Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the Wupper river south of the Ruhr area. Population 376,700 (1999).

It is a major industrial centre including such industries as: textiles, metallurgy, chemicals, medicine ( Bayer), electric, rubber, vehicles and printing equipment.

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. In total, Wuppertal possesses over 4.500 buildings classified national monuments, most dating from periods of classicism, Art Nouveau and Bauhaus. One fine masterpiece of turn-of-the-century architecture is Wuppertal's concert-hall (Stadthalle), inaugurated in 1900 by the German emperor William II. and his wife.

The Tanztheater Pina Bausch is world-famous and regularly playing at theatres in New York, Tokyo, Paris, London etc.

Schwebebahn

see main article at 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.

In 1950, the famous German circus Althoff had the young elephant Tuffi take the Schwebebahn as a marketing gag. Tuffi broke through a window and jumped into the Wupper, suffering only minor injuries.

The Schwebebahn is said to be the world's safest transport system. The only severe accident happened on April 12, 1999, when 5 people died and 46 were injured after a train derailed and crashed into the Wupper. The accident was caused by a construction worker's leaving a tool on the track.

Noted Wuppertal people

• 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
• Else Laske-Schüler , expressionist poet
• Friedrich Engels, Historican, Friend of Karl Marx
• Friedrich Bayer , founder of the Friedrich Bayer paint factory that later became Bayer AG
• Tom Tykwer, German film director, co-founder of XFilm syndicate

Twin Cities

Wuppertal is twinned with:

• South Tyneside, United Kingdom
• Saint-Étienne, France
• Berlin-Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Germany
• Beersheba, Israel
• Košice, Slovakia
• Schwerin, Germany
• Matagalpa , Nicaragua
• Legnica, Poland

External links

• official website
• more in-depth information about Wuppertal and its sights