Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the eastern bank of the Rhine, half way between Cologne and Düsseldorf. Population: 161,342 (2005).

The city of Leverkusen is a product of economic growth in the Rhine-Ruhr region. It was rural area until the late 19th century. The present city is made up of several villages, originally called Wiesdorf, Opladen, Schlebusch, Lützenkirchen, Steinbüchel, Rheindorf and Bergisch-Neukirchen. Wiesdorf, dating back to the 12th century, was chosen by the apothecary Carl Leverkus for establishing a dye factory in 1860. The factory was taken over by the Bayer company in 1891. The company moved its office to Wiesdorf in 1912, turning the town into the centre of German chemical industry.

Leverkusen was founded in 1930 by merging the above mentioned villages, that had become towns in the meantime. Today the town is home of the somewhat successful football club Bayer Leverkusen.

Twinned cities worldwide

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Leverkusen is twinned with several cities across Europe and throughout the rest of the world. These include:

Oulu, Finland, since 1968 Bracknell Forest, United Kingdom, since 1973 Ljubljana, Slovenia, since 1979 Nazareth-Illit, Israel, since 1980 Chinandega, Nicaragua, since 1986 Schwedt, Germany, since 1989 Racibórz, Poland, since 2002

Notable People from Leverkusen

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• Detlef Schrempf, born 1963, NBA basketball player
• Wolf Vostell, born 1932, painter
• Danny Ecker, born 1977, athlete
• Felix Sturm, born 1979, middleweight boxer

External links

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• Leverkusen Official website of the city
• Leverkusen

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Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia

ليفركوزن | Leverkusen | Leverkusen | Λεβερκούζεν | Leverkusen | Leverkusen | Leverkusen | レバークーゼン | Leverkusen | Leverkusen | Leverkusen | Leverkusen | Leverkusen