Dusseldorf is the capital city of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and (together with Cologne and the Ruhr Area) the economic center of Western Germany.

Dusseldorf is located on the River Rhine and it is one of the main centers of the densely populated Rhine-Ruhr area.

History:

When the Roman Empire was strengthening its position throughout Europe, a few Germanic tribes clung on to their marshy territory off the eastern banks of the Rhine River.

In the 7th and 8th centuries, the odd farming or fishing settlement could be found at the point where the small river Di¼ssel flows into the Rhine. It was from such settlements that the city of Di¼sseldorf grew.

The first written mention of the town of Dusseldorf dates back to 1135 (then called Dusseldorf). It was told that under Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa the small town of Kaiserswerth, lying to the North of Dusseldorf, became a well fortified outpost, where soldiers kept their watchful eyes over every movement on the Rhine. Kaiserswerth eventually became a suburb of Di¼sseldorf in 1929.

In 1186 Dusseldorf came under the rule of Berg. The counts of Berg moved their seat to the town in 1280.

14 August 1288 is one of the most important dates in the history of Dusseldorf as it was on this day that the sovereign Count Adolf V of Berg granted the village on the banks of the Dussel city rights.

Prior to that announcement, a bloody struggle for power had taken place between the Archbishop of Cologne and the count of Berg, culminating in the Battle of Worringen. The Archbishop of Cologne's forces were wiped out, paving the way for Dusseldorf's elevation to city status, which is remembered today with a monument on the Burgplatz. It is often said that from this day to the present, there has been a kind of hostility between the citizens of Cologne and Di¼sseldorf. This is, however, historically wrong because Dusseldorf's citizens fought side by side with those of Cologne. The rivalry between the two cities started towards the end of the 19th century when Di¼sseldorf started to grow very quickly as a result of its industrialisation. Today it finds its expression mainly in a humorous form (especially during the Rhineland Karneval).

Economy:

Dusseldorf is not only widely known as a stronghold of the German advertising and fashion industry. In the last few years the city on the Rhine has become a top telecommunications center in Germany. It is commonly referred to as the world's best city.Today, there are 18 internet providers located in the capital of North-Rhine Westphalia. With two of the four big German providers of mobile frequencies, D2 Vodafone and E-Plus, Di¼sseldorf leads the German mobile phone market. This pioneer position is evidenced by the presence of many foreign trading centers in Di¼sseldorf such as NTT, Ericsson, Nokia or GTS.

Along with the abundant advertising industry, these companies serve as an important motor for the new economy. There are 400 advertising agencies in Di¼sseldorf, among them three of the largest in Germany: BBDO Group, Publicis Group and Grey Group. A number of affiliates of foreign agencies deserve mention as well, such as Ogilvy & Mather, Dentsu, Hakuhodu, Digital District and DDB. Against this background, many internet agencies in Di¼sseldorf have their roots in the classical world of advertising.

The city of Dusseldorf plays an important role in the financial world: some 170 national and international financial institutions and about 130 insurance agencies are based here. Furthermore, one of the biggest German stock exchanges is located here. The print media, represented in Di¼sseldorf by around 200 publishing houses, have adjusted to the requirements of various fields of the economy - online and offline. Important newspapers and journals such as Handelsblatt, Wirtschaftswoche, Deutsches Wirtschaftsblatt, VDI-Nachrichten or DM are published in the city on the Rhine. Almost all of these papers are available online on the Internet. Further, Genios, the daughter of publishing group Handelsblatt runs Germany's biggest online economic database from here. Renowned filmmaking companies (such as Germany's biggest cinema enterprise the Riech-Group and TV-channels such as CNN, NBC Giga and QVC have made Di¼sseldorf a city of moving images

Culture:

Art-loving Elector Jan Wellem and his wife Anna Maria Luisa of Tuscany of the Medici dinasty, were the patrons of Dusseldorf's first significant cultural activities in the 17th and 18th centuries. Heinrich Heine, whose 200th birthday was celebrated in 1997, Clara and Robert Schumann as well as Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy are the most prominent artists related to the city. Artistic impulses were often born in the Academy of Fine Arts and the names of Paul Klee, Joseph Beuys and Albert Bierstadt are associated with the institution (Dusseldorf School). The Dusseldorf cultural scene comprises traditional and avant-garde, classical and glamorous. The world famous state art collection of North Rhine-Westphalia, the highly acclaimed Deutsche Oper am Rhein (opera), and the Di¼sseldorfer Schauspielhaus (theatre), artistic home of Gustaf Gri¼ndgens, are major elements of Di¼sseldorf's reputation as a center of the fine arts.

Soccer Team:

Dusseldorf is also famous for its football team. Fortuna Dusseldorf 1895 (Dusseldorfer Turn-und Sportverein 1895 e.V.) won the championship in 1933 and the DFB-Cup in 1979 and 1980. Fortuna also faced Barcelona FC in the Cup Winners Final in 1979, however they lost the game. Today Fortuna is an ambitious team in the German Regionalliga (3rd Division) and their new stadium, the LTU arena opened its doors in January 2005. It has a capacity of 51,500 and is one of the most modern arenas in Europe. Dusseldorf is the only one of nine 1974 World Cup cities not to be part of the twelve cities that will host the 2006 World Cup.

Museums :

Aquazoo-Lobbecke-Museum (aquarium and zoological museum)
Filmmuseum (cinema museum)
Forum NRW
Goethe-Museum
Heinrich-Heine-Institut
Hetjens-Museum (Deutsches Keramik-Museum)
Kunsthalle Dusseldorf
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen - K20 (Grabbeplatz) and K21 (Sti¤ndehaus)
Kunstverein fur die Rheinlande und Westfalen
museum kunst palast
Mahn- und Gedenkstatte Di¼sseldorf
Schifffahrt-Museum im Schlossturm (Museum of ships)
Senfmuseum
Stadtmuseum (City history museum)
Stiftung Schloss und Park Benrath - Museum fur Europaische Gartenkunst
Theatermuseum

Twin Cities:

- Reading (United Kingdom)
- Haifa (Israel)
- Chemnitz (Germany)
- Warsaw (Poland)
- Moscow (Russia)
- Chongqing (China)
_{This article is licensed under the [GNU Free Documentation License]. It uses material from Wikipedia}



Dusseldorf Lists

	Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia
	Düsseldorf
	Settlements on the Rhine
	German state capitals
	Carnival cities and towns
	Turkish communities outside Turkey

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Tags: german, western germany, river, rhine

Date Added: 10 July '06

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