DHL Group's domestic Germany delivery unit has officially opened the expansion of its parcel center in Cologne-Eifeltor, bringing the facility's sorting capacity to nearly 50,000 pieces per hour, the company announced Tuesday.
DHL said the expansion was necessary to accommodate growing package volumes from businesses and individuals in northwest Germany, where Cologne is a major economic and logistics hub and one of the most populous regions in the country.
The additional space will allow DHL to hire 250 additional workers, bringing total employment at the facility to 750..
DHL's Post & Parcel division is investing more than 1 billion euros per year over several years (equivalent to $1.16 billion) to restructure its network as letter volumes decline while e-commerce shipping continues to grow in popularity. The modernization has included rightsizing parcel and letter centers, automation and digitalization.
"With the expansion of the Cologne-Eifeltor parcel center, we are making a targeted investment in the performance of our network. Online retail continues to grow, and our customers rightly expect fast and reliable delivery," said Marc Hitschfeld, head of operations for Post & Parcel Germany at DHL Group, at an official opening ceremony.
Post & Parcel Germany operates under the DHL and Deutsche Post brands.
The Cologne-Eifeltor parcel center has been in operation since 1994 and currently serves about 1.2 million households. Construction of the new extension, which began in 2024, was completed on schedule this summer. The new building is directly connected to the existing parcel center via a bridge.
The facility's sorting capacity now matches that of the previous largest parcel center in North Rhine-Westphalia, located in Bochum.
Nationwide, only the DHL parcel center in Aschheim near Munich, with approximately 72,000 parcels per hour, has a higher sorting capacity.
The Cologne facility was built on the site of a since-demolished building. It was outfitted with modern energy-saving systems, including a solar array on the extension roof, underfloor heating in the main hall, automatic ventilation control to minimize the need for air conditioning, and demand-controlled LED lighting. A green roof improves thermal insulation, reducing energy consumption in the winter and protects against excessive heat in the summer.
Post & Parcel Germany is the largest postal service provider in Europe, dominates the letter and parcel market in Germany, and operates the largest parcel locker network in Germany.
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