40 Fun Facts About Düsseldorf

Lights on the shaft of Düsseldorf's Rheinturm tower form the world's largest what?

The digital clock on the Rheinturm is a light sculpture read from top to bottom, with separate rows of lamps for the hours, minutes and seconds.

Düsseldorf's Old Town, packed with hundreds of pubs, is nicknamed the longest what in the world?

The longest bar in the world is the Altstadt's boast because its pubs stand so close together that each counter is said to join the one next door.

Which extinct human species is named after a valley just east of Düsseldorf, where bones emerged in 1856?

Neanderthal comes from the Neander Valley, where quarry workers dug bones out of a cave and a local teacher reportedly saw at once that they were not from a modern human.

Düsseldorf has more than 600,000 residents, but what does the German suffix '-dorf' in its name mean?

Village is the literal meaning: the city began as a fishing and farming settlement on the riverbank and never dropped the humble ending as it grew.

Which electronic music pioneers, known for the 1974 album Autobahn, formed in Düsseldorf in 1970?

Kraftwerk were founded by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, who met as music students in the city in the late 1960s.

Which Asian country has its largest community in Germany in Düsseldorf, centred on Immermannstraße?

Japan's companies began opening offices in the city in the 1950s, and the shops and restaurants along Immermannstraße are now known as Little Tokyo.

Which copper-coloured, top-fermented beer is Düsseldorf's signature brew, poured in small glasses?

Altbier means old beer, a nod to the warm, top-fermenting brewing method that was the norm before lager took over.

Which German supermodel was discovered at age 17 in a Düsseldorf nightclub in 1987?

Claudia Schiffer, from nearby Rheinberg, had planned a career in law until the head of a Paris modelling agency spotted her that night.

Which annual televised music competition did Düsseldorf host in May 2011, after Lena's win for Germany?

The Eurovision Song Contest filled the city's football arena for three nights, and Azerbaijan's duo Ell and Nikki took their country's first victory.

Which acrobatic move, shown on Düsseldorf fountains and drain covers, is said to be the city's oldest tradition?

The cartwheel has its own fountain on Burgplatz, and a society founded in 1920 runs a yearly competition to keep the custom alive.

Düsseldorf has been the capital of which German state, the country's most populous, since 1946?

North Rhine-Westphalia was created in 1946 while the region was under British occupation, and its ministries and parliament gave the city a political role it still holds.

Which neighbouring city on the Rhine is Düsseldorf's long-standing rival in beer, carnival parades and football?

Cologne and Düsseldorf keep the feud mostly humorous these days, though ordering the other city's beer in either one can still earn a waiter's scorn.

Which poet, born in Düsseldorf in 1797 and famous for 'Die Lorelei', gives the city's university its name?

Heinrich Heine spent the last 25 years of his life in Paris, where he is buried, and his books were among those burned in Berlin in 1933.

Which architect designed the three leaning Neuer Zollhof buildings in Düsseldorf's redeveloped harbour?

Frank Gehry gave each of the three towers a different skin: white plaster, red brick and stainless steel that mirrors its two neighbours.

Which three-week cycling race began in July 2017 with a time trial through the streets of Düsseldorf?

The Tour de France had not started in Germany since 1987, and Geraint Thomas won the opening stage to pull on the first yellow jersey.

Which Düsseldorf condiment comes in a traditional pot that Vincent van Gogh painted in an 1884 still life?

Mustard from the city is strong and Dijon-like, and it also crowns the local Senfrostbraten, a steak roasted under an onion crust.

Which fourth wife of Henry VIII, whose marriage was annulled after six months, was born in Düsseldorf?

Anne of Cleves did well out of the split: Henry gave her a generous settlement and she became known as the King's Beloved Sister.

Which Düsseldorf luxury shopping boulevard has a tree-lined canal, fed by the River Düssel, running down its centre?

Königsallee was called Kastanienallee until horse manure was thrown at the Prussian king in 1848, and the street was renamed King's Avenue to make amends.

Which nursing pioneer trained with the deaconesses at Kaiserswerth, now part of Düsseldorf, in 1851?

Florence Nightingale called her time at Kaiserswerth a turning point in her life, and her report on the institution, issued anonymously in 1851, was her first published work.

Which laundry detergent, launched in 1907, was created by the Düsseldorf company Henkel?

Persil takes its name from two of its original ingredients, sodium perborate, a bleaching agent, and sodium silicate.

Which name does Düsseldorf's biggest football club, German champions in 1933 and twice cup winners, carry?

Fortuna reached the final of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1979, losing to Barcelona, the high point of the club's European story.

Düsseldorfer EG, German champions eight times between 1967 and 1996, compete in which sport?

Ice hockey brought the DEG four German titles in a row from 1990 to 1993, with the Brehmstrasse rink as its home for most of its history.

Borussia Düsseldorf, the long-time club of Timo Boll, is Germany's most successful team in which sport?

Table tennis titles have piled up since the club's first Bundesliga crown in 1969, and Timo Boll's arrival in 2007 began a run of nine championships in ten seasons.

Which film director, born in Düsseldorf in 1945, made Paris, Texas and Wings of Desire?

Wim Wenders won the Palme d'Or at Cannes for Paris, Texas, and got his start in the film business at the Düsseldorf office of United Artists.

Which composer became Düsseldorf's director of music in 1850 and wrote his Rhenish Symphony there?

Robert Schumann took the post hoping for financial security, but shyness and failing mental health made leading the orchestra a struggle and he resigned after three years.

Which artist, known for sculptures in felt and fat, was dismissed from Düsseldorf's art academy in 1972?

Joseph Beuys had abolished the entry requirements for his sculpture class, and his sacking set off a wave of protests from students, artists and critics.

Which British mobile phone company took over Düsseldorf's Mannesmann in 2000 after a months-long takeover battle?

Vodafone agreed a price of €190 billion in February 2000, the largest sum paid in any takeover up to then, and the Mannesmann name soon disappeared.

In October 1914, a British naval pilot bombed a Düsseldorf hangar and destroyed which kind of aircraft?

The Zeppelin Z IX burned in its shed after Flight Lieutenant Reginald Marix's raid, weeks after British naval airmen had first bombed the city's airship base.

Which cry do revellers shout during Düsseldorf's carnival, which opens each year on 11 November at 11:11?

Helau is shared with Mainz, while several other Rhineland cities, Bonn and Aachen among them, shout Alaaf instead.

Which American history painting did Emanuel Leutze finish in his Düsseldorf studio in 1851?

Washington Crossing the Delaware was painted beside the Rhine, so the icy river in the picture is modelled on Germany's great waterway rather than America's.

Which Nobel laureate and author of The Tin Drum studied sculpture at Düsseldorf's art academy?

Günter Grass trained as a stonemason before art school and only began writing in the 1950s; his first novel made his name in 1959.

Halve Hahn, a Düsseldorf pub snack whose name suggests half a chicken, is really a rye roll with what?

Cheese is the heart of the snack, a buttered rye roll with onions and sour pickles and not a scrap of poultry.

Which pleasure palace on Düsseldorf's southern edge was built from 1755 for Elector Palatine Charles Theodor?

Schloss Benrath was designed by the court's garden and building director Nicolas de Pigage, and its two wings now house museums of garden art and natural history.

Which jester figure wakes on 11 November to open Düsseldorf's carnival and is cremated in effigy on Ash Wednesday?

Hoppeditz opens the season with a mocking speech in the market square, which the lord mayor answers from the town hall balcony opposite.

Which stronger special brew, named from a dialect word for 'secret', do Düsseldorf's brewpubs occasionally release?

Sticke began as a reserve beer that brewers made for their own drinking, and today it appears only as a seasonal or special-occasion batch.

Which cavalry marshal and brother-in-law of Napoleon ruled from Düsseldorf as Grand Duke of Berg from 1806?

Joachim Murat, husband of Caroline Bonaparte, held the title for only two years before Napoleon moved him on to become King of Naples.

Düsseldorf received its town charter in August 1288, weeks after the Count of Berg's side won which battle?

Worringen was fought on 5 June 1288, and the defeat of a powerful archbishop's army by Count Adolf of Berg and his allies paved the way for the charter that August.

Düsseldorf's drupa, first staged in 1951, is the world's largest trade fair for which industry?

Printing is hidden in the fair's name: drupa is a blend of the German words Druck and Papier, meaning print and paper.

Düsseldorf's Rhein Fire won which NFL Europe championship game in both 1998 and 2000?

The World Bowl was also hosted by the Fire a record five times, and the team's two victories came against Frankfurt Galaxy and the Scottish Claymores.

Which Düsseldorf-born actress was the first performer to win Academy Awards in back-to-back years?

Luise Rainer later said nothing worse could have happened to her than the two wins, because audiences then expected more than she could deliver.