Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. With about 161,000 inhabitants, Leverkusen is one of the state's smaller cities. The city is known for the pharmaceutical company

Bayer Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of busi ...

and its sports club

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, t ...

History

The heart of what is now Leverkusen was Wiesdorf, a village on the Rhine, which dates back to the 12th century. With the surrounding villages which have now been incorporated, the area also includes the rivers Wupper and

Dhünn Dhünn is a -long river located in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Its main source is near Wipperfürth in the Bergisches Land area. It runs in a south-westerly direction, and its mouth into the river Wupper is near Leverkusen, appr. north of C ...

, and has suffered a lot from flooding, notably in 1571 and 1657, the latter resulting in Wiesdorf being moved East from the river to its present location. During the

Cologne War The Cologne War (german: Kölner Krieg, Kölnischer Krieg, Truchsessischer Krieg; 1583–88) was a conflict between Protestant and Catholic factions that devastated the Electorate of Cologne, a historical ecclesiastical principality of the Holy ...

, from 1583 to 1588 Leverkusen was ravaged by war. The entire area was rural until the late 19th century, when industry prompted the development that led to the city of Leverkusen, and to its becoming one of the most important centres of the German chemical industry. The chemist Carl Leverkus, looking for a place to build a

dye A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...

factory, chose Wiesdorf in 1860. He built a factory for the production of artificial ultramarine blue at the Kahlberg in Wiesdorf in 1861, and called the emerging settlement "Leverkusen" after his family home in Lennep. The factory was taken over by the

company in 1891; Bayer moved its headquarters to Wiesdorf in 1912. After asset confiscation at the end of the First World War, it became

IG Farben Interessengemeinschaft Farbenindustrie AG (), commonly known as IG Farben (German for 'IG Dyestuffs'), was a German chemical and pharmaceutical conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Formed in 1925 from a merger of six chemical companies—BASF, ...

. The city of Leverkusen proper was founded in 1930 by merging Wiesdorf, Schlebusch, Steinbüchel and Rheindorf, and was posthumously named for Carl Leverkus. During the Second World War, the IG Farben factories were bombed by the RAF on 22 August 1943, again by the RAF during bombing campaigns on 19/20 November, the USAAF

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

on 1 December 1943, and finally once again by the RAF on 10/11 December 1943. In 1975, Opladen (including Quettingen and Lützenkirchen since 1930), Hitdorf and Bergisch Neukirchen joined Leverkusen. The present city is made up of former villages, originally called Wiesdorf, Opladen, Schlebusch, Manfort, Bürrig, Hitdorf, Quettingen, Lützenkirchen, Steinbüchel, Rheindorf and Bergisch-Neukirchen. On 27 July 2021, an explosion at the Chempark site in the city killed 2 people and injured 31 others.

Demographics

Population development since 1832:

Politics

Mayor

The current Mayor of Leverkusen is Uwe Richrath of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), elected in 2015 and re-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, Uwe Richrath , align=left, Social Democratic Party , 28,016 , 46.1 , 29,438 , 70.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Frank Schönberger , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 14,198 , 23.4 , 12,619 , 30.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Stefan Baake , align=left,

Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

, 7,283 , 12.0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Roland Hartwig , align=left,

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...

, 3,132 , 5.2 , - , , align=left, Karl Schweiger , align=left, Citizens' List Leverkusen , 3,070 , 5.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Monika Ballin-Meyer-Ahrens , align=left,

Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...

, 2,613 , 4.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Alexander Langer , align=left, Die PARTEI , 1,377 , 2.3 , - , , align=left, Markus Beisicht , align=left, Awakening Leverkusen , 1,101 , 1.8 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 60,790 ! 98.8 ! 42,057 ! 99.1 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 744 ! 1.2 ! 362 ! 0.9 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 61,534 ! 100.0 ! 42,419 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 126,846 ! 48.5 ! 126,801 ! 33.5 , - , colspan=7, Source
State Returning Officer

City council

The Leverkusen city council 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) , 16,859 , 27.8 , 4.7 , 14 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Social Democratic Party (SPD) , 15,276 , 25.2 , 3.1 , 13 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Grüne) , 11,015 , 18.2 , 8.8 , 9 , 4 , - , , align=left, Citizens' List Leverkusen (Bürgerliste) , 3,630 , 6.0 , 1.0 , 3 , 1 , - , , align=left, Opladen Plus (OP) , 3,601 , 5.9 , 0.7 , 3 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(AfD) , 3,466 , 5.7 , New , 3 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(FDP) , 2,937 , 4.8 , 1.0 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 2,092 , 3.4 , 0.4 , 2 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Citizens' Forum Green Leverkusen – Climate List (Büfo) , 909 , 1.5 , New , 1 , New , - , , align=left, Awakening Leverkusen (AUF) , 876 , 1.4 , New , 1 , New , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 60,661 ! 98.6 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 866 ! 1.4 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 61,527 ! 100.0 ! ! 52 ! ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 126,846 ! 48.5 ! 2.3 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
State Returning Officer

Coat of arms

The coat of arms consists of the two-tailed rampant red lion of the Bergisches Land with a blue crown on a silver background and an embattled line in front.

Main sights and places of interest

* BayArena is the home stadium of Bayer Leverkusen, with a capacity of over 30,000. * The Bayer Cross Leverkusen is one of the largest illuminated advertisements in the world. * Freudenthaler Sensenhammer is an industrial museum. *

Schloss Morsbroich ''Schloss'' (; pl. ''Schlösser''), formerly written ''Schloß'', is the German term for a building similar to a château, palace, or manor house. Related terms appear in several Germanic languages. In the Scandinavian languages, the cogn ...

–

moated castle A water castle is a castle whose site is largely defended by water. It can be entirely surrounded by water-filled moats (moated castle) or natural waterbodies such as island castles in a river or offshore. The term comes from European castle s ...

in the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style, now a museum for contemporary art. *

Water Tower Leverkusen-Bürrig Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

– water reservoir containing an observation deck. * Neuland Park – large park beside the Rhine. * Japanese Garden – a 1913 garden extended by Carl Duisberg in 1923. * Colony of workers – historical area in the form of houses and other buildings constructed for employees and families of the chemical works at the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th century. * ''Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit'' – historical boat bridge next to the Rhine, between Wiesdorf and Rheindorf. *

Mausoleum A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...

of Carl Duisberg – mausoleum in the centre of the Carl Duisberg Park, next to the Casino. * NaturGut Ophoven – educational centre for nature in Leverkusen-Opladen.

Sports

The city is home of the football team

and the basketball team Bayer Giants Leverkusen, which is the German record holder of national basketball championships. As of 2019, the team plays in the German ProA league and plays its home games in the Ostermann-Arena. The Ostermann-Arena, previously known as

Wilhelm Dopatka Halle Ostermann-Arena (formerly Wilhelm Dopatka Halle and Smidt-Arena) is an indoor sporting arena located in Leverkusen, Germany. The capacity of the arena is 3,500 people. It is home to the Bayer Giants Leverkusen basketball Basketball is ...

and Smidt-Arena, was one of the host arenas for the FIBA EuroBasket 1985 (the official European Basketball Championship).

Twin towns – sister cities

Leverkusen is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

, Finland (1968) *

Bracknell Bracknell () is a large town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, the westernmost area within the Greater London Built-up Area, Greater London Urban Area and the administrative centre of the Bracknell Forest, Borough of Bracknell Forest. It l ...

, United Kingdom (1975) * Ljubljana, Slovenia (1979) * Nof HaGalil, Israel (1980) * Chinandega, Nicaragua (1986) * Schwedt, Germany (1989) * Racibórz, Poland (2002) * Villeneuve d'Ascq, France (2005) * Wuxi, China (2014)

Notable people

* Lothar Rohde (1906–1985), scientist and founder of ''Rohde & Schwarz Messtechnik'' *

Heinrich Lützenkirchen Heinrich Lützenkirchen (29 November 1909 – 11 March 1986) was a German politician (Christian Democratic Union of Germany) and mayor of Leverkusen from 1961 to 1964 and in 1979. Life Lützenkirchen was born in 1909 in a part of Leverkusen today ...

(1909–1986), mayor of Leverkusen * Paul Janes (1912–1987), footballer * Wolf Vostell (1932–1988), sculptor, painter and happening artist * Ileana Jacket (born 1947), telenovela actress * Bärbel Dieckmann (born 1949), politician ( SPD), mayor of Bonn 1994–2009 * Wilfried Schmickler (born 1954), comedian * Andreas Hedwig (born 1959), archivist * Dietmar Mögenburg (born 1961), athlete * Detlef Schrempf (born 1963), basketball player * Sabine Moussier (born 1966), Mexican telenovela actress * Uta Briesewitz (born 1967), cinematographer *

Ralf Schmitz Ralf Schmitz (born 3 November 1974 in Leverkusen) is a German comedian and actor. Life Schmitz works as an actor in German television. Filmography * since 2003: Genial daneben – Die Comedy Arena * 2004–2006: Schillerstraße * 2002– ...

(born 1974), actor and comedian * Jörg Bergmeister (born 1976), racing driver * Ji-In Cho (born 1976), heavy metal singer * Danny Ecker (born 1977), pole vaulter * Felix Sturm (born 1979), middleweight boxer * Thomas Fleßenkämper (born 1981), classical composer and pianist

References

Sources

* Blaschke, Stefan (1999): ''Unternehmen und Gemeinde: Das Bayerwerk im Raum Leverkusen 1891-1914'' Cologne: SH-Verlag, (German) * Archive of Leverkusen (2005): ''Leverkusen. Geschichte einer Stadt am Rhein.'' Bielefeld: Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, (German) * Franz Gruß (1987): ''Geschichte und Porträt der Stadt Leverkusen.'' Leverkusen: Verlag Anna Gruß, (German)

External links

*
City of Leverkusen
{{Authority control Populated places on the Rhine 1930 establishments in Germany Populated places established in 1930