Press releases

Outdoor gastronomy is an important part of Aachen's cityscape. It makes a decisive contribution to how both residents and visitors feel on the city's streets and squares. Attractively designed outdoor catering, coupled with a diverse and varied offering, is therefore an important quality feature for Aachen. The city has set out to further develop the 20-year-old "Concept for outdoor catering" in order to define new guidelines for outdoor catering.

The administration would like to capture as large and diverse a picture of the mood of Aachen's catering scene as possible in order to incorporate this into the updating of the rules. The current survey will therefore be extended until March 14. It is explicitly aimed at restaurant operators. The questionnaire is available on the NRW participation portal. A direct link leads there from www.aachen.de/aussengastronomie.

The existing guideline on outdoor gastronomy contains recommendations on the design of outdoor gastronomy, such as the color or materiality of furniture, umbrellas or planters. It also makes statements on areas that can be used by restaurants. Together with the special use statutes of the City of Aachen, it thus forms the basis for corresponding permits. The update of the guideline is intended to take current developments into account and will be applied from 2026.