Wuppertal — City With A Suspension Railway

You might be wondering why Wuppertal — in contrast to most German cities — was founded just about 90 years ago… This comes from the fact that this city had been “built” in that year, so to speak.

In other words, it was created in 1929 by merging several villages and towns. (Barmen, Elberfeld, Vohwinkel, Ronsdorf, Cronenberg, Langerfeld and Beyenburg, that is.) It then got this name due to the fact that it lies right at the river Wupper.

By the way, Wuppertal lies in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen), and is a key industrial center.

It is flourishing with many industries and the list could be bigger as: textiles, metallurgy, chemicals, medicine (Bayer), electric, rubber, vehicles and printing equipment. Among the most renowned pain-killers, Aspirin was invented in Wuppertal by Bayer.

The city contains a ribbon-like structure due to the steep hillsides along the river Wupper which makes it a unique place in Germany. It also faced the wrath of World War II. During that period, it was destroyed about 40% by the Allies (as were many other industrial centers at the time).

A huge extent of historic sites have been preserved which are now making it a grand place to visit. Here, you’ll get to see Ölberg District, which is also termed as “Mount Petrol,” and is one of Germany’s largest working class districts. Or what about Briller Viertel, which is Germany’s largest district of Bourgeois dwellings.

The city possesses in excess of 4,500 buildings which are classified as national monuments. Most of them are dating from periods of classicism, Art Nouveau, and Bauhaus. Here you can see the Concert Hall, which is a fine masterpiece of turn-of-the-century architecture. It was inaugurated in 1900 by the German emperor William II and his wife.

The Tan Theater Wuppertal is a renowned and world-famous and frequently plays at theatres in New York, Tokyo, Paris, London, etc.

Also, go and visit Engels’ house, which is architecturally typical of the region. It contains an unending exhibit of materials associated with Friedrich Engels and other famous citizens.

Are you an animal lover? Then you’ll find your way in the form of the Wuppertal Zoo, which is one of the largest, nicely landscaped animal parks in Germany with many rare animals.

The Von der Heydt Museum falls among the most significant galleries in Germany, with works by 19th and 20th century artists. The earliest of Picasso’s works that ever happened in public was displayed here.

But… among the city’s supreme attractions is the suspended monorail which was established in 1901. You might love to see its tracks which are 8 m above the streets and 12 m above the Wupper River.

Last but not least, probably the most popular reason visiting Wuppertal might be its suspended monorail “rolling” throughout the city. It was already built in 1900 and is the oldest monorail system in the world!