Leverkusen
Leverkusen is a county-level city in Southern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The city is geographically a part of the Bergisch Land and belongs to the same Rhineland. It is located on the eastern bank of the Rhine, half way between Cologne and Düsseldorf. The Middle center northeast of Cologne one of the smaller Cities of the country and has about 161 000 inhabitants. Leverkusen gained popularity especially in the group Bayer AG and the sports club Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
History
Dating to the 12th century as Wiesdorf, the Leverkusen area was rural until the late 19th century.
- Chemical facility
- In 1860, Wiesdorf was chosen by the apothecary Carl Leverkus for establishing a dye factory. The factory was taken over by the Bayer company in 1891. The company moved its office to Wiesdorf in 1912, turning the town into the centre of German chemical industry. In World War II, the Bayer (Standard Oil/IG Farben) plant [1] was bombed on August 22, 1943,[2] and during the Battle of Berlin (air) on November 19/20 and December 10/11, 1943.
Leverkusen was founded in 1930 by merging Wiesdorf, Schlebusch, Steinbüchel and Rheindorf. In 1975, Opladen (including Lützenkirchen since 1930), Hitdorf and Bergisch Neukirchen joined. The present city is made up of several villages, originally called Wiesdorf, Opladen, Schlebusch, Lützenkirchen, Steinbüchel, Rheindorf and Bergisch-Neukirchen.
Main sights and places of interest
Japanese Garden in front of the Bayer tower
- BayArena - stadium and home of the Bayer Leverkusen
- Bayer Cross Leverkusen - one of the largest illuminated advertisements in the world
- Schloss Morsbroich - moated castle in the baroque style, now a museum for contemporary art
- Water Tower Leverkusen-Bürrig - 72.45 metres high water reservoir containing an observation deck
- Neuland Park - large park beside the Rhine
- Japanese Garden - A garden created by Carl Duisberg at 1923
- Bayer Media Facade - Until 2010 will arise the world biggest media sculpture (17.500 qm) next to the Carl Duisberg Park [2]
- Colony of workers - historical urban district in the center of Leverkusen
- Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit - historical Boat bridge next to the Rhine between Wiesdorf and Rheindorf
- Mausoleum of Carl Duisberg - mausoleum in the center of the Carl Duisberg Park next to the Casino
- NaturGut Ophoven - educational center for nature in Leverkusen-Opladen
International relations
BayArena
Leverkusen is twinned with:
Notable people
- Jörg Bergmeister, racing driver
- Uta Briesewitz, cinematographer
- Bärbel Dieckmann, politician
- Paul Janes, football player
- Heidemarie Ecker-Rosendahl, athlete and olympic medalist
- Danny Ecker, athlete, son of Heidemarie Ecker-Rosendahl
- Hans Kühne, plant manager of IG Farben's (Bayer) plant in Leverkusen during World War II, acquitted of crimes against humanity in the IG Farben Trial [5]
- Dietmar Mögenburg, athlete
- Detlef Schrempf, former NBA basketball player
- Felix Sturm, middleweight boxer
- Wolf Vostell, painter
- Werner Wenning, chairman of the board of Bayer AG
References
- ↑ "Amtliche Bevölkerungszahlen" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. 31 December 2009. http://www.it.nrw.de/statistik/a/daten/amtlichebevoelkerungszahlen/index.html.
- ↑ More informations and a video about the plans of the media sculpture: http://www.annualreport2007.bayer.com/en/Bayer-tower.aspx
- ↑ "Twin towns". www.ouka.fi. http://www.ouka.fi/kansainvalisyys/english/ystavyyskaupungit.html. Retrieved 2009-11-07.
- ↑ (Bracknell Town, part of the Bracknell Forest local authority twinned with Opladen in 1973, Opladen then incorporated with Leverkusen in 1975
- ↑ "Profit Over Life". The Nuremberg Pharma Tribunal. http://www.profit-over-life.org/rolls.php?roll=95&pageID=33&expand=no. Retrieved tbd.
Literature
- Blaschke, Stefan (1999): Unternehmen und Gemeinde: Das Bayerwerk im Raum Leverkusen 1891-1914 Cologne: SH-Verlag, ISBN 3-89498-068-0 (German)
- Archive of Leverkusen (2005): Leverkusen. Geschichte einer Stadt am Rhein. Bielefeld: Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, ISBN 3-89534-575-X (German)
- Franz Gruß (1987): Geschichte und Porträt der Stadt Leverkusen. Leverkusen: Verlag Anna Gruß, ISBN 393047803X (German)
Urban and rural districts in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany |
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Urban districts |
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Rural Districts |
Aachen · Borken · Coesfeld · Düren · Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis · Euskirchen · Gütersloh · Heinsberg · Herford · Hochsauerlandkreis · Höxter · Kleve (Cleves) · Lippe · Märkischer Kreis · Mettmann · Minden-Lübbecke · Oberbergischer Kreis · Olpe · Paderborn · Recklinghausen · Rheinisch-Bergischer Kreis · Rhein-Erft-Kreis · Rhein-Kreis Neuss · Rhein-Sieg-Kreis · Siegen-Wittgenstein · Soest · Steinfurt · Unna · Viersen · Warendorf · Wesel
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