Düsseldorf

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Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is a German city near Cologne. It is the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, a state of Germany. Düsseldorf has about 573,000 inhabitants in an agglomeration of about 1.3 millon people. The city has 1 international airport, an university and is seat for a lot of international companies.

History

In the 7th or 8th century there was a fishing or farming settlement at the place where the little river Düssel (which gave the name to the city) flows into the Rhine. First written mentioned part of the city is Kaiserswerth in 1135, Kaiserswerth became a part of Düsseldof in 1927.

In 1186 the Counts of Berg got Düsseldorf, who made it to their residence in 1280. On 14th of August 1288 there was a great battle between the Archebishop of Cologne and the Duke of Limburg against the Duke of Brabant and the Count of Berg. The Duke of Brabant won and the Archebishop of Cologne became prisoner of the Count of Berg. So he couldn't do anything against Düsseldorf getting the status as a city. So Düsseldorf became a city with full City Rights in 1288.

The Counts of Berg became more and more powerful and Düsseldorf became capitol of the Duchy of Berg-Mark-Kleve-Jülich in 1380. in 1680 the Dukes of Berg-Kleve-Mark-Jülich died out and after some struggles the Earls of Palatine (they were Prince-Electors) became the new rulers of Düsseldorf. Most important duke of this line was Johann Wilhelm II. (1690-1716), called Jan Wellem. After Johann Wilhelm the Dukes moved to their new seat in Heidelberg, because they got even the Duchy of Bavaria.

In the Napoleonic Wars the French won the Duchy and Düsseldorf. Napoleon gave the Duchy of Berg-Jülich to one of his generals, who married one of his nieces. This general became later King of Westphalia.

In the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century Düsseldorf grew a lot and got more than 100,000 inhabitants in 1882, doubled in 1892.

Düsseldorf was nearly completely destroyed in the World War II. 1946 Düsseldorf became capitol of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Infrastructure

Düsseldorf is one of the most important commercial centres in Germany. It has an International Airport, which is the 3rd largest in Germany (after Frankfurt and Munich) with more than 16,000,000 passengers per year. The airport offers 180 destinations on 4 continents, and is served by 70 airlines.

Düsseldorf has two stations in the German high speed train network (Intercity Express, ICE) - its Central Station and the Airport Station. The Main Station offers international trains to Netherlands, Belgium, France and Swiss, too.

North Rhine-Westphalia has the closest net of motorways in Europe. Düsseldorf is one of the crosspoints. Düsseldorf is connected to the interstate motorways A3, A44, A46, A52, A57, A59 and A524.

Economy

Düsseldorf is one of the most important economical centres in Germany. It has a regional stock exchange. More than 170 national financial institutions and 130 insurances work in Düsseldorf. Two of the four leading mobile phone companies of Germany have their seat in Düsseldorf like 18 internet providers and more than 400 advertising agencies. Düsseldorf is one of the European centres of fashion industry and has one of the most important trading shows. The TV channels CNN and NBC Giga have their German centres in Düsseldorf. There is a lot of manufacturing industry too - like the chemical company Henkel. Düsseldorf is the most important seat for Japanese companies in Europe.

Culture

Düsseldorf is one of the cultural centres in Germany. The poet Heinrich Heine was born in Düsseldorf in 1797. The classical musicians and composers Clara and Robert Schumann lived most of their lifetime in Düsseldorf like the romantic composer Felix Mendelsohn-Bartholdy. The Arts Academy of Düsseldorf is very famous. The modern artist Paul Klee and the modern sculptor Joseph Beuys worked there. Düsseldorf has a lot of museums, espacially for Arts of the 20th and the 21st century. Most important is the Arts Collection of North Rhine-Westphalia. "Kraftwerk", the first techno band worldwide and the punk rock band Die Toten Hosen come from Düsseldorf, too. Düsseldorf has a university, the Heinrich-Heine-University with nearly all subjects in mathematics, sciences, philosophy, history, languages, economy, law, and medicine. It has about 20,000 students and a Technical College with 8,000 students of engineering. The Clara und Robert Schumann Musikschule is a well-known college for classical music education. There is one technical college and a lot of other colleges, too. Düsseldorf has an opera, more than 30 cinemas, a well-known theatre, and a rich cultural scene.

Sports

The traditional sports in Germany is soccer (Fußball). For a long time Fortuna Düsseldorf 1895, the most traditional soccer team in Düsseldorf (est. 1895), was very successful and won for example the Europe Cup, but since the early 1990's, Fortuna rises down and plays actually in the 3rd German soccer division. Most successful sports team in Düsseldorf is the icehockey team of the DEG Metro Stars, former DEG - Düsseldorfer EislaufGemeinschaft, the most successful icehockey team in Germany for a long time with famous players like John-Peter Lee, Chris Valentine or Helmut de Raaf. Another very successful sports team from Düsseldorf is Rhine Fire, the American footballers of the city, who won the World Ball four times.

Famous people who lived in Düsseldorf

Heinrich Heine, poet
Clara Schumann, componist and pianist
Robert Schumann, componist and pianist
Felix Mendelsohn-Bartholdy, composer
Konrad Henkel, founder of the Henkel Company
Joseph Beuys, performance artist
Jürgen Mittelstraß, philosopher
Wim Wenders, movie maker
Die Toten Hosen, punk rock band

Weblinks

Cities in Germany

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