Golden hour in Cologne
Golden hour in Cologne starts at 20:55 on 15 June and runs 53 minutes; on 15 December it is 60 minutes from 15:27. The calculator above is preset to Cologne — pick a date and sunrise, sunset, golden and blue hour for that exact shoot day are right there, exportable as a calendar entry.
Golden hour calculator for Cologne
Or enter coordinates
- Sunrise
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- Sunset
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- Golden hour (am)
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- Golden hour (pm)
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- Blue hour (pm)
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- Daylight
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- Sunset azimuth
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Runs entirely in your browser — no sign-up, nothing transmitted.
Golden and blue hour in Cologne: all twelve months
Everything derives from the coordinates of Cologne (50.9375, 6.9603) and the Europe/Berlin timezone — no estimates. The planning-relevant part: the evening window here swings between 43 minutes in September and 60 in December — schedule "an hour" and you are wrong in both.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden am (until) | Golden pm (from) | Blue hour (from) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 08:30 | 16:55 | 09:26 | 15:59 | 17:18 | 8h 25min |
| February | 07:46 | 17:48 | 08:34 | 17:01 | 18:09 | 10h 02min |
| March | 06:48 | 18:36 | 07:31 | 17:53 | 18:57 | 11h 49min |
| April | 06:39 | 20:27 | 07:23 | 19:43 | 20:48 | 13h 48min |
| May | 05:44 | 21:15 | 06:33 | 20:26 | 21:39 | 15h 31min |
| June | 05:18 | 21:48 | 06:11 | 20:55 | 22:16 | 16h 30min |
| July | 05:36 | 21:42 | 06:27 | 20:51 | 22:08 | 16h 06min |
| August | 06:20 | 20:56 | 07:06 | 20:09 | 21:18 | 14h 36min |
| September | 07:08 | 19:49 | 07:51 | 19:06 | 20:09 | 12h 41min |
| October | 07:55 | 18:42 | 08:41 | 17:57 | 19:02 | 10h 47min |
| November | 07:49 | 16:47 | 08:41 | 15:54 | 17:09 | 8h 58min |
| December | 08:29 | 16:27 | 09:29 | 15:27 | 16:51 | 7h 58min |
Fitting the window into the shoot day
The evening window is the reliable half: the crew is warmed up, the setup exists, and golden hour is the last slot before wrap. The morning window right after sunrise (until 06:11 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 05:18.
After sunset, Cologne still offers the blue hour: from 22:16 to 22:35 in June (19 minutes). If you need both looks on one evening, everything from the start of golden hour to the end of blue hour is one continuous window — with no room for a re-rig inside it.
Frequently asked
When is golden hour in Cologne today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Cologne from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 20:55, in mid-December at 15:27.
How long does golden hour last in Cologne?
Between 43 minutes (September) and 60 minutes (December) in the evening. The name misleads — it only reaches a full hour in the longest months.
How accurate are the times?
To about one minute (standard NOAA-style solar computation). Not included: horizon shading from buildings or hills to the west — which can genuinely shorten the window at your location.