Party DJ Cologne · Events since 2004
Your party DJ for celebrations between the cathedral and the Veedel.
I am Michael Zimmermann, and I mix live at your birthday in Cologne, always a step ahead of your guests' requests. Over 1450 events in more than 25 years have taught me how a dance floor feels before it fills up. The evening belongs to you, so I hold back. beats per micha: Michael Zimmermann, party DJ, available for booking in Cologne and the surrounding area.
“We couldn't have wished for a better DJ.”
– Ben Kampen · Google reviewThe locations. The moments. My music.
You get exactly one shot. I had 1,450 to practise.
Kept the dance floor going until the very end - a great evening.
Stefanie Grübl
Party · Google review
Celebrating in Cologne
Whether a brewhouse with its Köbes, a café in the park or a banquet hall: every room carries music differently, and I shape my proposal for your party accordingly. Your birthday in Cologne can take place wherever you like: in a brewhouse, in a park or under the roof of a museum. Here you will find five venues and what they offer for parties.
Your birthday in Cologne can take place in a brewery tavern, in a café in the park or under a museum roof; depending on the venue, I choose speakers and volume. Tell me where you are inviting people before I plan.
In a living room or a backyard, a handy rig is enough for me, one that can run without a power outlet if necessary. How much space is left and where the power comes from, I ask you; I'm ready about 40 minutes before the guests.
The Brauhaus Früh am Dom goes back to a building from 1904 near the cathedral and keeps up brewhouse traditions such as tapping from the barrel and the Köbes. Which rooms can be booked for birthdays only the venue knows, so we clarify it before you commit. With Kölsch and Köbes, my music stays quiet while people are eating.
The concert venue in the Stadtgarten includes a café restaurant, a garden restaurant and a beer garden. Outdoors, power and weather matter, and we discuss that before you commit.
The Chocolat Grand Café of the Schokoladenmuseum has around 200 seats inside and 200 outside, and after closing time the venue can be rented for up to 400 people. How much equipment I pack depends on the room and the number of guests.
The Wartesaal from 1915 lies beneath the tracks of the Hauptbahnhof, and its two halls measure 560 and 210 square metres. In the larger hall I arrange speakers differently than in the smaller one, which depends on your number of guests.
Next to the Festhaus of the Flora lies the Orangerie with room for around 150 people, and the rooms are rented out for upscale events. For a milestone birthday in the greenery, this is an address we should talk about early.
I looked up rooms, capacities and occasions on Wikipedia and with the operators named there (as of October 2026). Whether your date is free and how many guests fit in, only the respective venue knows.
Who I am
You celebrate in Cologne, and I provide the right sound. It began in the nightclub, and later private and corporate parties were added, up to more than 1450 events. A party without a rigid schedule works when someone watches the room attentively.
From classics and new tracks I build my own edits, so that the neighbours from the Veedel and the relatives from further away dance together. Tell me your requests and no-gos beforehand, and then you can join the party yourself on the night. If you like, I will show you beforehand how I build the evening in phases.
How it works
Send me the date and venue, and I will get back to you the same or the next day. Then come the video call, arrangements and setup.
Request a dateYou'll hear from me within a day of your inquiry. Then in a short video call you tell me about your birthday, and your offer follows.
After booking you get my mobile number, because a lot goes fastest over WhatsApp. A week before the party we go through requested songs, no-gos and the schedule.
I am in the room before your guests arrive, set up the equipment in about 40 minutes and do the sound check. Open questions we settle with you or the venue, so that everything runs unnoticed later.
When your guests arrive, calm lounge music makes for relaxed conversation. I pick out the right track for you as the birthday guest of honor and for special moments.
During dinner I keep the music low, the microphone is ready for speeches and announcements, and games, surprises and the cake cutting get their own tracks.
As soon as people dance, I take over completely, read the mood and adapt the set to the guests until the last song plays.
My services
Your birthday in Köln runs completely live with me, whether with a small circle of friends or the whole extended family.
01
Your set is created on the night, just for you, and grows with the mood. Tracks from several decades also get those onto the floor who first only wanted to watch. A living room, an attic or a backyard is enough for me, because I carry my compact setup in myself. If a slideshow is running or someone is speaking, I turn the music down immediately.
Request a date →
02Safeguard If I am ill, a colleague from my network steps in for you, on the terms we have agreed.
Other occasionsWedding in Cologne →Corporate event in Cologne →
Voices from real events
60 Google reviews. 100% recommendation. Here is a small selection.
5.0
Your service package
With me, disco classics and current chart hits run side by side, whatever suits your party. As soon as your first message arrives, I start planning, right through to the last song.
I stay in the background, adjust the music to the mood and only pick up the microphone for speeches and programme items.
Add-on
LED uplights tint your room in your favorite color, and they can pulse in time with the music.
Enquire →
Add-on
Your guests do not need anyone looking after the photo station, because props are there, the pictures go into an online gallery, and it prints copies right away on request.
Enquire →
Recommendation
All your guests' phone photos end up collected with you when you simply book Feierblick as an add-on.
View Feierblick →
My equipment includes lighting, two wireless microphones, a Pioneer or Denon controller and speakers from RCF or Electro-Voice.
Add-on
Your guests leave short greetings at the retro phone, and I build an audio file out of them for you.
Enquire →A reply comes the same or the next day, and until the party you talk directly to me.
First we clarify what music you want, and I take care of coordination with the venue.
Open Format
Current hits and classics from many decades come together with me, and I listen to your requests in advance.
For setup I allow about 40 minutes and roughly 2.5 by 1.5 meters of space for the equipment, and I clean up afterwards myself. About 2.5 m of width and 1.5 m of depth is enough, and under normal conditions (car close to the setup spot, no stairs or elevators) setup takes about 40 minutes.
You can add lighting, a photo station, live music and an audio guest book, and I coordinate everything.
Request a date →Frequently asked questions
These are the questions hosts ask most often, and if yours is missing, just get in touch with me directly.
+49 176 700 580 27I decide that once I have seen the data sheet and photos of the house system. If the existing equipment is enough, I connect my console there; if not, I turn up with my own speakers. That way you know what to expect before you confirm.
A wireless microphone is ready for that, and if friends give a toast, a glance is all I need. When you step up to the mic, I fade the music out and bring it back up afterwards. How many announcements you want from me is up to you.
I plan for both and place the sing-along songs where they lift the mood and don't annoy you. Tracks you don't want to hear, you tell me beforehand.
Milestone parties on weekends get booked quickly, so a few months' notice is wise. Smaller gatherings often work on shorter notice; just write to me, and you'll know more the same day.
A saxophonist or a singer from my network can play live over my mix, and violin and percussion are possible too. You choose the moment, and we discuss the details in the first conversation.
Listen & Watch
Even more options
If you want your evening to be more than a DJ set, saxophone, vocals, violin or percussion add live accents over my mix.
01
Live over the mix.
A saxophonist from my network joins the sound live, whenever you want.
Available on request
02
Live band feeling.
If you like, vocals join my mix for a song of your choice.
Available on request
03
Pure energy.
On request, percussion joins in and gives the set a drive that a playlist doesn't have.
Available on request
04
Classical meets beat.
On request, a violinist adds a calm passage between two songs that suits your celebration.
Available on request
05
An evening without a break.
An ensemble can contribute lounge, jazz or pop for the reception or dinner, from a duo to a quartet. After that I pick up directly with my set, so live music and DJ part feel like one evening.
Duo to quartet · Available on request
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More sets on MixcloudHave a listen
Instead of long explanations, you can listen in on three live recordings of real parties, unpolished and with my own edits, only this is not a sample evening, because your set comes from your guests.
Setlists
Not a request list, but real set lists from past birthday parties - song by song, in the order they were actually played.
Real set list
An excerpt from a real evening, from the opening to the wind-down. The time jumps in between are intentional; you will find the complete setlist on the detail page.
@beats_per_michabeats per micha on Instagram
Service area
I also plan birthdays with you in Leverkusen, Frechen and Hürth, and more places around Cologne are in the list below.
You give me the date, place and approximate guest count and tell me which music has accompanied you through your life. I am happy to pick up spontaneous requests from your crowd during the evening.
Map section around Cologne with Leverkusen, Bergisch Gladbach, Kerpen, Hürth, Pulheim, Frechen, Brühl, Wesseling, Lohmar, Rösrath, Kürten, Sindorf. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
Transparency
A whole evening of nothing but Schlager and Ballermann, hour after hour? A few big crowd-pleasers in between, when the mood calls for it, belong to a good birthday party for me. Building a whole evening on them alone isn't my thing, though. I'm just as little the right person for non-stop techno sets without any contact with the crowd, for rigid request lists that get worked through from top to bottom, or for festival formats with several stages. There are other DJs who can do exactly that and love it, nothing against them, it's simply not my speciality.
My craft is mixing live for guests who want an evening with a feel for the moment: clean transitions, the right track at the right time, instead of just pressing play. That's why I'd rather tell you beforehand what I don't do than have you disappointed on the night.
If that doesn't suit your party, I'm not the right one, and that's fine. If it does, let's talk.
Contact
Get in touch with me with your idea, and it will become an evening your guests will talk about for a long time. You should plan milestone birthdays early, while smaller parties we can often manage within a few weeks.
How would you like to enquire?
Both are non-binding – you can add more at any time.
From the blog
Honest answers about party, planning and music - from over 1,450 events I've been part of.
