Düsseldorf Stadtteil Lierenfeld

Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state and the seventh-largest city in Germany, with a population of 617,280.

Düsseldorf is located at the confluence of two rivers: the Rhine and the Düssel, a small tributary. The ''-dorf'' suffix means "village" in German (English cognate: '' thorp''); its use is unusual for a settlement as large as Düsseldorf. Most of the city lies on the right bank of the Rhine. Düsseldorf lies in the centre of both the Rhine-Ruhr and the Rhineland Metropolitan Region. It neighbours the Cologne Bonn Region to the south and the Ruhr to the north. It is the largest city in the German Low Franconian dialect area (closely related to Dutch).

Mercer's 2012 Quality of Living survey ranked Düsseldorf the sixth most livable city in the world. Düsseldorf Airport is Germany's fourth-busiest airport, serving as the most important international airport for the inhabitants of the densely populated Ruhr, Germany's largest urban area. Düsseldorf is an international business and financial centre, renowned for its fashion and trade fairs, and is headquarters to one Fortune Global 500 and two DAX companies. Messe Düsseldorf organises nearly one fifth of premier trade shows. As second largest city of the Rhineland, Düsseldorf holds Rhenish Carnival celebrations every year in February/March, the Düsseldorf carnival celebrations being the third most popular in Germany after those held in Cologne and Mainz.

There are 22 institutions of higher education in the city including the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, the university of applied sciences (Hochschule Düsseldorf), the academy of arts ( Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, whose members include Joseph Beuys, Emanuel Leutze, August Macke, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, and Andreas Gursky), and the university of music ( Robert-Schumann-Musikhochschule Düsseldorf). The city is also known for its influence on electronic/experimental music (Kraftwerk) and its Japanese community. Düsseldorf is classified as a GaWC Beta+ world city.

History

Early development

When the Roman Empire was strengthening its position throughout Europe, a few Germanic tribes clung on in marshy territory off the eastern banks of the Rhine. In 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. It was from such settlements that the city of Düsseldorf grew.

The first written mention of Düsseldorf (then called ''Dusseldorp'' in the local Low Rhenish dialect) dates back to 1135. Under Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa the small town of Kaiserswerth to the north of Düsseldorf became a well-fortified outpost, where soldiers kept a watchful eye on every movement on the Rhine. Kaiserswerth eventually became a suburb of Düsseldorf in 1929. In 1186, Düsseldorf came under the rule of the Counts of Berg. 14 August 1288 is one of the most important dates in the history of Düsseldorf. On this day the sovereign Count Adolf VIII of Berg granted the village on the banks of the Düssel town privileges. Before this, a bloody struggle for power had taken place between the Archbishop of Cologne and the count of Berg, culminating in the Battle of Worringen.

The Archbishop of Cologne's forces were wiped out by the forces of the count of Berg who were supported by citizens and farmers of Cologne and Düsseldorf, paving the way for Düsseldorf's elevation to city status, which is commemorated today by a monument on the Burgplatz. The custom of turning cartwheels is credited to the children of Düsseldorf. There are variations of the origin Düsseldorfer Radschläger of the cartwheeling children. Today the symbol (Der Radschläger) represents the story and every year the Düsseldorfers celebrate by having a cartwheeling contest. After this battle the relationship between the four cities deteriorated, because they were commercial rivals; it is often said that there is a kind of hostility between the citizens of Cologne and Düsseldorf. Today, it finds its expression mainly in a humorous form (especially during the Rhineland '' Karneval'') and in sports.

A market square on all four sides. In 1380, the dukes of Berg moved their seat to the town and Düsseldorf was made regional capital of the Duchy of Berg. During the following centuries several famous landmarks were built, including the . In 1609, the ducal line of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg died out, and after a virulent struggle over succession, Jülich and Berg fell to the Wittelsbach Counts of Palatinate-Neuburg, who made Düsseldorf their main domicile, even after they inherited the Electorate of the Palatinate, in 1685, becoming now Prince-electors as Electors Palatine.

Under the art-loving Johann Wilhelm II (r. 1690–1716), a vast art gallery with a huge selection of paintings and sculptures, were housed in the ''Stadtschloss'' (city castle). After his death, the city fell on hard times again, especially after Elector Charles Theodore inherited Bavaria and moved the electoral court to Munich. With him he took the art collection, which became part of what is now the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. Destruction and poverty struck Düsseldorf after the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon made Berg a Grand Duchy and Düsseldorf its capital. Johann Devaranne, a leader of Solingen's resistance to Napoleon's conscription decrees, was executed here in 1813. After Napoleon's defeat, the whole Rhineland including Berg was given to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815. The Rhine Province's parliament was established in Düsseldorf. By the mid-19th century, Düsseldorf enjoyed a revival thanks to the Industrial Revolution as the city boasted 100,000 inhabitants by 1882; the figure doubled in 1892.

World War I

During World War I the Royal Naval Air Service (RNS) undertook the first Entente strategic bombing missions on 22 September 1914, when it bombed the Zeppelin bases in Düsseldorf.

Weimar Republic

In 1920, Düsseldorf became the centre of the General Strike. On 15 April 1920, 45 delegates of the German Miners Union were murdered by the Freikorps.

World War II

The Rabbi of the Düsseldorf Jewish Community fled to the Netherlands and died in KZ Auschwitz in 1943. The city was a target of strategic bombing during World War II, particularly during the RAF bombing campaign in 1943 when over 700 bombers were used in a single night. Raids continued late into the war. As part of the campaign against German oil facilities, the RAF raid of 20–21 February on the Rhenania Ossag refinery in the Reisholz district of the city halted oil production there. The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Düsseldorf in mid-April 1945. The United States 97th Infantry Division easily captured the city on 18 April 1945, after the local German Resistance group launched Aktion Rheinland.

German Federal Republic

In 1946, Düsseldorf was made capital of the new federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The city's reconstruction proceeded at a frantic pace and the economic transformation guided Düsseldorf's economic growth.

Geography

Physical geography

Düsseldorf lies at the centre of the Lower Rhine basin, where the delta of the Düssel flows into the Rhine. The city lies on the east side of the Rhine, except District 4 ( Oberkassel, Niederkassel, Heerdt and Lörick).
Across the Rhine, the city of Neuss stands on the delta of the Erft. Düsseldorf lies southwest of the Ruhr urban area, and in the middle of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.

Düsseldorf is built entirely on alluvium, mud, sand, clay and occasionally gravel. The highest point in Düsseldorf is the top of Sandberg in the far eastern part of the city (Hubbelrath borough) at . The lowest point is at the far northern end in Wittlaer borough where the Schwarzbach enters the Rhine, with an average elevation of .

Adjacent cities and districts

The following districts and cities border Düsseldorf (clockwise starting from the north): the City of Duisburg, the District of Mettmann ( Ratingen, Mettmann, Erkrath, Hilden, Langenfeld, and Monheim), and the District of Neuss ( Dormagen, Neuss, and Meerbusch).

Climate

The city has an oceanic climate ( Köppen: ''Cfb'', mild in relation to East Germany). Like the rest of the lower Rhineland, Düsseldorf experiences moderate winters with little snowfall and mild to warm summers. The average annual temperature is with an average yearly precipitation of . The dominant wind direction is from the west with velocities in the range of 3 to 4 m/s (7–9 mph), with gusts of 3.5 −4.8 m/s (8–10.7 mph). The wind is calm (defined as being under 2 m/s or 4.5 mph) about 35% of the time, more frequently at night and in the winter.

Demographics

With a population of 612,178 within the city boundaries (31 December 2015), Düsseldorf is Germany's seventh largest city. Its population surpassed the threshold of 100,000 inhabitants during the height of industrialisation in 1882, and peaked at just over 705,000 in 1962. The city then began to lose residents with many moving into neighbouring municipalities. However, since the late 1990s, the city's population has been slowly rising again.

A total of 109,883 (18%) of Düsseldorf's population are foreigners (31 December 2008), the majority of whom come from within Europe (81,742). The largest national minorities are Turks, Greeks, and Poles. Düsseldorf and its surroundings have the third-largest Japanese community in Europe and the largest in Germany (about 11,000 people). Düsseldorf has the third-largest Jewish community in Germany, with about 7,000 members.

Government

Boroughs

Since 1975, Düsseldorf is divided into ten administrative boroughs. Each borough (''Stadtbezirk'') has its own elected borough council (Bezirksvertretung) and its own borough mayor (Bezirksvorsteher). The borough councils are advisory only. Each borough is further subdivided into quarters ('' Stadtteile''). There are 50 quarters in Düsseldorf.

Mayor

The current Mayor of Düsseldorf is Stephan Keller of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), who was elected in 2020.

The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:

! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate
! rowspan=2, Party
! colspan=2, First round
! colspan=2, Second round
, -
! Votes
! %
! Votes
! %
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Stephan Keller
, align=left, Christian Democratic Union
, 83,425
, 34.1
, 118,308
, 56.0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Thomas Geisel
, align=left, Social Democratic Party
, 64,203
, 26.3
, 92,999
, 44.0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Stefan Engstfeld
, align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens
, 42,463
, 17.4
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann
, align=left, Free Democratic Party
, 30,584
, 12.5
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Florian Josef Hoffmann
, align=left, Alternative for Germany
, 6,564
, 2.7
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Udo Adam Bonn
, align=left, The Left
, 5,257
, 2.2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Dominique Mirus
, align=left, Die PARTEI
, 3,039
, 1.2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Mark Schenk
, align=left, Volt Germany
, 2,255
, 0.9
, -
,
, align=left, Claudia Krüger
, align=left, Animal Welfare Here!
, 1,939
, 0.8
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Hans-Joachim Grumbach
, align=left, Free Voters
, 1,192
, 0.5
, -
,
, align=left, Celine Coldewe
, align=left, Climate List Düsseldorf
, 954
, 0.4
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Michael Baumeister
, align=left, Independent
, 947
, 0.4
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Marc Olejak
, align=left, Pirate Party Germany
, 792
, 0.3
, -
,
, align=left, Markus Brakonier
, align=left, German Sport Party
, 383
, 0.2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Andre Maniera
, align=left, The Republicans
, 325
, 0.1
, -
! colspan=3, Valid votes
! 244,322
! 98.8
! 211,307
! 99.3
, -
! colspan=3, Invalid votes
! 3,008
! 1.2
! 1,571
! 0.7
, -
! colspan=3, Total
! 247,330
! 100.0
! 212,878
! 100.0
, -
! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout
! 470,511
! 52.6
! 470,312
! 45.3
, -
, colspan=7, Source
State Returning Officer

City council

The Düsseldorf city council (''Düsseldorfer Stadtrat'') governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:

! colspan=2, Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
, 81,833
, 33.4
, 3.3
, 30
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)
, 58,881
, 24.0
, 10.3
, 22
, 11
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Social Democratic Party (SPD)
, 43,949
, 17.9
, 11.4
, 16
, 8
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Free Democratic Party (FDP)
, 22,453
, 9.2
, 2.2
, 8
, 2
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, The Left (Die Linke)
, 9,951
, 4.1
, 1.1
, 4
, ±0
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Alternative for Germany (AfD)
, 8,776
, 3.6
, 0.6
, 3
, 1
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Volt Germany (Volt)
, 4,512
, 1.8
, New
, 2
, New
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Die PARTEI (PARTEI)
, 4,371
, 1.8
, New
, 2
, New
, -
,
, align=left, Animal Welfare Here! (Tierschutz hier!)
, 3,437
, 1.4
, New
, 1
, New
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Free Voters (FW)
, 2,212
, 0.9
, 0.3
, 1
, ±0
, -
,
, align=left, Climate List Düsseldorf (Klimaliste)
, 2,124
, 0.9
, New
, 1
, New
, -
, colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey,
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, Pirate Party Germany (Piraten)
, 1,464
, 0.6
, 1.1
, 0
, 1
, -
,
, align=left, German Sport Party (DSP)
, 642
, 0.3
, New
, 0
, New
, -
, bgcolor=,
, align=left, The Republicans (REP)
, 586
, 0.2
, 0.4
, 0
, 1
, -
,
, align=left, RESISTANCE 2020 We for Düsseldorf
, 76
, 0.0
, New
, 0
, New
, -
! colspan=2, Valid votes
! 245,271
! 99.2
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=2, Invalid votes
! 2,085
! 0.8
!
!
!
, -
! colspan=2, Total
! 247,356
! 100.0
!
! 90
! 8
, -
! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout
! 470,511
! 52.6
! 3.4
!
!
, -
, colspan=7, Source
State Returning Officer

Economy

Düsseldorf has become one of the top telecommunications centres in Germany. With two of the four big German providers of mobile frequencies, D2 Vodafone and E-Plus, Düsseldorf leads the German mobile phone market. There are many foreign information and communication technology companies in Düsseldorf such as Huawei, NTT, Ericsson, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi. There are 18 internet service providers located in the capital of North Rhine-Westphalia. There are two airlines with headquarters in the city: Eurowings and formerly independent LTU International.

Many of the internet companies in Düsseldorf have their roots in the world of advertising: there are 400 advertising agencies in Düsseldorf, among them three of the largest in Germany: BBDO Group, Grey Global Group and Publicis. A number of affiliates of foreign agencies deserve mention as well, such as Ogilvy & Mather, Dentsu, Hakuhodo, TBWA, and DDB. There are also about 200 publishing houses in Düsseldorf.

Peek & Cloppenburg (fashion); Uniper (electricity generation); L'Oréal Germany (Cosmetics and Beauty); Henkel AG & Co. KGaA (Branded Consumer Goods and Industrial technologies); Metro (wholesale, retail); Ceconomy (retail); Esprit Holdings (fashion, headquarters in Ratingen near Düsseldorf); BASF Personal Care & Nutrition (formerly Cognis – chemicals, headquarter in Monheim near Düsseldorf, but production mainly in Düsseldorf).

Daimler AG builds the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter light commercial vehicles in Düsseldorf.
Since the 1960s, there has been a strong relationship between the city and Japan. Many Japanese banks and corporations have their European headquarters in Düsseldorf – so many that Düsseldorf has the third largest Japanese community in Europe, after London and Paris.

The "Kö", which stands for Königsallee ("King's Avenue"), is a shopping destination. Some jewellery shops, designer labels, and galleries have their stores here. The Kö has among the highest rents for retail and office space in Germany.

Financial center

The city is an important financial center. More than 30,000 people work for the financial and insurance sector in Düsseldorf. There are around 170 national and international financial institutions, and about 130 insurance agencies, and one of Germany's eight stock exchanges. HSBC has its German headquarter in Düsseldorf and employs 3.000 people. NRW.BANK is a development bank of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the largest state development bank in Germany. NRW.BANK was spun off from WestLB in 2002. Today Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank have major branches in Düsseldorf with about 2.000 employees. Düsseldorf is also the most important German financial center for Japanese credit institutions. MUFG Bank, SMBC and Mizuho have their German headquarters in Düsseldorf. Also Santander has its German headquarters in the Düsseldorf region. Some major insurance companies like ERGO, a subsidiary of Munich Re, and ARAG are located in the city. Several other major financial service companies have their headquarters in the city.

Media

Important newspapers and journals such as '' Handelsblatt'', '' Rheinische Post'', ''Wirtschaftswoche'', ''Deutsches Wirtschaftsblatt'' and ''VDI-Nachrichten'' are published in Düsseldorf. Almost all of these papers are available online. Renowned filmmaking companies, such as Germany's biggest cinema enterprise, the Riech Group, and TV channels such as WDR and QVC are located in Düsseldorf. The ''Film- und Medienstiftung NRW'' foundation supports the production of film and new media.

With regard to movies and movie theatres in Düsseldorf, moviegoers are able to view movies in a range of different languages. Many mainstream movies are shown in English, Spanish, French, and German.

Transport

Düsseldorf Airport

Düsseldorf Airport, also referred to as Rhein-Ruhr Airport, is located north of the city centre and can easily be reached by train or the S-Bahn urban railway. There is a long-distance train station served by regional and national services, which is linked to the airport by the SkyTrain, an automatic people mover. Another station situated under the terminal building carries the S-Bahn line ( S11) to Düsseldorf Central Station, and to Cologne as well as a few selected night services.
After those of Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin, Düsseldorf Airport is Germany's third largest commercial airport, with 25.5 million passengers annually (2019). The airport offers 180 destinations on 4 continents, and is served by 70 airlines. The airport buildings were partly destroyed by a devastating fire caused by welding works in 1996, killing 17 people. It was completely rebuilt and the Skytrain installed.

Railway

The city is a major hub in the Deutsche Bahn (DB) railway network. More than 1,000 trains stop in Düsseldorf daily. Düsseldorf Central Station at Konrad-Adenauer-Platz is located in Düsseldorf-Stadtmitte. Several Rhein-Ruhr S-Bahn lines connect Düsseldorf to other cities of Rhine-Ruhr. Local Düsseldorf Straßenbahn and light rail Düsseldorf Stadtbahn traffic, as well as local bus traffic, is carried out by the city-owned Rheinbahn which operates within the VRR public transport system. The light rail system also serves neighbouring cities and is partially operated underground. The Central Station and the Airport Station (Flughafen-Bahnhof) are connected to the national and European high-speed systems (Intercity/Eurocity, IC/EC and InterCityExpress).

Taxi

In Düsseldorf there are 1320 officially licensed Taxis. According to the regulations, the cars are always in ivory colour. On the back window you always find a black number on a yellow patch. Credit card payment has to be accepted at the Taxi stands at Airport of Düsseldorf.
The supply of taxis in Düsseldorf is over the German average. Two taxi organisations cover the market. "Taxi-Düsseldorf" offers more than 1180 cabs in different sizes for max. 8 Passengers. The smaller one is "Rhein-Taxi" with more than 120 cabs. It is obligatory to carry out any journeys to destinations in the city and directly neighbouring cities.

Carsharing

In addition to stationary car sharing, where vehicles must be returned to their original location after use, one-way carsharing vehicles have also been available for hire since 2012. These vehicles, which can be parked anywhere where parking is normally allowed within Düsseldorf, can be rented from Car2go, Greenwheels, Stadtmobil and DriveNow.

Autobahn

North Rhine-Westphalia has the densest network of autobahns in Germany and Düsseldorf is directly accessible via the A3, A44, A46, A52, A57, A59 and A524.

Cycling

Düsseldorf is connected to some national and international cycling paths, including EV15 The Rhine Cycle Route.

The city of Düsseldorf is a member of the German North Rhine-Westphalia District, Municipality and City Friends of Pedestrians and Cyclists Working Group, who bestowed upon Düsseldorf the title of "Friend of Cyclists City" in 2007, although the city still has a few gaps in the network of cycle paths in the eyes of many of its citizens.

Culture and recreation

Elector Jan Wellem and his wife Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici of Tuscany, were patrons of Düsseldorf's first significant cultural activities in the 17th and 18th centuries. Heinrich Heine, whose 200th birthday was celebrated in 1997 and who originally had a proposed memorial in the city dedicated to him; Clara and Robert Schumann; and as Felix Mendelssohn, are the most prominent artists related to the city, which is home to a distinguished