Brühl () is a town in the

Rhineland The Rhineland ( ; ; ; ) is a loosely defined area of Western Germany along the Rhine, chiefly Middle Rhine, its middle section. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the Holy ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. It is located in the district of Rhine-Erft, 20 km south of the

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

city center and at the edge of the Rhineland Nature Park, a famous nature reserve.

History

Brühl received its town privileges in 1285. From 1567 on, the city of Brühl was the official residence of the Prince Bishops of Cologne. In the 18th century the Prince Bishop Clemens August replaced a former ruined castle and built the Augustusburg and Falkenlust palaces near the city center. Today, both are listed as

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

s because of their outstanding

rococo Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...

architecture. Until 1990 Augustusburg Palace was used by the federal government to receive foreign heads of states visiting

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

Main sights

* The amusement park Phantasialand * The Max Ernst Museum, opened in 2005. It displays sculptures and paintings of the surrealistic artist

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

(who was born in Brühl) and other modern art. * Local history and pottery are shown in two small museums in the city centre

Infrastructure

Brühl station is on the Left Rhine line and the nearby Kierberg station is on the Eifel railway. Brühl also has several stops on line 18 of the Cologne tram line.

Notable people

* Else Schmitt (1921–1995), politician (SPD) and a district mayor in Cologne * Erika Reihlen (born 1936), theologian and former president of the German Protestant Church Day * Hans Leyendecker (born 1949), journalist * Heinz-Josef Kehr (1950–2014), footballer * Helmut Müller-Brühl (1933–2012), conductor and initiator of the ''Brühler Schlosskonzerte'' at the Augustusburg Palace * Joel Sturm (born 2001), racing driver * Josef Engel (1922–1978), historian *

(1891–1976), painter and sculptor * Patric Hemgesberg (born 1973), lyricist * Reiner Calmund (born 1948), football coach and former manager of

Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional association football, football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. ...

* Wolfgang Streeck (born 1946), sociologist

Twin towns – sister cities

Brühl is twinned with: *

Chalcis Chalcis (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: , ), also called Chalkida or Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief city of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

, Greece *

Kaş Kaş () is a small fishing, diving, yachting and tourist town, and a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Antalya Province, Turkey. Its area is 1,750 km2, and its population is 62,866 (2022). It is 168 km west of the city ...

, Turkey * Kunice, Poland *

Royal Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

, England, United Kingdom * Sceaux, France *

Weißwasser Weißwasser (, ; ) is a town in Upper Lusatia in eastern Saxony, Germany. Weißwasser is the third largest town in the Görlitz (district), Görlitz district after Görlitz and Zittau. The town's landmark is its water tower. The town is part o ...

, Germany

Gallery

References

External links

*
Max Ernst Museum

Brühler Museumsinsel

Phantasialand theme park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruhl, North Rhine-Westphalia Towns in North Rhine-Westphalia Rhein-Erft-Kreis