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Wuppertal

Wuppertal (German pronunciation: [ˈvʊpɐtaːl] ; lit. "Wupper Dale") is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. With a population of approximately 355,000, Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia as well as the 17th-largest city in Germany. It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and towns of Elberfeld, Barmen, Ronsdorf, Cronenberg and Vohwinkel, and was initially "Barmen-Elberfeld" before adopting its present name in 1930. It is regarded as the capital and largest city of the Bergisches Land (historically this was Düsseldorf).

Wuppertal
Clockwise from top: view over Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Wuppertal Suspension Railway running beneath Sonnborn Railway Bridge (Sonnborner Eisenbahnbrücke), St Lawrence's Basilica at dusk, the suspension railway running through the city, the suspension railway running above the Wupper, hilly cityscape at Friedrichstraße
Wuppertal within North Rhine-Westphalia
Wuppertal
Wuppertal
Coordinates: 51°16′N 07°11′E / 51.267°N 7.183°E / 51.267; 7.183
CountryGermany
StateNorth Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. regionDüsseldorf
DistrictUrban district
Government
 • Lord mayor (2020–25) Uwe Schneidewind[1] (Greens)
 • Governing partiesGreens / CDU
Area
 • City168.41 km2 (65.02 sq mi)
Highest elevation
350 m (1,150 ft)
Lowest elevation
100 m (300 ft)
Population
 (2021-12-31)[2]
 • City354,572
 • Density2,100/km2 (5,500/sq mi)
 • Urban
608,000 (Bergisches Dreieck)
 • Metro
11,300,000 (Rhein-Ruhr)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
42001-42399
Dialling codes0202
Vehicle registrationW
Websitewuppertal.de
Wuppertal from space
The center of Wuppertal-Elberfeld, north of the main station in 2019
The Schwebebahn floating tram in Wuppertal-Barmen, suspended above the River Wupper
The Schwebebahn in Wuppertal-Elberfeld
Concert Hall (Stadthalle) Wuppertal
Engels House (Historisches Zentrum)
Wuppertal-Beyenburg
Wuppertal University

The city straddles the densely populated banks of the River Wupper, a tributary of the Rhine. Wuppertal is located between the Ruhr (Essen) to the north, Düsseldorf to the west, and Cologne to the southwest, and over time has grown together with Solingen, Remscheid and Hagen. The stretching of the city in a long band along the narrow Wupper Valley leads to a spatial impression of Wuppertal being larger than it actually is. The city is known for its steep slopes, its woods and parks, and for being the greenest city in Germany, with two-thirds green space of the total municipal area. From any part of the city, it is only a ten-minute walk to one of the public parks or woodland paths.

The Wupper Valley was, along with the Ore Mountains and before the Ruhr, the first highly industrialized region of Germany, which resulted in the construction of the Wuppertal Schwebebahn suspension railway in the then independent cities of Elberfeld and Barmen. The increasing demand for coal from the textile mills and blacksmith shops from those cities encouraged the expansion of the nearby Ruhr. Wuppertal still is a major industrial centre, being home to industries such as textiles, metallurgy, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, electronics, automobiles, rubber, vehicles and printing equipment. Aspirin originates from Wuppertal, patented in 1897 by Bayer, as does the Vorwerk Kobold vacuum cleaner.[3][4] The Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy and the European Institute for International Economic Relations are located in the city.[5] Barmen was the birthplace of Friedrich Engels.

History edit

 
Population development

Wuppertal in its present borders was formed in 1929 by merging the industrial cities of Barmen and Elberfeld along with the communities of Vohwinkel, Ronsdorf, Cronenberg, Langerfeld and Beyenburg. The initial name Barmen-Elberfeld was changed in a 1930 referendum to Wuppertal ("Wupper Valley"). The new city was administered as part of Prussia's Rhine Province.

Uniquely for Germany, it is a "linear city", owing to the steep hillsides along the river Wupper. Its highest hill is the Lichtscheid, which is 351 m (1,152 ft) above sea level. The dominant urban centres Elberfeld (historic commercial centre) and Barmen (more industrial) have formed a continuous urbanized area since 1850. During the succeeding decades, "Wupper-Town" became the dominant industrial agglomeration of northwestern Germany. During the 20th century, this conurbation had been surpassed by Cologne, Düsseldorf and the Ruhr area, all with a more favourable topography.

From 5 July 1933 to 19 January 1934 the Kemna concentration camp was established in Wuppertal. It was one of the early Nazi concentration camps, created by the Nazi Party to incarcerate their political opponents upon gaining power in 1933. The camp was established in a former factory on the Wupper in the Kemna neighborhood of the Barmen part of Wuppertal.

During World War II, about 40% of buildings in the city were destroyed by Allied bombing, as were many other German cities and industrial centres (see Bombing of Wuppertal in World War II). However, a large number of historic sites have been preserved, such as:

  • Ölberg, literally "Oil mountain", Germany's largest original working class district, is protected as a historic monument. The name came about during the 1920s as the district continued using oil lamps while the surrounding bourgeois residential quarters were electrified. In traditional use, the name "Ölberg" refers to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.
  • Brill is one of Germany's largest districts of Gründerzeit villas, i.e. middle class mansions built by industrial entrepreneurs during the second half of the 19th century.

The US 78th Infantry Division under Major General Edwin P. Parker Jr. captured Wuppertal against scant resistance on 16 April 1945.[6] Wuppertal became a part of the British Zone of Occupation, and subsequently part of the new state of North Rhine-Westphalia in West Germany.

Population edit

Historical population
YearPop.±%
16102,500—    
180012,000+380.0%
182223,758+98.0%
185239,944+68.1%
187171,384+78.7%
1885106,499+49.2%
1900156,966+47.4%
1910170,195+8.4%
1919157,218−7.6%
1925167,025+6.2%
1929414,951+148.4%
1933408,602−1.5%
1939401,672−1.7%
1946325,846−18.9%
1950363,224+11.5%
1956406,225+11.8%
1961420,711+3.6%
1970418,454−0.5%
1980393,381−6.0%
1985376,579−4.3%
1990383,660+1.9%
2000366,434−4.5%
2011342,661−6.5%
2015350,046+2.2%
2018354,382+1.2%
Population size may be affected by changes in administrative divisions. Source:[7][circular reference]

Wuppertal currently has a population of about 355,000. The number of inhabitants more than doubled in 1929 as a result of the BarmenElberfeld merger. The economic boom of the 1950s and 60s saw the establishment of new industry headquarters and with it an influx of workers, including migrant workers from Turkey, Greece and Italy. Population numbers during these times of as-yet unparalleled growth peaked at about 423,000 in 1963; in the 1970s, a period of steady decline followed in the wake of industrial losses.

As of 31 December 2022, the largest groups of foreign residents were:

From country Number of residents
  Turkey 11,575
  Syria 7,415
  Italy 6,870
  Greece 6,130
  Poland 5,870
  Ukraine 5,387
  Romania 2,835
  Morocco 2,463
  Serbia 2,197
  North Macedonia 1,724
  Iraq 1,593
  Spain 1,439
  Russia 1,354
  Croatia 1,273
  Netherlands 1,228
  Kosovo 1,147

Main sights edit

In total, Wuppertal possesses over 4,500 buildings classified as national monuments, most exemplifying styles such as Neoclassicism, Eclecticism, Historicism, Art Nouveau/Jugendstil and Bauhaus. The American TV station CNN recommended Wuppertal as one of 20 places worldwide to visit in the year 2020 because of the Schwebebahn, the architectural diversity and the Nordbahntrasse, a 22-kilometre (14 mi) cycle route across the city 2020.[8]

Main sights include:

  • Schwebebahn or floating tram. One of the city's greatest attractions is the globally unique suspended monorail Wuppertaler Schwebebahn, which was established in 1901. The tracks are 8 m (26 ft) above the streets and 12 m (40 ft) above the Wupper.
  • Wuppertaler Schwebebahn Kaiserwagen A guided tour of the suspension railway in a special tram.
  • Wuppertal Opera (Opernhaus Wuppertal).
  • Concerthall Stadthalle, a fine piece of turn-of-the-century architecture with outstanding acoustics. Home of the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra (Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal) (Stadthalle).
  • Wuppertal Dance Theatre (Tanztheater Wuppertal), a world-famous centre of modern dance founded by the choreographer Pina Bausch.
  • Engels-Haus, 18th century-architecturally typical of the region, it houses a permanent display of materials associated with the co-founder of modern Communism, Friedrich Engels.
  • Wuppertal Zoo, a large, nicely landscaped zoo.
  • Botanischer Garten Wuppertal, a municipal botanical garden.
  • Arboretum Burgholz, an extensive arboretum.
  • Von der Heydt Museum is an important art gallery with works from the 17th century to the present time. The first of Picasso's works that ever appeared in public was displayed here.
  • Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden, a sculpture park with exhibition hall, founded by sculptor Tony Cragg.

Wuppertal in the arts edit

Sports edit

Association football edit

In football, Wuppertal's most popular club is Wuppertaler SV which currently play in the Regionalliga West, the fourth tier of the German football league system. Playing their home games at the city's Stadion am Zoo, the club, which enjoyed its last season in a nationwide division during the 2009–10 season, looks back on a rich and eventful history since its establishment as the result of a 1954 merger between the two main Wuppertal clubs SSV 04 Wuppertal and TSG Vohwinkel 80. The club spent a total of seven seasons in the top flight of German football, three of which in the Bundesliga, which they were promoted to during 1972. In their first season in the nationwide first division, the club reached a remarkable fourth place and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first and only time in its history. After a first-round defeat by Polish side Ruch Chorzów and another two widely unsuccessful Bundesliga campaigns, the club disappeared from the top flight again, though, and has yet to return.

During 2004, the club merged with local rivals SV Borussia Wuppertal to form Wuppertaler SV Borussia, though the name change remained the only visible attribute of the merger with the club's colours and crest remaining unaltered. The additional "Borussia" was scrapped again during 2013 due to fans' demand amidst a change of leadership which was brought about to lead the club through necessary insolvency proceedings which have been completed as of September 2014.

Another noteworthy Wuppertal football club is Cronenberger SC from the district of Cronenberg. Their greatest success to date is reaching the 1952 German amateur football championship final which they lost 5–2 against VfR Schwenningen. Today, they play one tier below WSV in the Oberliga Nordrhein.

Famous players include Günter Pröpper who scored 39 of WSV's 136 Bundesliga goals and West Germany international Horst Szymaniak, as well as Cronenberg's Herbert Jäger who represented Germany at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki during his stay with the club.

Team handball edit

In handball, Wuppertal's most successful team is Bergischer HC, playing in the top-tier Handball-Bundesliga which they were promoted to for the second time during 2013, reaching 15th place during the 2013–14 campaign and therefore staying among the top scorers for a second consecutive season. BHC originates from a 2006 cooperation between the management, squad and main sponsor of LTV Wuppertal and rivals SG Solingen from the nearby city of the same name. The club advertises itself as a representative of the entire Bergisches Land region. The team plays its home games at both Wuppertal's Uni-Halle (3,200 seats) and Solingen's Klingenhalle (2,600 seats).

Wuppertal's past most successful club are the aforementioned LTV Wuppertal. LTV spent most of their seasons in the second and third tiers, before they merged with Wuppertaler SV's handball section in 1996 to form HSG LTV/WSV Wuppertal. The handball combination was promoted to the Bundesliga after its inaugural season, finishing 8th before dissolving again in 1998. However, the mere departure of Wuppertaler SV still allowed LTV Wuppertal, whose professional team were renamed HC Wuppertal, to play another three seasons in the Bundesliga before returning to the 2nd division and re-introducing its old name. After the establishment of BHC in 2006, LTV lost its financial base and was relegated several times, currently playing in the fifth-tier Verbandsliga.

Volleyball edit

In volleyball, SV Bayer Wuppertal was one of Germany's leading men's teams for many years during the 1990s and 2000s. The team was part of the well-known mass-sports club originating in Leverkusen and was promoted to the Bundesliga in 1978. Reacting to low attendances, the eponymous Bayer AG decided to relocate the volleyball team to Wuppertal in 1992, where there also was a Bayer-funded club. After the move, the club won various titles, including the German championship in 1994 and 1997 and the German Cup in 1995. In addition to that, they finished runners-up to Greek side Olympiacos S.C. in the 1995–96 European Cup Winners' Cup, losing the final in five sets.

After the wide-reaching retreat of Bayer AG from less popular professional sport during 2008, the club acquired the name Wuppertal Titans and later A!B!C Titans Berg. Land. However, the loss of their main sponsor eventually resulted in the team having to terminate during 2012. Presently, they once more play by the name of Bayer Wuppertal in the third-tier Regionalliga, unable to promote with their current financial set-up.

Basketball edit

Perhaps one of the most successful Wuppertal sports clubs was the women's basketball team of Barmer TV (known as BTV Wuppertal between 1994 and 2000, BTV Gold-Zack Wuppertal between 2000 and 2002 and Wuppertal Wings internationally). An 11-time German champion and 12-time German Cup winner, they won a remarkable ten consecutive doubles between 1993 and 2002. During 1996, they even won the European Cup as the first and so far only German side, beating Italy's SFT Como in the final. A year later, they narrowly missed out on back-to-back trebles, losing to French side CJM Bourges in the newly christened EuroLeague's final.

In 2002, the club withdrew from the Bundesliga due to financial troubles, their then-main sponsor Gold-Zack Werke filing for insolvency a year later. After a decade-long stay in amateur divisions, Barmer TV returned to the second-tier 2nd Bundesliga North in 2014.

Wuppertal co-hosted the 1998 FIBA World Championship for Women as one of seven host cities.

Roller hockey edit

In roller hockey, Wuppertal club RSC Cronenberg are one of the most successful German teams, having won the German championship and the German Cup in both men's and women's competitions. In total, the men won 13 German championships and nine cups, the women ten championships and nine cups. Both teams play their home games at Alfred-Henckels-Halle.

Wuppertal hosted several international tournaments, including the World Championship in 1997 (men) and 2004 (women) and the European Championship in 1992, 2010 (men) and 2011 (women).

Education edit

 
Junior Uni Campus, designed 2013 by the Wuppertal Architects Goedeking and Niedworok
 
View from the university canteen in direction of the west part of Wuppertal-Elberfeld

Four institutions of higher education are in Wuppertal.

The privately financed Junior Uni is a unique German initiative to educate youth from the age of 4 to 18 in science outside the school program.[9]

Politics edit

Mayor edit

 
Results of the second round of the 2020 mayoral election

The current Mayor of Wuppertal is Uwe Schneidewind of Alliance 90/The Greens, who was elected in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:

Candidate Party First round Second round
Votes % Votes %
Uwe Schneidewind Greens/CDU 50,218 40.8 52,439 53.5
Andreas Mucke Social Democratic Party 45,524 37.0 45,645 46.5
Marcel Hafke Free Democratic Party 9,057 7.4
Bernhard Sander The Left 5,941 4.8
Panagiotis Paschalis Independent 4,295 3.5
Henrik Dahlmann Free Voters 4,045 3.3
Mira Lehner Die PARTEI 4,020 3.3
Valid votes 123,100 98.8 98,084 99.2
Invalid votes 1,541 1.2 762 0.8
Total 124,641 100.0 98,846 100.0
Electorate/voter turnout 265,748 46.9 265,748 37.2
Source: State Returning Officer

City council edit

 
Results of the 2020 city council election

The Wuppertal city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:

Party Votes % +/- Seats +/-
Social Democratic Party (SPD) 35,653 28.9   1.1 23   4
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) 29,790 24.2   4.9 20   1
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) 24,121 19.6   4.6 16   6
Free Democratic Party (FDP) 8,871 7.2   1.7 6   2
The Left (Die Linke) 8,152 6.6   1.4 5 ±0
Alternative for Germany (AfD) 7,529 6.1   3.7 5   3
Voters' Association for Wuppertal (WfW) 3,581 2.9   1.8 2   1
Die PARTEI (PARTEI) 3,346 2.7 New 2 New
Pro Wuppertal 1,761 1.4   1.1 1   1
Human Environment Animal Protection (Tierschutz) 365 0.3 New 0 New
V-Partei³ 36 0.0 New 0 New
Valid votes 123,205 98.9
Invalid votes 1,364 1.1
Total 124,569 100.0 80   14
Electorate/voter turnout 265,748 46.9   1.9
Source: State Returning Officer

Transport edit

Railways edit

 
Central Station

Wuppertal is well connected to the rail network. The town lies on the Cologne–Hagen and the Düsseldorf–Hagen railway lines, and is a stop for long-distance traffic. The central station is located in the district of Elberfeld. Regionalbahn trains and some Regional-Express trains also stop at Oberbarmen, Barmen, Ronsdorf and Vohwinkel. There are also S-Bahn stations in Langerfeld, Unterbarmen, Steinbeck, Zoologischer Garten and Sonnborn.

The rail services that operate on the mainline through the valley are the RE 4 (Wupper-Express), RE 7 (Rhein-Münsterland-Express), RE 13 (Maas-Wupper-Express), RB 48 (Rhein-Wupper Bahn) and four Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn services: the S 7, S 8, S 9 and S 68 (peak hours only). Every 30 minutes, it is served by a long-distance (Intercity-Express, InterCity, EuroCity) service in each direction.

With the exception of the line from Wuppertal to Solingen (operated as the S 7) and the Prince William Railway to Essen (now S-Bahn line S 9), all of the branch lines connecting to main line in the city of Wuppertal are now closed. This includes, among others, the Düsseldorf-Derendorf–Dortmund Süd railway (the Wuppertaler Nordbahn), the Burgholz Railway, the Wuppertal-Wichlinghausen–Hattingen railway, the Wupper Valley Railway and the Corkscrew Railway. Thus, there were once 31 stations in the Wuppertal area, including nine stations on the mainline. Nowadays only ten are serviced any more.

Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof is the location of the lost luggage services for Deutsche Bahn.[10]

The Wuppertal Suspension Railway, a suspended monorail, serves the city and its surroundings. It has operated since 1901, with new cars added beginning in December 2016. In 1950, a young elephant named Tuffi was put aboard the Wuppertal Schwebebahn (monorail), as a promotion for the Althoff Circus. The swinging tram upset the elephant, and she trumpeted, charged, and plummeted 12 m (40 ft) into the river below. Tuffi suffered minor injuries; she lived until 1989. In 1999, the Schwebebahn had its thus far only fatal accident.

Between 1873 and 1987, Wuppertal was served by its own tram network.

Twin towns – sister cities edit

 
Signpost with twin towns

Wuppertal is twinned with:[11]

Sister suspension railway edit

The Wuppertal Suspension Railway is twinned with Shonan Monorail since 2018. The Shonan Monorail is located in Kanagawa, Japan and connects the cities between Kamakura and Fujisawa. Both suspended railways made a campaign of their twinning in 2018.[12]

Notable people edit

 
Friedrich Bayer 1863
 
Friedrich Engels
 
Else Lasker-Schüler 1895
 
Federal President Johannes Rau in 2004

Gallery edit

See also edit

Notes and references edit

  1. ^ Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020, Land Nordrhein-Westfalen, accessed 19 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein-Westfalens am 31. Dezember 2021" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  3. ^ Marvin Brendel. "110 Jahre Aspirin" (in German). GeschichtsPuls. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  4. ^ . Archived from the original on February 21, 2013. Retrieved May 22, 2011.
  5. ^ "Official website European Institute for International Economic Relations". Retrieved March 2, 2013.
  6. ^ Stanton, Shelby, World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946, Stackpole Books (Revised Edition 2006), p. 147
  7. ^ de:Einwohnerentwicklung von Wuppertal
  8. ^ CNN: 20 places to visit in 2020 [1])
  9. ^ "Official website Junior Uni Wuppertal – Bergisches Land" (in German). Retrieved March 14, 2013.
  10. ^ Emory, Sami; Meichsner, Andreas (December 25, 2019). "The Secret Afterlife of Lost German Luggage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  11. ^ "Partnerstädte". wuppertal.de (in German). Wuppertal. Retrieved 2019-11-23.
  12. ^ "Our partner: Shonan Monorail". www.schwebebahn.de. Retrieved August 2, 2023.

External links edit

  • Official website   (in German)
  • (in German and English) Wuppertal, Information | Photos
  •   Wuppertal travel guide from Wikivoyage
  • Official website of the University of Wuppertal

wuppertal, village, south, africa, wupperthal, german, pronunciation, ˈvʊpɐtaːl, wupper, dale, city, north, rhine, westphalia, most, populous, state, germany, with, population, approximately, seventh, largest, city, north, rhine, westphalia, well, 17th, larges. For the village in South Africa see Wupperthal Wuppertal German pronunciation ˈvʊpɐtaːl lit Wupper Dale is a city in North Rhine Westphalia the most populous state of Germany With a population of approximately 355 000 Wuppertal is the seventh largest city in North Rhine Westphalia as well as the 17th largest city in Germany It was founded in 1929 by the merger of the cities and towns of Elberfeld Barmen Ronsdorf Cronenberg and Vohwinkel and was initially Barmen Elberfeld before adopting its present name in 1930 It is regarded as the capital and largest city of the Bergisches Land historically this was Dusseldorf WuppertalCityClockwise from top view over Wuppertal Elberfeld Wuppertal Suspension Railway running beneath Sonnborn Railway Bridge Sonnborner Eisenbahnbrucke St Lawrence s Basilica at dusk the suspension railway running through the city the suspension railway running above the Wupper hilly cityscape at FriedrichstrasseFlagCoat of armsWuppertal within North Rhine WestphaliaWuppertalShow map of GermanyWuppertalShow map of North Rhine WestphaliaCoordinates 51 16 N 07 11 E 51 267 N 7 183 E 51 267 7 183CountryGermanyStateNorth Rhine WestphaliaAdmin regionDusseldorfDistrictUrban districtGovernment Lord mayor 2020 25 Uwe Schneidewind 1 Greens Governing partiesGreens CDUArea City168 41 km2 65 02 sq mi Highest elevation350 m 1 150 ft Lowest elevation100 m 300 ft Population 2021 12 31 2 City354 572 Density2 100 km2 5 500 sq mi Urban608 000 Bergisches Dreieck Metro11 300 000 Rhein Ruhr Time zoneUTC 01 00 CET Summer DST UTC 02 00 CEST Postal codes42001 42399Dialling codes0202Vehicle registrationWWebsitewuppertal deWuppertal from spaceThe center of Wuppertal Elberfeld north of the main station in 2019The Schwebebahn floating tram in Wuppertal Barmen suspended above the River WupperThe Schwebebahn in Wuppertal ElberfeldConcert Hall Stadthalle WuppertalEngels House Historisches Zentrum Wuppertal BeyenburgWuppertal UniversityThe city straddles the densely populated banks of the River Wupper a tributary of the Rhine Wuppertal is located between the Ruhr Essen to the north Dusseldorf to the west and Cologne to the southwest and over time has grown together with Solingen Remscheid and Hagen The stretching of the city in a long band along the narrow Wupper Valley leads to a spatial impression of Wuppertal being larger than it actually is The city is known for its steep slopes its woods and parks and for being the greenest city in Germany with two thirds green space of the total municipal area From any part of the city it is only a ten minute walk to one of the public parks or woodland paths The Wupper Valley was along with the Ore Mountains and before the Ruhr the first highly industrialized region of Germany which resulted in the construction of the Wuppertal Schwebebahn suspension railway in the then independent cities of Elberfeld and Barmen The increasing demand for coal from the textile mills and blacksmith shops from those cities encouraged the expansion of the nearby Ruhr Wuppertal still is a major industrial centre being home to industries such as textiles metallurgy chemicals pharmaceuticals electronics automobiles rubber vehicles and printing equipment Aspirin originates from Wuppertal patented in 1897 by Bayer as does the Vorwerk Kobold vacuum cleaner 3 4 The Wuppertal Institute for Climate Environment and Energy and the European Institute for International Economic Relations are located in the city 5 Barmen was the birthplace of Friedrich Engels Contents 1 History 2 Population 3 Main sights 4 Wuppertal in the arts 5 Sports 5 1 Association football 5 2 Team handball 5 3 Volleyball 5 4 Basketball 5 5 Roller hockey 6 Education 7 Politics 7 1 Mayor 7 2 City council 8 Transport 8 1 Railways 9 Twin towns sister cities 9 1 Sister suspension railway 10 Notable people 11 Gallery 12 See also 13 Notes and references 14 External linksHistory edit nbsp Population developmentWuppertal in its present borders was formed in 1929 by merging the industrial cities of Barmen and Elberfeld along with the communities of Vohwinkel Ronsdorf Cronenberg Langerfeld and Beyenburg The initial name Barmen Elberfeld was changed in a 1930 referendum to Wuppertal Wupper Valley The new city was administered as part of Prussia s Rhine Province Uniquely for Germany it is a linear city owing to the steep hillsides along the river Wupper Its highest hill is the Lichtscheid which is 351 m 1 152 ft above sea level The dominant urban centres Elberfeld historic commercial centre and Barmen more industrial have formed a continuous urbanized area since 1850 During the succeeding decades Wupper Town became the dominant industrial agglomeration of northwestern Germany During the 20th century this conurbation had been surpassed by Cologne Dusseldorf and the Ruhr area all with a more favourable topography From 5 July 1933 to 19 January 1934 the Kemna concentration camp was established in Wuppertal It was one of the early Nazi concentration camps created by the Nazi Party to incarcerate their political opponents upon gaining power in 1933 The camp was established in a former factory on the Wupper in the Kemna neighborhood of the Barmen part of Wuppertal During World War II about 40 of buildings in the city were destroyed by Allied bombing as were many other German cities and industrial centres see Bombing of Wuppertal in World War II However a large number of historic sites have been preserved such as Olberg literally Oil mountain Germany s largest original working class district is protected as a historic monument The name came about during the 1920s as the district continued using oil lamps while the surrounding bourgeois residential quarters were electrified In traditional use the name Olberg refers to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem Brill is one of Germany s largest districts of Grunderzeit villas i e middle class mansions built by industrial entrepreneurs during the second half of the 19th century The US 78th Infantry Division under Major General Edwin P Parker Jr captured Wuppertal against scant resistance on 16 April 1945 6 Wuppertal became a part of the British Zone of Occupation and subsequently part of the new state of North Rhine Westphalia in West Germany Population editHistorical populationYearPop 16102 500 180012 000 380 0 182223 758 98 0 185239 944 68 1 187171 384 78 7 1885106 499 49 2 1900156 966 47 4 1910170 195 8 4 1919157 218 7 6 1925167 025 6 2 1929414 951 148 4 1933408 602 1 5 1939401 672 1 7 1946325 846 18 9 1950363 224 11 5 1956406 225 11 8 1961420 711 3 6 1970418 454 0 5 1980393 381 6 0 1985376 579 4 3 1990383 660 1 9 2000366 434 4 5 2011342 661 6 5 2015350 046 2 2 2018354 382 1 2 Population size may be affected by changes in administrative divisions Source 7 circular reference Wuppertal currently has a population of about 355 000 The number of inhabitants more than doubled in 1929 as a result of the Barmen Elberfeld merger The economic boom of the 1950s and 60s saw the establishment of new industry headquarters and with it an influx of workers including migrant workers from Turkey Greece and Italy Population numbers during these times of as yet unparalleled growth peaked at about 423 000 in 1963 in the 1970s a period of steady decline followed in the wake of industrial losses As of 31 December 2022 the largest groups of foreign residents were From country Number of residents nbsp Turkey 11 575 nbsp Syria 7 415 nbsp Italy 6 870 nbsp Greece 6 130 nbsp Poland 5 870 nbsp Ukraine 5 387 nbsp Romania 2 835 nbsp Morocco 2 463 nbsp Serbia 2 197 nbsp North Macedonia 1 724 nbsp Iraq 1 593 nbsp Spain 1 439 nbsp Russia 1 354 nbsp Croatia 1 273 nbsp Netherlands 1 228 nbsp Kosovo 1 147Main sights editIn total Wuppertal possesses over 4 500 buildings classified as national monuments most exemplifying styles such as Neoclassicism Eclecticism Historicism Art Nouveau Jugendstil and Bauhaus The American TV station CNN recommended Wuppertal as one of 20 places worldwide to visit in the year 2020 because of the Schwebebahn the architectural diversity and the Nordbahntrasse a 22 kilometre 14 mi cycle route across the city 2020 8 Main sights include Schwebebahn or floating tram One of the city s greatest attractions is the globally unique suspended monorail Wuppertaler Schwebebahn which was established in 1901 The tracks are 8 m 26 ft above the streets and 12 m 40 ft above the Wupper Wuppertaler Schwebebahn Kaiserwagen A guided tour of the suspension railway in a special tram Wuppertal Opera Opernhaus Wuppertal Concerthall Stadthalle a fine piece of turn of the century architecture with outstanding acoustics Home of the Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra Sinfonieorchester Wuppertal Stadthalle Wuppertal Dance Theatre Tanztheater Wuppertal a world famous centre of modern dance founded by the choreographer Pina Bausch Engels Haus 18th century architecturally typical of the region it houses a permanent display of materials associated with the co founder of modern Communism Friedrich Engels Wuppertal Zoo a large nicely landscaped zoo Botanischer Garten Wuppertal a municipal botanical garden Arboretum Burgholz an extensive arboretum Von der Heydt Museum is an important art gallery with works from the 17th century to the present time The first of Picasso s works that ever appeared in public was displayed here Skulpturenpark Waldfrieden a sculpture park with exhibition hall founded by sculptor Tony Cragg Wuppertal in the arts editIn the 1974 Wim Wenders movie Alice in the Cities the main characters visit Wuppertal Part of the action of Le Feu de Wotan 1984 of the comic book Yoko Tsuno series by Roger Leloup take place in Wuppertal and its Schwebebahn The play Die Wupper by Else Lasker Schuler is set in Elberfeld The 2000 movie The Princess and the Warrior by Tom Tykwer was filmed in Wuppertal The 2001 movie No Regrets de by Benjamin Quabeck was filmed in Wuppertal In the 2011 movie Pina several of the dance sequences take place in and around Wuppertal In several sequences the elevated tram is used as a setting as well as a backdrop Sports editAssociation football edit In football Wuppertal s most popular club is Wuppertaler SV which currently play in the Regionalliga West the fourth tier of the German football league system Playing their home games at the city s Stadion am Zoo the club which enjoyed its last season in a nationwide division during the 2009 10 season looks back on a rich and eventful history since its establishment as the result of a 1954 merger between the two main Wuppertal clubs SSV 04 Wuppertal and TSG Vohwinkel 80 The club spent a total of seven seasons in the top flight of German football three of which in the Bundesliga which they were promoted to during 1972 In their first season in the nationwide first division the club reached a remarkable fourth place and qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first and only time in its history After a first round defeat by Polish side Ruch Chorzow and another two widely unsuccessful Bundesliga campaigns the club disappeared from the top flight again though and has yet to return During 2004 the club merged with local rivals SV Borussia Wuppertal to form Wuppertaler SV Borussia though the name change remained the only visible attribute of the merger with the club s colours and crest remaining unaltered The additional Borussia was scrapped again during 2013 due to fans demand amidst a change of leadership which was brought about to lead the club through necessary insolvency proceedings which have been completed as of September 2014 Another noteworthy Wuppertal football club is Cronenberger SC from the district of Cronenberg Their greatest success to date is reaching the 1952 German amateur football championship final which they lost 5 2 against VfR Schwenningen Today they play one tier below WSV in the Oberliga Nordrhein Famous players include Gunter Propper who scored 39 of WSV s 136 Bundesliga goals and West Germany international Horst Szymaniak as well as Cronenberg s Herbert Jager who represented Germany at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki during his stay with the club Team handball edit In handball Wuppertal s most successful team is Bergischer HC playing in the top tier Handball Bundesliga which they were promoted to for the second time during 2013 reaching 15th place during the 2013 14 campaign and therefore staying among the top scorers for a second consecutive season BHC originates from a 2006 cooperation between the management squad and main sponsor of LTV Wuppertal and rivals SG Solingen from the nearby city of the same name The club advertises itself as a representative of the entire Bergisches Land region The team plays its home games at both Wuppertal s Uni Halle 3 200 seats and Solingen s Klingenhalle 2 600 seats Wuppertal s past most successful club are the aforementioned LTV Wuppertal LTV spent most of their seasons in the second and third tiers before they merged with Wuppertaler SV s handball section in 1996 to form HSG LTV WSV Wuppertal The handball combination was promoted to the Bundesliga after its inaugural season finishing 8th before dissolving again in 1998 However the mere departure of Wuppertaler SV still allowed LTV Wuppertal whose professional team were renamed HC Wuppertal to play another three seasons in the Bundesliga before returning to the 2nd division and re introducing its old name After the establishment of BHC in 2006 LTV lost its financial base and was relegated several times currently playing in the fifth tier Verbandsliga Volleyball edit In volleyball SV Bayer Wuppertal was one of Germany s leading men s teams for many years during the 1990s and 2000s The team was part of the well known mass sports club originating in Leverkusen and was promoted to the Bundesliga in 1978 Reacting to low attendances the eponymous Bayer AG decided to relocate the volleyball team to Wuppertal in 1992 where there also was a Bayer funded club After the move the club won various titles including the German championship in 1994 and 1997 and the German Cup in 1995 In addition to that they finished runners up to Greek side Olympiacos S C in the 1995 96 European Cup Winners Cup losing the final in five sets After the wide reaching retreat of Bayer AG from less popular professional sport during 2008 the club acquired the name Wuppertal Titans and later A B C Titans Berg Land However the loss of their main sponsor eventually resulted in the team having to terminate during 2012 Presently they once more play by the name of Bayer Wuppertal in the third tier Regionalliga unable to promote with their current financial set up Basketball edit Perhaps one of the most successful Wuppertal sports clubs was the women s basketball team of Barmer TV known as BTV Wuppertal between 1994 and 2000 BTV Gold Zack Wuppertal between 2000 and 2002 and Wuppertal Wings internationally An 11 time German champion and 12 time German Cup winner they won a remarkable ten consecutive doubles between 1993 and 2002 During 1996 they even won the European Cup as the first and so far only German side beating Italy s SFT Como in the final A year later they narrowly missed out on back to back trebles losing to French side CJM Bourges in the newly christened EuroLeague s final In 2002 the club withdrew from the Bundesliga due to financial troubles their then main sponsor Gold Zack Werke filing for insolvency a year later After a decade long stay in amateur divisions Barmer TV returned to the second tier 2nd Bundesliga North in 2014 Wuppertal co hosted the 1998 FIBA World Championship for Women as one of seven host cities Roller hockey edit In roller hockey Wuppertal club RSC Cronenberg are one of the most successful German teams having won the German championship and the German Cup in both men s and women s competitions In total the men won 13 German championships and nine cups the women ten championships and nine cups Both teams play their home games at Alfred Henckels Halle Wuppertal hosted several international tournaments including the World Championship in 1997 men and 2004 women and the European Championship in 1992 2010 men and 2011 women Education edit nbsp Junior Uni Campus designed 2013 by the Wuppertal Architects Goedeking and Niedworok nbsp View from the university canteen in direction of the west part of Wuppertal ElberfeldFour institutions of higher education are in Wuppertal University of Wuppertal Bergische Universitat Wuppertal FOM University of Applied Sciences Cologne University of Music section Wuppertal College of Theology Wuppertal Bethel Theologische Zentrum Wuppertal The privately financed Junior Uni is a unique German initiative to educate youth from the age of 4 to 18 in science outside the school program 9 Politics editMayor edit nbsp Results of the second round of the 2020 mayoral electionThe current Mayor of Wuppertal is Uwe Schneidewind of Alliance 90 The Greens who was elected in 2020 The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020 with a runoff held on 27 September and the results were as follows Candidate Party First round Second roundVotes Votes Uwe Schneidewind Greens CDU 50 218 40 8 52 439 53 5Andreas Mucke Social Democratic Party 45 524 37 0 45 645 46 5Marcel Hafke Free Democratic Party 9 057 7 4Bernhard Sander The Left 5 941 4 8Panagiotis Paschalis Independent 4 295 3 5Henrik Dahlmann Free Voters 4 045 3 3Mira Lehner Die PARTEI 4 020 3 3Valid votes 123 100 98 8 98 084 99 2Invalid votes 1 541 1 2 762 0 8Total 124 641 100 0 98 846 100 0Electorate voter turnout 265 748 46 9 265 748 37 2Source State Returning OfficerCity council edit nbsp Results of the 2020 city council electionThe Wuppertal city council governs the city alongside the Mayor The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020 and the results were as follows Party Votes Seats Social Democratic Party SPD 35 653 28 9 nbsp 1 1 23 nbsp 4Christian Democratic Union CDU 29 790 24 2 nbsp 4 9 20 nbsp 1Alliance 90 The Greens Grune 24 121 19 6 nbsp 4 6 16 nbsp 6Free Democratic Party FDP 8 871 7 2 nbsp 1 7 6 nbsp 2The Left Die Linke 8 152 6 6 nbsp 1 4 5 0Alternative for Germany AfD 7 529 6 1 nbsp 3 7 5 nbsp 3Voters Association for Wuppertal WfW 3 581 2 9 nbsp 1 8 2 nbsp 1Die PARTEI PARTEI 3 346 2 7 New 2 NewPro Wuppertal 1 761 1 4 nbsp 1 1 1 nbsp 1Human Environment Animal Protection Tierschutz 365 0 3 New 0 NewV Partei 36 0 0 New 0 NewValid votes 123 205 98 9Invalid votes 1 364 1 1Total 124 569 100 0 80 nbsp 14Electorate voter turnout 265 748 46 9 nbsp 1 9Source State Returning OfficerTransport editRailways edit nbsp Central StationWuppertal is well connected to the rail network The town lies on the Cologne Hagen and the Dusseldorf Hagen railway lines and is a stop for long distance traffic The central station is located in the district of Elberfeld Regionalbahn trains and some Regional Express trains also stop at Oberbarmen Barmen Ronsdorf and Vohwinkel There are also S Bahn stations in Langerfeld Unterbarmen Steinbeck Zoologischer Garten and Sonnborn The rail services that operate on the mainline through the valley are the RE 4 Wupper Express RE 7 Rhein Munsterland Express RE 13 Maas Wupper Express RB 48 Rhein Wupper Bahn and four Rhine Ruhr S Bahn services the S 7 S 8 S 9 and S 68 peak hours only Every 30 minutes it is served by a long distance Intercity Express InterCity EuroCity service in each direction With the exception of the line from Wuppertal to Solingen operated as the S 7 and the Prince William Railway to Essen now S Bahn line S 9 all of the branch lines connecting to main line in the city of Wuppertal are now closed This includes among others the Dusseldorf Derendorf Dortmund Sud railway the Wuppertaler Nordbahn the Burgholz Railway the Wuppertal Wichlinghausen Hattingen railway the Wupper Valley Railway and the Corkscrew Railway Thus there were once 31 stations in the Wuppertal area including nine stations on the mainline Nowadays only ten are serviced any more Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof is the location of the lost luggage services for Deutsche Bahn 10 The Wuppertal Suspension Railway a suspended monorail serves the city and its surroundings It has operated since 1901 with new cars added beginning in December 2016 In 1950 a young elephant named Tuffi was put aboard the Wuppertal Schwebebahn monorail as a promotion for the Althoff Circus The swinging tram upset the elephant and she trumpeted charged and plummeted 12 m 40 ft into the river below Tuffi suffered minor injuries she lived until 1989 In 1999 the Schwebebahn had its thus far only fatal accident Between 1873 and 1987 Wuppertal was served by its own tram network Twin towns sister cities editSee also List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany nbsp Signpost with twin townsWuppertal is twinned with 11 nbsp South Tyneside England United Kingdom 1951 nbsp Saint Etienne France 1960 nbsp Tempelhof Schoneberg Berlin Germany 1964 nbsp Beersheba Israel 1977 nbsp Kosice Slovakia 1980 nbsp Schwerin Germany 1987 nbsp Matagalpa Nicaragua 1987 nbsp Legnica Poland 1993 Sister suspension railway edit nbsp Shonan Monorail JapanThe Wuppertal Suspension Railway is twinned with Shonan Monorail since 2018 The Shonan Monorail is located in Kanagawa Japan and connects the cities between Kamakura and Fujisawa Both suspended railways made a campaign of their twinning in 2018 12 Notable people editSee also Category People from Wuppertal nbsp Friedrich Bayer 1863 nbsp Friedrich Engels nbsp Else Lasker Schuler 1895 nbsp Federal President Johannes Rau in 2004Ian Ashley born 1947 British German Formula One driver Christian Lindner born 1979 politician Pina Bausch 1940 2009 choreographer known for her work with the Wuppertal Dance Theater died in Wuppertal Friedrich Bayer 1825 1880 founder of the Friedrich Bayer paint factory later Bayer AG Greta Bosel 1908 1947 concentration camp guard executed for war crimes Gyles Brandreth born 1948 English writer broadcaster actor and former British Conservative Member of Parliament Arno Breker 1900 1991 sculptor Peter Brotzmann born 1941 free jazz musician Rudolf Carnap 1891 1970 philosopher of science Udo Dirkschneider born 1952 singer and songwriter Rudolf Dressler born 1940 politician and ambassador George Dreyfus born 1928 Australian bassoonist composer Hermann Ebbinghaus 1850 1909 psychologist who studied memory Friedrich Engels 1820 1895 philosopher historian coauthor of The Communist Manifesto with Karl Marx Kurt Franz 1914 1998 SS Officer major perpetrator of genocide during the Holocaust died in Wuppertal Daniel Gerlach born 1977 journalist Hans Gruneberg 1907 1982 British geneticist born in Wuppertal Marco Goecke born 1972 choreographer Vincenzo Gualtieri professional boxer Christoph Maria Herbst born 1966 actor and comedian Carolina Hermann born 1988 figure skater Felix Hoffmann 1868 1946 scientist synthesized aspirin while working at a Bayer facility in Wuppertal Raimund Hoghe 1949 2021 choreographer dancer film maker journalist and author Werner Hoyer born 1951 politician FDP President of the European Investment Bank Ignaz Kirchner 1946 2018 actor Linda Kisabaka born 1969 middle distance runner Hans Knappertsbusch 1888 1965 orchestra conductor Peter Kowald 1944 2002 free jazz musician Hans Peter Luhn 1896 1964 computer scientist Else Lasker Schuler 1869 1945 expressionist poet Harald Leipnitz 1926 2000 actor Ulrich Leyendecker 1946 2018 composer Reimar Lust 1923 2020 astrophysicist Hans Moller 1905 2000 painter Steffen Moller born 1969 satirist and actor in Poland Sylkie Monoff singer songwriter Simone Osygus born 1968 swimmer Siegfried Palm 1927 2005 cellist director of Hochschule fur Musik Koln general manager of Deutsche Oper Berlin Julius Plucker 1801 1868 physicist Kolja Pusch born 1993 footballer Johannes Rau 1931 2006 politician SPD former Federal President of Germany Hans Reichel 1949 2011 composer recording artist and inventor of the Daxophone Emil Rittershaus 1834 1897 poet Alice Schwarzer born 1942 one of the leaders of the German second wave feminism Annette Seiltgen born 1964 operatic singer Hans Singer 1910 2006 British economist Ilse Steppat 1917 1969 actress Rita Sussmuth born 1937 former President of the German Parliament Horst Tappert 1923 2008 actor Helmut Thielicke 1908 1986 theologian Stephen Timoshenko 1878 1972 Russian engineer and academician Bettina Tietjen born 1960 television presenter Tom Tykwer born 1965 movie director and composer Gunter Wand 1912 2002 composer and orchestra conductor Ute Vinzing born 1936 operatic soprano Henrik Freischlader born 1982 blues guitarist singer songwriter producer Wolf Hoffmann born 1959 metal guitarist initiator of the musical band Accept Armin T Wegner 1886 1978 soldier medic human rights activist Mathilde Wesendonck 1828 1902 poet author artist muse of Richard WagnerGallery edit nbsp Typical steep street in Wuppertal nbsp Sculpturepark Waldfrieden Tony Cragg Points of View 2008 nbsp View of Burgholz woods with typical Bergisches farmerhouse nbsp Panoramic view of the Olberg quarter in Wuppertal nbsp City Hall Wuppertal Barmen nbsp The theatre Das Wuppertaler Schauspielhaus nbsp The swimming arena Schwimmoper nbsp Elisenturm nbsp Zoo Wuppertal nbsp Special tours with the historical Kaiserwagen nbsp World s largest one day flea market nbsp Botanic garden and view over the city nbsp The public park Hardt in the center nbsp The newest generation of the Schwebebahn nbsp The river Wupper in the woods of Wuppertal nbsp View from the Kiesberg woods nbsp Neue Bergische Synagoge nbsp Abbey Wuppertal BeyenburgSee also editPolizeiprasidium Wuppertal WefelputtNotes and references edit Wahlergebnisse in NRW Kommunalwahlen 2020 Land Nordrhein Westfalen accessed 19 June 2021 Bevolkerung der Gemeinden Nordrhein Westfalens am 31 Dezember 2021 in German Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW Retrieved 20 June 2022 Marvin Brendel 110 Jahre Aspirin in German GeschichtsPuls Retrieved May 22 2011 Official website Vorwerk Kobold vacuum cleaners Archived from the original on February 21 2013 Retrieved May 22 2011 Official website European Institute for International Economic Relations Retrieved March 2 2013 Stanton Shelby World War II Order of Battle An Encyclopedic Reference to U S Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division 1939 1946 Stackpole Books Revised Edition 2006 p 147 de Einwohnerentwicklung von Wuppertal CNN 20 places to visit in 2020 1 Official website Junior Uni Wuppertal Bergisches Land in German Retrieved March 14 2013 Emory Sami Meichsner Andreas December 25 2019 The Secret Afterlife of Lost German Luggage The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved December 26 2019 Partnerstadte wuppertal de in German Wuppertal Retrieved 2019 11 23 Our partner Shonan Monorail www schwebebahn de Retrieved August 2 2023 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wuppertal Official website nbsp in German in German and English Wuppertal Information Photos nbsp Wuppertal travel guide from Wikivoyage Official website of the University of Wuppertal Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wuppertal amp oldid 1207310654, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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