The figuralchor köln was founded in 1986 by its choirmaster, Richard Mailänder and Dr. Friedhelm Hofmann, who was, at that time, the chaplain of Cologne Artists’ Union and who later became the Bishop of Würzburg.

The choir consists of approximately 50 singers who perform sacred a cappella music with a particular focus on 16^th and 17^th century  choral works and on contemporary compositions.  Some of the  highlights of Figuralchor concerts have been Liszt’s “Christus” and Bach’s Passions and the B minor Mass, each performed in unusual venues. Several contemporary composers – including Enjott Schneider, Hans Martin Lonquich, Klaus Wallrath, Pawel Lukaszewski and Rihards Dubra,- have written compositions for the figuralchor köln, which the choir has premiered. The main themes are Easter music and Advent music. The choir has recorded more than 10 CDs. The most recent CD was a recording of Pawel Lukaszewski’s Easter oratorio “Resurrectio”, released by the Polish edition musica sacra in November 2017.