Altstadt
The 'Altstadt' or old town, located
between the Rhine and Heinrich-Heine-Allee, is the heart of
Düsseldorf. This pedestrian zone is said to be the 'longest bar
in the world' and most of the city's out- and indoor-events take
place here, i.e. the Düsseldorfer Altstadt-Herbst,
an end-of-summer festival.
The Altstadt attracts both
tourists and locals thanks to its beautiful location on the banks of
the Rhine. You can find food from all over the world, local and
international drinks, trendy and traditional pubs, bars and
'Ballermann' (referring to the German pubs in Mallorca).
Pubs,
haute cuisine, snack bars and shops are all packed into this part of
the city. Take the U-Bahn or a taxi to Heinrich-Heine-Allee (finding
a parking place costs nerves and plenty of money - and cars don't
just get clamped, they get towed away!) and dive into the crowd. If
the weather is nice, go for a stroll along the Rheinuferpromenade,
where you'll have a beautiful view of the houses of Oberkassel,
across the river. You can join the sporty crowd by renting a pair of
inline skates from the G@rden
Internet cafe, or simply sit down on one of the benches and relax.
A few sights you shouldn't miss in the 'Altstadt' are the
'Schlossturm' tower at Burgplatz
and the Stadterhebungsdenkmal,
which documents the history of the city, and the statue of
Jan-Wellem-Reiterdenkmal
on horseback at the Rathausplatz.
Touring and sightseeing boats leave for Kaiserswerth, Köln, Bonn
and other places from the river promenade.
It's worth
exploring around the Stadtmuseum
up to the Bilker- and Hohe Straße, with beautiful cobbled
streets lined with 18th-century patrician houses, exquisite antique
shops, galleries, restaurants and pubs. At the end of the Bilker
Straße you will find Bert Gerresheim's Heinrich
Heine monument. Heine was a poet, best known for his lyrics to
the famous Loreley song.
Hafen
Follow the
Rheinuferpromenade
past the 234 metre-high Rheinturm
telecom tower, and you'll find yourself at the harbour.
This area has changed in appearance a few times over the last
century. Many parts of the once active harbour were closed in 1976.
Others were simply abandoned.
The Landtag
brought new prestige to this area in 1988. About ten years of
construction have made the harbour the most modern and trendy area of
the city. In the early 1990s a tunnel was built to keep the traffic
out of the city centre. The regional broadcaster WDR
finished its light-blue building in 1991. In 1998 the Stadttor,
a glass-column gate to the city, opened its doors. The unusual
buildings directly at the shore, one white, one red, one silvery,
were finished last year. The architect: is Frank O. Gehry, who also
built the Guggenheim museum in Barcelona. The area is becoming a
central location for media firms, broadcasters and production
companies.
Many new bars and stylish restaurants have joined
the so-called 'media-mile' and the first club, the mk-2, opened
recently. In a few years time the opposite stretch of land will have
been modernised.
Bilk
Bilk
is the students' part of town. This is mainly due to its location
directly between the town and the university campus, as well as the
public transportation hub at Bilk S-Bahnhof. There are many little
shops in this area, including a few second-hand bookshops.
Königsallee/Hofgarten
You can't leave
Düsseldorf without having done some window-shopping along the
Königsallee.
It's one of the things people will ask you back at home: Did you see
the 'Kö'? Every reputable designer label can be found here
somewhere.
If you're interested in architecture you should
have a look at the listed Thyssen-Haus,
the slender, three-layered house next to the white, piano-shaped
Düsseldorfer
Schauspielhaus. It's best viewed when strolling through the
Hofgarten
(just walk to the end of the Kö - direction of the Rhine - and
then through the tunnel). If you walk on, you will see the
Theatermuseum
and the Jägerhof, which houses the Goethe-collection.
Oberkassel
Watching the sun go down behind the
beautiful facade of Oberkassel
is a favourite pass-time for many Düsseldorfers.
After
sunset you can walk to the Oberkasseler
Bridge, get into the tram, get out at the other side of the Rhine
and walk along the banks - you may even come across a flock of sheep
- or go window-shopping along the Luegallee.
Kaiserswerth
Kaiserswerth
is a beautiful historic site, and wasn't actually part of Düsseldorf
until 1929. It is reachable by tram or car, and functions as a
recreation area for the city folk. Go for a walk by the ruins of the
castle along the Rhine, have a break at one of the beer gardens or
market cafes, or treat yourself to a three-star meal by Jean-Claude
Bourgueil.
Benrath
Benrath - about 10
kilometres from the city centre - is home to a beautiful 18th century
palace,
complete with pond and gardens. Once the residence of Theodor zu
Pfalz, it was designed by Nicolas de Pigage.
TOUR 1: BRAUHAUS TOUR
Do you love beer? Real beer?
Dark, top-fermented Alt-beer? Then you've chosen the right city!
Brewing has a long tradition here, and the Altstadt is full of pubs
that serve locally brewed beer.
You won't find trendy, modern
design in these places. Though you will find guys in blue aprons with
a leather belt-purse, who will serve you in a competent but rather
abrupt manner. And you can order dishes like Schweinshaxe,
(grilled leg of pork) or local specialties such as Halwe Hahn,
a rye roll with a strong hard cheese, caraway and mustard.
Does
that whet your appetite? Then take a taxi or the U-Bahn to
Heinrich-Heine-Allee/Altstadt, this is where the pedestrian zone
starts, and head for the Bolker Straße. Everything happens
outside if the weather is nice. Each pub will have tables out all
summer. On your right you'll find Im Goldenen Kessel, serving
Schumacher
Alt. It's rather quiet compared to the other breweries - just the pub
and beer to get you into the right mood for the night.
Next,
make your way to Zum Schlüssel. Gatzweiler Alt is the beer to
drink here, and there's a great choice of food. Take the opportunity
to prepare your stomach for the beer to come. Turn left when you come
out of Zum Schlüssel, and follow the street up to the
Rathausplatz,
the big square with a statue of Jan
Wellem on horseback - he formed the brewers' guild in 1712.
Zum
Uerige is probably packed by this time. If it's dry there will be
hoards of people just outside the pub, enjoying their beer on the
street. The great thing about breweries is that they are a meeting
place for all walks of life, which certainly cannot be said for all
the bars in Düsseldorf. People here are usually very friendly
and are likely to start a conversation with you in broken English or
just offer you a drink.
After all this German brewery
experience you might want to have a 'good night'-schnapps at the
Killepitsch, just opposite the Uerige. However if you still feel like
more beer, laughter and crowds, you will have to head for Im
Füchschen, on Ratinger Straße - the ultimate German beer
bar experience! (walk along the promenade, past the
Stadterhebungsdenkmal
and shortly afterwards turn right into a cobbled street called the
'Altestadt')
TOUR 2: KAISERSWERTH
Kaiserswerth was actually once an island - werth
translates as river-island. As early as the 11th century, a
Kaiserpfalz, or monarch's residence, was found here. Today
only ruins remind you of the first and successive buildings, one of
which was ordered by Barbarossa in the 12th century. The castle was
blown up in 1702. Kaiserswerth, however, now prides itself on its
charming atmosphere, created by gaslights, cobbled streets and
beautifully restored houses.
Take the U 79 to Klemensplatz,
walk down the Kaiserswerther Markt, and then turn right into An dem
hohen Wall. At the end of this alley you'll find a school, which
houses the 'Heimatmuseum', the museum of the town's history. Here you
will learn everything about the history, politics and society of
Kaiserswerth - Florence Nightingale even once lived here.
Go
straight on when leaving the school, and you'll pass the church where
Theodor Fliedner, the founder of the Diakonissenwerk, an early
social welfare organisation, gave his sermons. If you turn left
you'll be on the main square called 'Kaiserswerther Markt', where you
can have a rest in one of the cafes. The buildings that surround the
market are worth a look, too. There is an old customs house, a former
weaving mill and what was the main office of the Diakonissenwerk.
If you cross the market towards the Rhine and turn left into
Dauzenbergstraße you'll see the church St. Suitbertus, situated
in the middle of a 17/18th century-square. Leave the square heading
towards the Rhine and turn left, and you'll see the remains of the
castle. Go for a stroll along the Rhine, or just watch the black
freight boats struggle against the river current.
If you
prefer a romantic stroll through a tree-lined alley, turn in to
Barbarossa Wall just across from the Im Ritter pub. If you get tired
of this side of the Rhine you can always swap shores - a ferry runs
till late. And if you don't feel like walking there are all kinds of
restaurants at Kaiserswerth. The Burghof and Im Ritter both offer
beer gardens, and if you want to treat yourself to some exquisite
food, there's three-star haute cuisine at Im
Schiffchen.
TOUR 3: ARCHITECTURE
It is not
only the 'Stadttor' or the Gehry-buildings in Düsseldorf that
are of interest for fans of modern architecture. The three-layered
Thyssen
building from the 1950s, the white piano-shaped theatre from the
1970s, and numerous exhibitions about design have been attracting
visitors for quite some time.
And who would ever guess that
in the 1980s the Carsch-House
was moved - actually dismantled then rebuilt 23 metres away to make
room for the U-Bahn? Or that the Oberkasseler
Bridge was built 50 metres away from its current position, and
later moved!
The tour begins with a view of that bridge from
the Rhine promenade, facing the Rheinturm
television tower. The first stop is the Landtag,
the regional parliament building (Düsseldorf is the capital of
the federal state of North-Rhine-Westphalia), which was finished in
1988. Rising before you is the Rheinturm, 234 metres high, with a
pricey restaurant at 180 metres, offering a magnificent view of the
city and the surrounding towns on clear days.
Leave the tower
to your right, pass guards' house and walk up the artificial hill
toward the glass-column that is the Stadttor.
It's an office building, so it's open during the day. Don't hesitate
to have a look inside - it's breathtaking! There's a little path left
of the building, which leads to the back entrance. Walk down the
driveway. The light-blue building that you see is WDR
(West German Broadcasting), which was finished in 1991. Look left and
you'll see three strangely angled buildings: the Gehry-Buildings.
Frank O. Gehry was born in Canada in 1929. He also designed
the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao and, recently, 162 welfare flats in
Frankfurt Goldstein, proving that welfare housing doesn't have to be
dull! Food and drink are available on the opposite side.
If
you walk on there's the so-called 'media-mile', with more examples of
modern architecture. Don't be too shy to steal a glance of the
interiors - they're splendid. After the first complex there's a spot
that overlooks the whole harbour area and the city.
PUBS, BARS AND CAFÉS
If you would like to
try Altbier Düsseldorf has a lot of places to offer, particulary
in the Altstadt! Beer fans who would like to sample local brews in a
classic German pub setting should head for Zum Uerige, Im Goldenen
Kessel and Im
Füchschen. Other traditional pubs are Weinhaus
Tante Anna, Zum Csikosz and the oldest of all, En
De Canon.
You can find a modern, cool atmosphere in Op
de Eck at Grabbeplatz or in many of the cafes along the Rhine. If
you want to check your e-mail, hit the G@rden
internet cafe, with great lattes.
If you crave a cosy cafe au
lait during the day or a sociable evening out, there are many
pleasant bars on Ratinger Straße, including Zum Goldenen
Einhorn, Ohme Jupp, Zur
Uel or Schlonz. On a warm summer night this street becomes a
giant outdoor pub.
If you prefer sitting and enjoying the
view, Burgplatz
and the Rhine promenade are the best places - Goldener
Ring has a nice beer garden and all of the cafes along the Rhine
have great views of the river. But real river-lovers should aim for
Rheintreue
or Koller's
Kahn, both are on boats on the Rhine, found just past the
Oberkasseler
Bridge.
If, after a long, exhausting day you fancy warm,
literary surroundings, have a rest at Schnabelewobski,
the house where Heinrich Heine, the famous Loreley-poet, was born. Or
drown your ears in rock music at the Weißer
Bär right nearby.
THEATER, COMEDY, MUSIC AND
DANCE
Culturally, Düsseldorf has plenty to offer:
There's theater at the Schauspielhaus, opera and ballet at the
Deutsche
Oper am Rhein, classical music at the Tonhalle,
variety at the JUTA, political cabaret at the Kommödchen,
boulevard theater at the Komödie, modern dance at the Tanzhaus
NRW and ambitious puppet-theatre at the Düsseldorfer
Marionettentheater. The Apollo Variete beneath the Rheinknie-bridge
is run by Roncalli, the famous circus.
CINEMA
A
bit of Cinema Paradiso atmosphere can be found at Cinema, Bambi,
Metropol, Lichtburg, Black Box or Souterrain, also called Muggel. Not
only do most of these cinemas have an old-fashioned decor, they show
classic films, too. The big UFA Cineplexes at the main station and
the harbour offer mainstream Hollywood films dubbed in German. If you
want to see a film in the original language, look out for ones listed
as OmU (original with German subtitles)
LIVE MUSIC
Live jazz can be found at Dr. Jazz and at the Jazzschmiede.
Buck Mulligans offers folk. Do you love 'old blue eyes'? Then catch
the German Sinatra, live on stage at Frontpage.
At Em Pöötzke the jazz band will play that tune for a
'Heiermann' - Düsseldorf slang for a five Mark coin.
The
Phillipshalle hosts concerts by big names like Bryan Ferry or Lou
Reed. The Zakk is a club venue for smaller concerts, often by local
bands.
To find your way around you can get a map at the
tourist info across from the main station (Hauptbahnhof), tickets can
also be purchased at Heinersdorff, or just find a trendy-looking cafe
or bar and pick up one of the free city-guides 'Biograph' or
'Coolibri' to find out what's on.
CLUBS
If you
want to go dancing there is the chic Mauer,
Poco
Loco (young crowd, often Spanish nights), Unique-Club
(modern & alternative), Baby
Love (more a bar than a club - so a bit cramped), Anacaonda
Electric Lounge (techno & electro), Ratinger
Hof (mostly rave) and Kulisse (fourty-somethings and German
'Schlager'-pop).
Dusseldorf's trendy professionals go to the
brilliantly designed Banker's
Boulevard (but don't forget your credit card). Checker's
is where Claudia Schiffer was 'discovered' and Sam's,
is another club close to Königsallee.
The mk-2 club is a must for media types and design fans.
Tor
3 and the Stahlwerk
are in an industrial area outside the center of town, and the ZAKK
offers various theme discos, also for the over-thirties.
Foto:
Ulrich Otte, Werbe- und Wirtschaftsförderungsamt Düsseldorf
The regional capital of Nordrhein-Westfalia is a lively metropolis
brimming with culture, media, shopping, fairs, and service
industries. It is a city befitting of the 21st century. The
gastronomic choice here is as diverse as the international character
of its visitors. Whether you are after local specialities like
Düsseldorf pork ribs in mustard sauce or scrumptious Oriental
dishes, be it Sushi or Peking duck, or even light Mediterranean
snacks, your desires are sure to be satisfied.
If this is
your first time in Düsseldorf, make sure you pay a visit to one
of the breweries or traditional taverns. These are concentrated in a
narrow area of the Old Town, which forms the nerve centre of the
city. Particularly recommended are Im
Füchschen, Zum Uerige, En
de Canon, and Zum
Schiffchen. Locals and visitors wallow in a typical Rhineland
ambience as they sit cosily by the wooden tables or stand at the
counter chatting and sipping their dark, aromatic Altbier, a top
fermented brew from Düsseldorf, while they wait for the
blue-frocked Köbesse (waitresses) to serve hearty
regional food. Even if you have a good command of High German, you
may well have problems understanding the menu. The 'Halve Hahn', for
example, has nothing to do with chicken (as the name might suggest);
it is in fact a portion of cheese studded with caraway seeds and
served on a piece of dark rye bread. This speciality comes from the
Harz mountains. 'Ähzezupp' denotes a thick, creamy pea soup,
while 'Flönz mit Ölk' is a blood sausage made of freshly
slaughtered meat served with onions. If you feel uneasy about any of
these options, a visit to the Köbes should reassure you. The
austere charm of this beer cellar can be off-putting to the
uninitiated, but the waiters will be more than glad to serve you the
nifty little beer which this establishment takes its name
from—unless, of course, you make the faux pas of ordering a Kölsch
(Colognes best-known lager). For, ever since the Battle of Worringen
(1288), the two rival communities have held chauvinistic and
contemptuous attitudes towards one another.
During the winter
months, the Rhinelander takes to large plates of mussels in onion
sauce to warm up. The traditional Benders
Marie is the city's oldest mussel restaurant and boasts twenty
different ways of preparing them. In recent years, a younger
generation of cooks has experimented with mixing traditional local
dishes with international influences. The tasty result has been
dubbed 'neudeutsch' (neo-German), and fine examples of this
phenomenon can be found at Hecker
or Flachskamm. A gem of Mediterranean fish cuisine is La
Bouillabaisse. Marmoud Marnoui, the owner of this restaurant, has
cooked his way into the hearts of Düsseldorfers with his
imaginative scaled fish dishes. You can, of course, also get fish
from the Rhine in its original state, namely raw in the form of
sushi. Düsseldorf's restaurant scene benefits greatly from the
city's large Japanese community. Authentically prepared Japanese
specialities in varying price ranges can be had all over Düsseldorf.
(Fai
Sushi, Kikaku,
Ohno-Ja,
Nippon-Kan
and Edo)
are just some of the notable examples. But Japan's neighbours also
have their culinary representatives here, including Thailand (Baan
Thai), China (Peking
Enten Haus) and Korea (Seoul,
Shilla).
If your finances are well heeled, try one of the city's
prestigious and accordingly pricey gourmet establishments. Star chef
Jean-Claude Bourgeuil (Im
Schiffchen, Aalschocker)
has delighted even the most critical gastronomes over the years with
his culinary creations. Other legendary chefs include Peter Nöthel
(Hummerstübchen),
Günther Scherrer (Victorian),
Ingo Köthschneider (Canonicus),
Guy de Vries (Himmel und Erde) and Thomas Wilden (Thomas).
Mediterranean specialities offer a more affordable means of quenching
your hunger. Unfussy Portugese food is available from Luso,
tapas from La
Copa or Las
Tapas, and tasty Italian classics at unbeatably low prices from
Casa Luigi or Osteria Terracotta.
Or perhaps you have a soft
spot for Lebanese Meze? In that case, Libanon
Restaurantis your best bet. This opulent levantine establishment
has become one of city's most popular gastronomic destinations. The
Indian subcontinent is also well represented, with aromatic and spicy
tandoori dishes and other delicacies on offer at Tandoori
and Chanakya.
Should you still be undecided at this stage, here are a
couple of final tips: authentic African cuisine is served at Okra;
traditional French sit-down meals at Robert´s
Bistro, and US-style fastfood atState
Side. Enjoy your meal!
Düsseldorf's development from an insignificant farming
settlement on the banks of the Düssel into a lively cosmopolitan
metropolis bursting with culture, fashion, media, and shopping is an
outstanding success story.
At the time when Roman
civilisation was making itself felt through the rapid construction of
roads and buildings, only a few Germanic tribes stubbornly clung on
to their marshy territory on the other side of the Rhine, where the
city was later to spring up. In the Frankish period of the 7th and
8th centuries, the odd farming or fishing settlement could be found
at the point where the small river Düssel flows into the Rhine.
The first written mention of the town dates back to 1135. Under
Kaiser Friedrich Barbarossa the little town of Kaiserswerth,
lying at the northern edge of Düsseldorf, became a well
fortified outpost of the Empire. From the Palace of Barbarossa, a
heavily fortified castle built between 1174 and 1184, soldiers kept a
watchful eye on every movement over the Rhine. Kaiserswerth was made
into an official district of Düsseldorf in 1929.
August
14th, 1288 is an important date in the annals of Düsseldorf. On
this day the sovereign, Count Adolf V von Berg, granted the village
on the banks of the Düssel the right to call itself a city.
Prior to that a bloody power struggle between the powerful Archbishop
of Cologne and the Berg nobility had taken place, culminating in the
battle of Worringen. Enemy forces wiped out the army of Cologne on 5
June 1288 and dashed the Archbishop's ambitions. The
Stadterhebungsmonument
(monument celebrating Düsseldorf's elevation to city status)
on the Burgplatz
serves as a reminder of this epic event.
A market square
subsequently sprang up right on the banks of the Rhine over an area
of land no larger than four hectares. This square was protected by
city walls on each side. In 1380 Düsseldorf was named regional
capital of the Duchy of Berg. Building works proceeded at a fast
pace. The collegiate church of St.
Lambertus dates back to this period of rapid expansion. The pace
of development accelerated further when Duke Wilhelm consolidated the
status of the youthful capital (which then presided over the Duchies
of Jülich, Kleve and Berg as well as the Earldoms of Mark and
Ravensburg) by building an imposing castle in the 16th century. The
excellently preserved town
hall was built in 1573 in the style of the Lower Rhine
Renaissance.
Düsseldorf's growth was rampant under the
new Pfalz-Neuburger Regent. Elector Johann Wilhelm II, affectionately
known to his people as Jan Wellem, was particularly notable
for his services to the city. This old rake and art lover married a
Medici daughter and designed a vast gallery with an astonishing
selection of paintings and sculptures, even by contemporary standards
(including works by Rubens and Rembrandt). This gallery is housed in
the Stadtschloss.
Jan Wellem also did much for the growth of Düsseldorf's trade
and infrastructure.
After the death of the childless Jan
Wellem, however, the hitherto flourishing royal capital saw a
reversal of its fortunes. Under his successors, who tended to avoid
living in the city itself, Elector Carl Theodor (1742-1799)
eventually decided to move his court to Munich for good; Düsseldorf
lost its former dynamism. The Seven-Year War and the Napoleonic Wars
(during which the city was occupied and the fort razed to the ground)
sowed destruction and poverty. Even Prussia's acquisition of
Düsseldorf at the Vienna Congress of 1815 failed to arrest the
decline. Nevertheless, Düsseldorf's decay into a provincial
backwater was in some ways a blessing in disguise. The razing of the
fort had endowed the city with a large amount of unused space. The
architect Maximilian Weyhe designed the expansive Hofgarten,
a splendid landscaped garden in English style. He also designed the
adjacent Königsallee,
a magnificent boulevard which runs parallel to the river Düssel.
In the early 19th century, at the Kunstakademie, Wilhelm von Schadow
presided over the development of the Düsseldorf School, whose
paintings soon gained a worldwide reputation. Eminent figures like
Goethe and Diderot frequented the Malkasten,
which was the seat of this group of artists.
By the mid-19th
century the Industrial Revolution had left an indelible mark on the
city's infrastructure and propelled its population statistics to new
records: in 1882 Düsseldorf had over 100,000 inhabitants, and
this figure doubled by 1892. Düsseldorf was becoming a large
modern city. Two bridges, the Hammer and the Oberkasseler
Brücke, were key in furthering the city's growth on the left
bank of the Rhine. The Gründerjahre (founder years)
brought a new dynamism and sense of excitement as the city developed
into an industrial and administrative metropolis.
However,
the First World War and the Great Depression provided a sobering
check to this new-found optimism. The Nazi period plunged Düsseldorf
into a catastrophe. During World War 2 the city was transformed into
a heap of rubble. Round-the-clock air attacks and a seven week-long
bombardment in the spring of 1945 destroyed about half of the
residential and industrial areas, claiming many civilian casualties
in the process. 370,000 civilians were left in this desert of ruins
by the end of the War (as compared with 540,000 in 1939). The Jewish
community was decimated through deportation and murder (only 249
survived out of a pre-War population of 5,100). The Mahn-
und Gedenkstätte für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus
(Memorial to the Victims of National Socialism), located on
Mühlenstraße, provides a grizzly account of the darkest
chapter in Düsseldorf's history.
The British occupation
of the Rhineland and Westfalia turned out to be a piece of good luck
for the city. In 1946 the British named Düsseldorf capital of
the newly created county of Nordrhein-Westfalia. The city's
reconstruction proceeded at breakneck pace. The economic miracle
transformed Düsseldorf into a metropolis of trade,
administration and service industries, thereby giving it a new lease
of life which nobody could have dreamed of in 1945. New buildings
spring up everywhere, and international companies set up their
businesses here. The ongoing success of the Messe (trade fair) and
the continuing attraction of Düsseldorf to international
companies makes for a high standard of living and a cosmopolitan
feel. Although Düsseldorf's population of 570,000 (another
200,000 live in the commuter belt) certainly does not make it a
metropolis of the size of, say, Hamburg or Munich, the range of
possibilities in terms of culture, shopping, dining and nightlife can
match anything offered by bigger cities, without the accompanying
drawbacks. Come and see for yourself!