I was going south, trucks are all headed east through Cologne and most passenger cars were headed north. One driver took pity and drove me out of his way to get me south. He said he told a friend over the phone there was a hitchhiker and the friend dared him to give the lift, it was his first time.
Safety note: a 5 passenger car with 5 male occupants attempted to get me to give them money for a ride at this spot, even though they clearly didn't have space. They became belligerent when I declined, until they saw other people watching and sped away. I made a point of chatting with as people as possible after this in case they came back.
Busy roundabout with , make sure you have a visible sign. Drivers will do the circle to safely pull over. Lots of friendly hand waves from people not stopping.
Stand on Avenue Des Voges on the roundabout side of the cross walk, facing ADV (not the roundabout). Nowhere for cars to stop in the roundabout, plenty of traffic from ADV.
Drivers were overall not polite, relatively low passenger car traffic and a lot of dirty looks or avoidance - I was clean and groomed, didn't have this problem elsewhere.
Saw a van with Spain number plates and kayaks on top, talked to the driver and he took me to just outside of Cologne.
I originally tried for a ride after getting dropped here around 2am, gave up and slept for a few hours. In the morning took about 20 minutes to get a ride. Low night traffic, high morning traffic.
Had a sign indicating E42 to Cologne, had my first offer in 5 minutes but she was going west. A friendly German couple offered a bit later, said they hitched a lot when they were young. I stood at the exit by the no parking except service vehicles sign to catch all cars (not trucks) as they exit. Beware what looks like a driveway is actually a local road and sees a lot of traffic.
Most drivers were local, but exceptionally friendly. People kept stopping to apologize they were getting off at the next exit, one guy circled back to offer food. Asked a swiss number plate and he offered a ride as far as the swiss border. I opted to get out south of Lyon, but should have stayed with him until east side of Lyon.
Well intentioned driver misunderstood my request for a service station on A1 and took me here instead. All Taxis/livery drivers or rental car returns, one took pity on me and got me to the airport so I could find a way back to A1.