COLOGNE, Germany — The unofficial beer of World Youth Day was a popular draw for thirsty pilgrims looking for more than something to drink.

The beer, bearing a photo of Pope Benedict XVI and brewed in his home region of Bavaria, was among the scores of items being sold or traded among the more than 415,000 pilgrims who journeyed to Cologne for the 20th World Youth Day.

Officially sanctioned T-shirts and mugs with the event's logo, finger rosaries and pictures of Benedict also were selling quickly as retailers and restaurateurs reported surging sales from the influx of visitors.

Tomas Medrow, hawking papal suds to the thousands of pilgrims making their way toward the twin-spired Cologne Cathedral, said he was doing a brisk business. The sweet-tasting beer, available in a four-pack, sells for $3.05 a bottle.

"They want them as a souvenir to take home, something to show their friends back in France or the United States," the Cologne resident said.

Other vendors offered candles bearing the image of the pope, while rosaries and sun hats were ubiquitous. Folding stools with the event's logo also were popular among weary pilgrims waiting in lines.

Some products were officially sanctioned by the Weltjugendtage 2005 GmbH, the company that organized the event, and were limited to offerings like candles, caps, key chains and enamel pins bearing the German flag and the Youth Day logo.

Others, like the T-shirts with Benedict's picture on the front, those with his name and the numeral 16 in a circle on the back like a soccer jersey, and the hand-hewn rosary beads sold from street-side stalls, were not.

Katherine Abbt, a 24-year-old German pilgrim from Augsburg, questioned the tastefulness of some products — in particular the T-shirts bearing Benedict's photo with the slogan: "The German Shepherd" — but didn't mind the others.

"I think it's OK to sell small pictures of the pope or other mementos," she said.

Cologne residents have found other ways to make a few extra dollars off the event as well, from renting rooms in their apartments and homes to listing bunk beds on the auction Web site eBay.

The city plans to release official figures tracking the economic impact later.

On the streets of Cologne, around the cathedral and various churches, people often engaged in their own barter, trading T-shirts, buttons, badges and flags.

Two Italians approached a group of Nigerian pilgrims, wearing flowing green robes, yesterday morning.

"Will you trade me your T-shirt for mine?" one Italian girl asked, gesturing with her hands and offering her hat. The Nigerian pulled one out of his bag and walked away with a blue safari hat bearing the Italian tricolor.

Hotels and hostels also have been booked for months while restaurants from kebab shops to steak houses have seen their tables filled with pilgrims washing down their schnitzel with wine and beer.

Even electronics stores reported a slight uptick in the sale of portable radios for pilgrims who want to hear real-time translations of the pope's speeches, including his planned Mass, which are being translated into English, French, Spanish and Italian.

Enrique Reyes, 31, of New York, said pilgrims want to bring home more than just memories. "We've been waiting for this since last year," he said.

Associated Press reporter Melissa Eddy contributed to this report.