This is the terrifying moment a man in Germany was forced to throw himself from a burning building.

Video footage shared on social media shows the resident anxiously standing on the edge of the balcony in the high rise block of flats in Cologne before taking the leap of faith.

Black smoke can be seen filling the sky as the blaze engulfs the flat on a floor located a few stories up from the ground.

Police officers and the force's special task force unit were on hand to help the middle-age man escape the flames.

After hesitating about jumping amid the anxious situation, the resident kept from the balcony.

The flat was not located at a height high enough for the situation to have been life threatening.