Wuppertal

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Wuppertal

Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the Wupper river south of the Ruhr area. Population 361,333 (2005).

It is a major industrial centre including such industries as: textiles, metallurgy, chemicals, medicine (Bayer), electric, rubber, vehicles and printing equipment. One of the most famous pain-killers, Aspirin, was invented in Wuppertal.

History

The city was formed in 1929 by merging Barmen, Elberfeld, Vohwinkel, Ronsdorf, Cronenberg, Langerfeld, and Beyenburg. The name was initially Barmen-Elberfeld, and after 1930 Wuppertal.

During World War II it was destroyed to about 40% by the Allies as were many other industrial centres at the time. However, a large quantity of historic sites have been preserved such as the Ölberg ("Petroleum Hill") District, one of Germany's largest working class districts, and the so-called Briller Viertel, Germany's largest district of Bourgeois dwellings.

After the liberation from the Nazi Regime Wuppertal became a part of the British Occupancy Zone, and subsequently a part of North Rhine-Westphalia state of West Germany.

Main sights

In total, Wuppertal possesses over 4,500 buildings classified national monuments, most dating from periods of classicism, Art Nouveau and Bauhaus.

Main sights include:

The Concert-hall, a fine masterpiece of turn-of-the-century architecture (Stadthalle), inaugurated in 1900 by the German emperor William II and his wife.
The Tanztheater Wuppertal, headed by Pina Bausch, is world-famous and regularly plays at theatres in New York, Tokyo, Paris, London etc.
Engels' house (Engelshaus), architecturally typical of the region. It houses a permanent display of materials associated with Friedrich Engels and other famous citizens of Wuppertal.
the Von der Heydt Museum, one of the most important galleries in Germany, with works by 19th and 20th century artists. The first of Picasso's works that ever appeared in public was displayed here.

Schwebebahn

One of the city's greatest attractions is the suspended monorail ("Wuppertaler Schwebebahn"), which was established in 1901. The tracks are 8 m above the streets and 12 m above the Wupper river.

Noted Wuppertal people

Accept, popular heavy metal band was formed in Wuppertal in the early 1970s
Friedrich Bayer, founder of the Friedrich Bayer paint factory that later became Bayer AG
Friedrich Engels, historian, co-author of the Communist Manifesto (with Karl Marx)
Else Lasker-Schüler, expressionist poet
Ulrich Leyendecker, composer
Reimar Lüst, astrophysicist
Steffen Möller, satirist, soap-opera star and TV celebrity in Poland; the most popular German in Poland
Simone Osygus, swimmer
Siegfried Palm, cellist
Johannes Rau, former Federal President of Germany
Alice Schwarzer, one of the leaders of the German feminist movement
Rita Süssmuth, former President of the German Parliament
Tom Tykwer, movie director ("Run Lola, Run"), co-founder of X-Filme syndicate

Sister Cities

Wuppertal is twinned with:

External links