Groov, Cologne

The Groov is a former island with a silted-up river branch on the Rhine in Cologne-Zündorf. It received its current appearance in the years 1974 to 1978, during which a marina was built and the island with the adjacent areas was developed as a recreational facility. The entire facility was realized according to the design of the architectural firm Gottfried Kühn, Jürgen Schubert und Partner from 1972.

The name Groov comes from the Gallic word grave, which means gravel, gravel bank or sand bank. The name is pronounced with an open "o", which, however, is drawn out. Already in early times, separated from the main stream by an arm of the Rhine, a natural harbor formed there, where even two cranes were in operation. It was always threatened by silting up - especially after it was used less from 1831 onwards as a result of the abolition of the Cologne stacking right. In 1849, the island was connected to the shore upstream by a dam. In 1862, the "island" was extended by the construction of groynes on the Rhine side, resulting in a widening of the island. Another dam divided the old harbor into two bodies of water. The lower Rhine arm of the Groov could still be approached by ships with a shallow draft until the middle of the 20th century - at last only during high water - until it finally silted up more and more and finally became a recreational area together with the adjacent areas.

The recreational area is an area stretching between the Rhine and the Leinpfad, a former towpath, including an oxbow lake and a marina. Protected from the Rhine by a dam, it contains bicycle and walking paths, sunbathing lawns, sports fields and playgrounds, a miniature golf course, as well as a combination pool and a barge pond under trees. On the market place of the leisure island there are garden pubs and beer gardens. At the same time, there is a Rhine ferry for hikers and cyclists on the banks of the Rhine, which connects the Groov recreation area with the Cologne-White district daily throughout the summer. In severe winters, the frozen ice surface of the two lakes is used as an ice skating rink.

In order to better protect the adjacent houses from stronger floods, the leisure island was raised again in 2005 by backfilling. In addition, sheet piling was installed in the floor of the market square. At the same time, it was possible to restore the Nepomuk column standing in the center of the market square, which was once dedicated to the patron saint of shipmen and sailors. Another memorial commemorates war dead from Zündorf by name.