Michaelkirmes Zülpich

Michaelkirmes Zülpich — Market rights since 1436

The Michaelkirmes Zülpich is one of the oldest documented annual markets on the Lower Rhine. The Archbishop of Cologne already authorized a second autumn market in Zülpich in 1436 — suggesting that the Michaelis market had already existed for a long time by then. The festival has endured for almost 600 years and is now a four-day autumn fair in the Kölntor car park and the city center of the Roman city of Zülpich. The exact dates for 2026 are still to be confirmed — the festival usually takes place in the last week of September or early October, around St. Michael's Day (September 29th).

Classic fair atmosphere

The festival offers traditional fair attractions: carousels for children and adults, ring toss, shooting galleries, sweet stalls with roasted almonds and cotton candy, bratwurst and fries stands, beer and mulled wine. Live music is sometimes offered on stage — the atmosphere is familiar and relaxed.

Opening hours — varying

Usually, the fair opens according to the following pattern (example based on 2022): Friday and Saturday from 2 p.m., Sunday and Monday (German Unity Day) from 11 a.m. Until late evening. The venue is the central Kölntor car park and surrounding areas.

Saint Michael — Patron of Markets

The name goes back to the Archangel Michael, whose feast day on September 29th traditionally marked the start of autumn and harvest markets. In Zülpich, a concrete plaque attached to St. Peter's Church in the 1950s refers to the Archangel fighting the dragon — an echo of the market's patronage. Michaelis markets exist in many medieval German cities.

Zülpich — Roman City on the Edge of the Voreifel

Zülpich is located in the Euskirchen district in North Rhine-Westphalia with around 21,000 inhabitants. The Roman city owes its name to the Roman settlement Tolbiacum, which existed here since the early imperial period. Today, Zülpich is known for the RömerThermenmuseum (Roman Thermal Baths Museum) and the nearby Zülpich Lakes — former lignite open-cast mine lakes, now a recreational area. Its location at the transition between the Voreifel and the Cologne Bay makes Zülpich a regional hub for the Westerwald foothills and the Eifel edge.

Combined visit with Roman Thermal Baths

Visitors to the Michaelkirmes can combine their day with a trip to the RömerThermenmuseum — the preserved remains of a Roman bathhouse are among the best-preserved north of the Alps. The city center with its four medieval city gates — including the Kölntor, which gives the city its name — invites you for a historical stroll.