North Rhine– Westphalia
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NORTH RHINE–WESTPHALIA 557 North Rhine– Westphalia With a population greater than that of Austria and Switzerland combined, North Rhine–West- phalia feels almost like a country unto itself. Cobbled together in 1946 by the Allies from two Prussian provinces and a little fiefdom called Lippe-Detmold, it harbours within its boundaries flat, windswept expanses and forested hills high enough to hold onto snow during winter. Villages sweetly lost in time contrast with frenzied metropolises habitually on fast forward. There are places whose looks have remained largely unchanged since the Middle Ages and others fashioned completely from scratch in the wake of WWII. And through it all carves the muscular Rhine, fed by tributaries such as the Ruhr that gave an entire region its name. The industrial age shaped North Rhine–Westphalia more than any other German region. For a hundred years, coal and steel fuelled the growth of Germany into one of Europe’s most powerful nations. But starting in the mid-1960s, lower demand forced the region to focus its energies elsewhere. And so it did, banking instead on high-tech, media, retail and culture. Must-sees include Cologne with its lofty Dom (cathedral), Bonn with its Beethoven legacy and fabulous museums, the Unesco-listed baroque palaces in Brühl, and Charlemagne’s im- perial capital of Aachen. The lively Ruhrgebiet and placid Lower Rhine are best for off-beat experiences. There are historical cities such as Münster, where the treaty that ended the Thirty Years’ War was signed, and elegant ones such as Düsseldorf, the state capital. Paderborn and Soest are treasured for their churches and the Sauerland is the place to get your nature fix. HIGHLIGHTS Sucker for Soccer Find out why football is a religion in the Ruhrgebiet when attending a Schalke 04 match in Gelsenkirchen ( p599 ) or Borussia Dortmund game in Dortmund ( p596 ) Heavenly Heights Feel your spirit soar when faced with the majestic loftiness of Cologne’s Dom (cathedral; p569 ) Regal Reception Go behind the scenes of life at court on a tour of Schloss Augustus- burg ( p579 ) in Brühl Miraculous Metamorphosis See urban Gelsenkirchen planning in the making at Cologne’s Oberhausen Dortmund Rheinauhafen ( p572 ) Essen Mine Madness Experience a 21st-century spin on the industrial age at the Zeche Cologne Zollverein coal mine in Essen (p591 ) Brühl Avant-Garde Art Have your mind blown by cutting-edge exhibits in an old gas storage tower in Oberhausen ( p597 ) POPULATION: 18 MILLION AREA : 34,080 SQ KM 558 THE RHINELAND •• Düsseldorf lonelyplanet.com 0 50 km NORTH RHINE–WESTPHALIA 0 30 miles LOWER SAXONY Lingen A1 N E T H E R L A N D S Rahden A50 Nordhorn Almelo A30 Hörstel Lotte Lübbecke A1 Osnabrück Rheine Münster Minden Stadthagen NORTH RHINE–WESTPHALIA Enschede Osnabrück Bückeburg A2 International Löhne Airport A30 Rinteln Steinfurt A33 Greven Herford Ahaus WESTPHALIA A1 Hamelin A31 Nienberge Havixbeck Bielefeld Aerzen Münster Nijmegen Ulft Nottuln Coesfeld Warendorf Gütersloh Bocholt Borken Emmerich A43 A33 Wunderland Horn Schloss Moyland Ascheberg Rheda- Steinheim Kalkar A2 Wiedenbrück Kalkar Lüdinghausen A3 Delbrück NIEDERRHEIN Ahlen B65 Goch B57 Nordkirchen Brakel Xanten Paderborn Wesel Marl Hamm Weeze Lippstadt Bad A57 Recklinghausen Lünen Driburg Paderborn/ Beverungen Airport Rheinberg Geseke Bottrop Gelsenkirchen Werl Erwitte Lippstadt RUHRGEBIET Unna Airport Geldern Soest Oberhausen Bochum Dortmund Airport A44 Dortmund Möhnesee Warstein Marsberg A40 Essen Witten Warburg Venlo Duisburg Dusseldorf Menden Arnsberg Brilon International Krefeld Airport A1 Iserlohn Hagen Meschede Wuppertal Altena Kahler Viersen A52 Düsseldorf Sorpesee Asten Schalksmühle SAUERLAND (843m) Mönchengladbach A46 A45 Neuss Remscheid Rhine River Finnentrop B55 A59 A1 Winterberg Attendorn Lennestadt B252 Grevenbroich Leverkusen Biggesee Bad Berleburg To Maastricht Aachen A61 Cologne Olpe Airport (25km) RHINELAND Jülich A4 B62 A44 Wiehl Freudenberg Cologne Bonn SIEGERLAND B3 A4 Kerpen Brühl Airport Waldbröl Siegen Düren B9 Troisdorf Aachen Bonn Marburg Zülpich Heimbach HESSE B62 Euskirchen Königswinter Rurberg Gemünd B3 A5 Eifel National Park Kall A565 Siebengebirge B414 Bad Honnef Monschau Vogelsang Bad RHINELAND-PALATINATE A45 Münstereifel Schleiden A1 Giessen A61 A3 Wetzlar B E L G I U M B258 B257 B9 A27 Neuwied Koblenz Getting Around There are several deals available for get- THE RHINELAND ting around North Rhine–Westphalia by public transport. The SchönerTagTicket buys DÜSSELDORF one day of unlimited travel within the state %0211 / pop 585,000 from 9am to 3am the following day (mid- Düsseldorf, the state capital, dazzles with boundary-pushing architecture, zinging night to 3am the next day on weekends). nightlife and an art scene to rival many larger You can only use RE, RB and S-Bahn trains cities. It’s a posh and modern city that seems as well as buses, U-Bahn and trams. The all buttoned-up business at first glance: bank- ticket costs €25 for single travellers and ing, advertising, fashion and telecommunica- €34 for groups of up to five people. There’s tions are among the fields that have made also the SchöneFahrtTicket (€16), which gives Düsseldorf one of Germany’s wealthiest cities. you two hours to make a one-way trip to Yet all it takes is a few hours of bar-hopping anywhere within North Rhine–Westphalia. around the Altstadt (old town), the historical Tickets are available at vending machines; quarter along the Rhine, to realise that locals if purchased from the ticket office, a €2 have no problem letting their hair down once surcharge applies. they shed those Armani jackets..