Leverkusen, an urban district between Cologne and Düsseldorf, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), is world famous for its pharmaceutical industry, Bayer, and its unlimited passion for football.
The city was merely a rustic region until the late 19th century, but it developed due to the economic growth in the Rhine-Ruhr region. The current city is the constituents of a number of villages and it was established in the year 1930 by assimilating all these villages.
Now you might be wondering why I stated the year 1860 instead, huh? Well, this goes back to the fact that Carl Leverkus, an apothecary, moved and established a dye factory here, and this area he named Leverkusen. That’s where this name came from.
The baroque castle Morsbroich is a nice place to be at. This Baroque fortress, at the present moment, is a municipal museum for modern art. It offers the setting for theatrical productions and other cultural events.
This castle has a museum inside, but there a some others in the city, too. For example, in the city suburb Schlebusch is the Freudenthaler Sensenhammer, an industry museum exhibiting the living and working environment of the 19th century.
As for leasury and parks, there is an animal park called Wildpark Reuschenberg. It has some cute animals there, and I’m sure your family will love it. It’s not a huge park as others, but around 20,000 visitors find their way to this green, nature area.
Another green area is the Japanese Garden (Japanischer Garten), which is a famous tourist attraction, positioned at the base of the Bayer headquarter building.
