a session with the Impakt Crüe and friends.
A month after the city had a brief but futile attempt to destroy the under the bridge DIY spot built by the skaters of Köln, the Yama Skateboards team from Austria were passing through town on their way to Belgium. We had planned a mini-ramp session at the Lohse Ramp, but Germany’s sketchy summer time weather canceled that plan with intermittent rain throughout the day. Our only option was to hit up the DIY spot…