The first German McDonald's restaurant opened on December 4, 1971 in Martin-Luther-Straße in Munich. McDonald's and its 235 franchisees employ an annual average of around 60,000 people in around 1,500 restaurants nationwide, including at Cologne Central Station. With an average of around 2.7 million guests a day, McDonald's is the market leader in the German restaurant sector, a popular family restaurant and a meeting place for all age groups.