Painters, sculptors, media artists, musicians and composers, dancers and choreographers, art and design restorers and all walks of creative professions as well as artistic academies, all in 86 artist studios: that is the „Quartier am Hafen“, which translates as „The Harbor District“, refering to Cologne’s former industrial harbor on the Rhine River.

The studios have been occupied by artists since the summer of 2010, when the former industrial space was transformed into a professional working space for creative occupations.  This project was initiated by Andreas Schmitz (from Westwerk Realestate), who acquired the building and initiated its renovation. The City of Cologne formed a cooperation with the project and subsidizes a portion of the studios.

The Quartier am Hafen is pursuing its goal of fulfilling the great demand for studio space for artists in Cologne and is establishing itself as a creative center in the long term perspective of the city.

The Quartier am Hafen pursues the goal of sustainably easing the studio situation in Cologne and establishing itself as a pioneering creative hotbed in the long term. It sees itself as a place of interdisciplinary exchange and opens its exhibition space Q18 to the public four times a year with funded exhibitions by external artists. The vernissages and finissages are linked to the presentations of the dance residencies that the Quartier am Hafen awards to dance artists from the independent dance scene.
In addition, the artists of the Quartier am Hafen present their work there in their own exhibitions. Readings, presentations and panel discussions take place several times a year.
Since 2014, the Quartier am Hafen has been a participating venue in Cologne’s Museum Night.
In 2019, the Quartier am Hafen opened its own festival The Artists Are Present with 99 participating artists.