Düsseltal is a quarter of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

within Borough 2, it is known for its relatively well-off population and developed around an old convent. It is also known as Düsseldorf-Zoo (after Düsseltal's S-Bahn station), because, until 1943, there was a zoological garden in Düsseltal. The word Düsseltal is German for the valley of the river

Düssel The Düssel is a small right tributary of the river Rhine in North Rhine Westphalia, Germany. River Its source is east of Wülfrath. It flows westward through the Neander Valley where the fossils of the first known to be Neanderthal man were ...

Geography

Düsseltal's neighboring quarters are, clockwise from the north: Rath, Grafenberg,

Flingern Flingern is a quarter of Düsseldorf, part of Borough 2 (Düsseldorf), Borough 2. Located northeast of Düsseldorf (proper), it is divided into two ''Stadtteile'' today: Flingern-Nord and Flingern-Süd. While Flingern-Nord has a younger populati ...

, and Derendorf. It is also bordered by the

Cologne–Duisburg railway The 64 km long Cologne–Duisburg railway is one of the most important lines in Germany. It is the main axis for long distance and urban passenger rail services between Cologne and the Ruhr, served by Intercity Express, Intercity, Regional ...

and the Grafenberg forest. Düsseltal has an area of , and 28,032 inhabitants (2020).

History

There was a low population density in the region between Düsseldorf (proper) and Grafenberg until the end of the 19th century. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the knights Hayc von Flingern ruled the town. The oldest buildings of Düsseltal are the ''Speckerhöfe'' and the ''Buscher Mühle'', first mentioned in the 14th century. Jan Wellem, Elector Palantine, donated the ''Speckerhöfe'' to the

Cistercian The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contri ...

monks of

Orval Orval may refer to: Places * Orval, Cher, a commune of the Cher ''département'' in France * Orval, Manche, a former commune of the Manche ''département'', in France (now merged with Montchaton into Orval-sur-Sienne) * Orval-sur-Sienne, a commune ...

who founded a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

in 1701. The monks were henceforth also called the ''Specker'' monks. Later on, the monastery took on the name ''Düsselthal'' which then became the name of the borough. Count Adalbert von Recke-Volmerstein founded the orphanage Düsseltal in 1822. According to legend it was financed in part by the sale of "original"

Eau de Cologne Eau de Cologne (; German: ''Kölnisch Wasser'' ; meaning "Water from Cologne") or simply cologne is a perfume originating in Cologne, Germany. Originally mixed by Johann Maria Farina (Giovanni Maria Farina) in 1709, it has since come to be a gene ...

made with water taken from the Düssel. In 1835, he founded the first ever

deaconess The ministry of a deaconess is a ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a liturgical role. The word comes from the Greek ...

institute in Düsseltal. During the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...

, the factory of Haniel & Lueg was built in Düsseltal, and the town hosted an international industrial exhibition in 1880, with more than 3,000 companies exhibiting in more than 100 halls. It was opened by Emperor William II. The zoological garden was initiated by the zoologist

Alfred Brehm Alfred Edmund Brehm (; 2 February 1829 – 11 November 1884) was a German zoologist and writer. His multi-volume book '' Brehms Tierleben'', which he co-authored with Eduard Pechuël-Loesche, Wilhelm Haacke, and Richard Schmidtlein, becam ...

and founded in 1876. It opened officially on May 31, 1876. During World War II, in 1943, it was completely destroyed. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Düsseltal became a more exclusive borough of Düsseldorf.

Attractions

Düsseltal is home to the

Düsseldorfer EG Düsseldorfer Eislauf-Gemeinschaft or Düsseldorfer EG (short DEG) is a German professional ice hockey team in Düsseldorf. It was Germany's most successful hockey club for a long time and had many international players. The famous Eisstadion at th ...

, today known as DEG Metro Stars, an ice hockey club that won six German championships. The Zoopark surrounds the Ice Stadium on ''Brehmstraße'' where they played until 2006. Since DEL-Season 06/07 they play in the multi-use indoor arena ''ISS Dome''. Another building of interest is the

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Paulus Church, built in

neoclassicist Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

style.

Düsseltal today

Today, Düsseltal is one of the most exclusive boroughs of Düsseldorf. Many Japanese live there (but not as many as in Oberkassel). The ''Rethelstraße'' is a well-known shopping district.

References

Communal Administration, District Mayor (German)

Communal Administration (German)

Websites from Düsseldorf-Düsseltal on Duesselgo.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dusseltal Dusseltal