Wuppertal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wuppertal
Image:Stadtwappen der kreisfreien Stadt Wuppertal.png	Image:Lage der kreisfreien Stadt Wuppertal in Deutschland.png

Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Administrative region	Düsseldorf
District	Wuppertal (urban district)
Population	360,105 source (2005)
Area	168.41 km²
Population density	2,138 /km²
Elevation	100-350 m
Coordinates	51°16′ N 7°11′ E
Postal code	42001-42399
Area code	0202
Licence plate code	W
Mayor	Peter Jung (CDU)
Website	wuppertal.de

Image:Wuppertal universitaet.jpg Image:Schwebebahn ueber Strasse.jpg

Image:Wuppertal ansicht.jpg

Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the Wupper river south of the Ruhr area. Population 361,333 (2005).

It is a major industrial centre including such industries as: textiles, metallurgy, chemicals, medicine (Bayer), electric, rubber, vehicles and printing equipment. One of the most famous pain-killers, Aspirin, was invented in Wuppertal by Bayer.

1 History
2 Main sights
- 2.1 Schwebebahn
3 Noted Wuppertal people
4 Sister Cities
5 External links

[edit] History

The city was formed in 1929 by merging Barmen, Elberfeld, Vohwinkel, Ronsdorf, Cronenberg, Langerfeld, and Beyenburg. The name was initially Barmen-Elberfeld, and after 1930 Wuppertal.

During World War II it was destroyed to about 40% by the Allies as were many other industrial centres at the time. However, a large quantity of historic sites have been preserved such as the Ölberg ("Petroleum Hill") District, one of Germany's largest working class districts, and the so-called Briller Viertel, Germany's largest district of Bourgeois dwellings.

After the liberation from the Nazi Regime Wuppertal became a part of the British Occupancy Zone, and subsequently a part of North Rhine-Westphalia state of West Germany.

[edit] Main sights

In total, Wuppertal possesses over 4,500 buildings classified national monuments, most dating from periods of classicism, Art Nouveau and Bauhaus.

Main sights include:

The Concert-hall, a fine masterpiece of turn-of-the-century architecture (Stadthalle), inaugurated in 1900 by the German emperor William II and his wife.
The Tanztheater Wuppertal, headed by Pina Bausch, is world-famous and regularly plays at theatres in New York, Tokyo, Paris, London etc.
Engels' house (Engelshaus), architecturally typical of the region. It houses a permanent display of materials associated with Friedrich Engels and other famous citizens of Wuppertal.
Wuppertal Zoo', one on the largest, nicely landscaped zoos in Germany with many rare animals.
the Von der Heydt Museum, one of the most important galleries in Germany, with works by 19th and 20th century artists. The first of Picasso's works that ever appeared in public was displayed here.

[edit] Schwebebahn

Main article: Schwebebahn Wuppertal

One of the city's greatest attractions is the suspended monorail ("Wuppertaler Schwebebahn"), which was established in 1901. The tracks are 8 m above the streets and 12 m above the Wupper river.

[edit] Noted Wuppertal people

Accept, popular heavy metal band was formed in Wuppertal in the early 1970s
Friedrich Bayer, founder of the Friedrich Bayer paint factory that later became Bayer AG
Friedrich Engels, historian, co-author of the Communist Manifesto (with Karl Marx)
Hans Knappertsbusch, orchestra conductor
Else Lasker-Schüler, expressionist poet
Ulrich Leyendecker, composer
Reimar Lüst, astrophysicist
Steffen Möller, satirist, soap-opera star and TV celebrity in Poland; the most popular German in Poland
Simone Osygus, swimmer
Siegfried Palm, cellist
Johannes Rau, former Federal President of Germany
Alice Schwarzer, one of the leaders of the German feminist movement
Rita Süssmuth, former President of the German Parliament
Tom Tykwer, film director ("Run Lola, Run", "The Princess and the Warrior"), co-founder of X-Filme syndicate
Günter Wand, orchestra conductor
Sulamith Wülfing, artist and illustrator

[edit] Sister Cities

Wuppertal is twinned with:

Image:Flag of Israel (bordered).svg Beersheba, Israel
Image:Flag of Germany.svg Berlin-Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Germany
Image:Flag of Slovakia.svg Košice, Slovakia
Image:Flag of Poland (bordered).svg Legnica, Poland
Image:Flag of Nicaragua.svg Matagalpa, Nicaragua
Image:Flag of France.svg Saint-Étienne, France
Image:Flag of Germany.svg Schwerin, Germany
Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg South Tyneside, United Kingdom

[edit] External links

Image:Flag of North Rhine-Westphalia.svg	Urban districts and Districts in the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW)	Image:Flag of Germany.svg
Urban districts	Aachen \| Bergisch Gladbach \| Bielefeld \| Bochum \| Bonn \| Bottrop \| Dortmund \| Duisburg \| Düsseldorf \| Essen \| Gelsenkirchen \| Hagen \| Hamm \| Herne \| Köln (Cologne) \| Krefeld \| Leverkusen \| Mönchengladbach \| Mülheim \| Münster \| Oberhausen \| Remscheid \| Solingen \| Wuppertal
Districts	Aachen \| Borken \| Kleve (Cleves) \| Coesfeld \| Düren \| Ennepe-Ruhr \| Euskirchen \| Gütersloh \| Heinsberg \| Herford \| Hochsauerland \| Höxter \| Lippe \| Märkischer Kreis \| Mettmann \| Minden-Lübbecke \| Oberbergischer Kreis \| Olpe \| Paderborn \| Recklinghausen \| Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis \| Rhein-Erft-Kreis \| Rhein-Kreis Neuss \| Rhein-Sieg-Kreis \| Siegen-Wittgenstein \| Soest \| Steinfurt \| Unna \| Viersen \| Warendorf \| Wesel