State capital Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the fourth largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and, together with its hinterland, Germany’s economically strongest one. The state capital is a leading location in the field of advertising, telecommunication and management consultancy and one of the Federal Republic of Germany’s and the world’s most important trade faire locations. It is also an important European centre of trade, services and communication. Second only to Frankfurt, the Rhine metropolis is also one of the country’s biggest centres of banking and the stock market. Numerous international companies have their headquarters here, amongst which 450 Japanese firms. Its central location and the excellent transport connections, together with Germany’s third largest airport, facilitate access to the European markets. 10.2 million people living within a radius of 50 km, and 400,000 resident companies make Düsseldorf the heart of the Rhein-Ruhr region. Almost 30 million people live within a 150 km radius and approx. 150 million within a 500 km radius, which corresponds to 35 percent of all EU citizens.

A city with many faces 


Apart from its outstanding economic competence, the state capital enjoys international repute as trade fair and convention city. The cosmopolitan mind and hospitality of its citizens attract millions of visitors every year – not only for business or to exchange ideas, but also because of attractions such as the Old Town, elegant Königsallee, the Rhine embankment promenade or the Media Harbour, top-class museums, theatres, concerts, cabarets, the opera and other cultural highlights. In short: the state capital is top, both with regard to its cultural and business aspects.

The city’s heart has remained young. Düsseldorf has developed from its Old Town, the Altstadt, which is still the heart of the state capital. Visitors to Düsseldorf will soon find themselves in this quarter with its narrow lanes, half a square kilometre in size but full of restaurants and inns. Once you have been there, the Old Town is like a magnet that attracts you again and again.

Between the river Rhine and Heinrich-Heine-Allee, there are more than 200 pubs and restaurants for every taste – from French gourmet cuisine to seafood, from Korean to Arabic food. And nobody needs to go thirsty, for after all, the Old Town is the home of the Alt beer. This local top-brewed beer, made according to old recipes, never tastes better than in the Old Town, the ‘longest counter in the world’ and the most companionable place in Düsseldorf. Here communication is more important then consumption, the atmosphere is comforting, soothing, but never boring. Time is irrelevant, especially in the evening when people stroll from pub to pub, listen to a jazz band or dance to the latest club music.

Düsseldorf’s Königsallee is one of a small group of internationally known streets that truly merit the name ‘boulevard’, its most distinctive feature being the central moat. Lovingly named ‘Kö’ by its friends all over the world, it is inseparably linked to Düsseldorf’s image. The Kö is a stage with its passers-by being the actors and spectators, where the rhythm of the city is packed into a grand production without script, a constant act of image cultivation. Without its people the Kö would be nothing but cold beauty.

Almost one kilometre long, Königsallee stretches from north to south, from the Hofgarten public gardens to the Friedrichstadt district. Its main feature is the moat, 580 metres long and 32 metres wide with 5,000 square metres of green banks. Through it flows authentic water of the Düssel, the small stream that gave the city its name, populated by swans and ducks. Around 120 big chestnut trees and 85 plane trees throw their shade on Königsallee and underline its beauty. Separated by the moat but linked by several bridges, the eastern and western sides of Königsallee have undergone quite different developments.

The west side is mainly home to the big banks. Deutsche Bank and Dresdner Bank occupy a whole block each, and Düsseldorf’s oldest private bank, the Trinkaus, has their offices here. The east side is completely different, dominated by retail shops with an obvious tendency to exclusiveness. More and more internationally renowned brands flock to Königsallee, big chains replacing the traditional retail trade. Topic number one is fashion. Small wonder in a city that is home to IGEDO (organizer of some of the world’s top fashion fairs) and ranks amongst the world’s most important fashion centres.

Shoppers populating the Kö are another interesting story. Studies determined that around one third come from greater Düsseldorf, but two thirds from all over the world. Many of them travel to Düsseldorf only to visit the ‘Kö’; others use their business trip or visit to a trade fair for a shopping stint.

A tradition that has existed since the Middle Ages: begging with a kick. ‘Enne Penning’ (‘one penny’) begged Düsseldorf’s boys in olden days, when cartwheeling first came about. The cart wheeler song of the local poet Hans Müller-Schlösser from the Twenties already made it ‘two pennies’, and today it should probably be 5cents.

Cartwheeling, the spirited sideways somersault using hand and feet, is an internationally known gymnastics exercise but is cultivated as a tradition in Düsseldorf only. Whether as bronze figure on a fountain or a souvenir made of marzipan – the cart wheeler has almost become Düsseldorf’s emblem. And nowadays there are also female cart wheelers: in 1971, girls were finally accepted as contestants in the cart wheeler tournament staged on Königsallee every summer.

The Rhine tower is a prominent landmark in the cityscape, located on the southern border of the city centre, at the entrance to the Media Harbour and directly adjacent to the North Rhine-Westphalian parliament and the building of the West German broadcasting station (WDR).

The tower (built in 1979-1982 by the architect H. Deilmann) is 240,5 metres high. At 172,5 metres level is a restaurant that rotates gently around its own axis once every hour (for technical reasons, the platform turns from 12 to 17:30 hrs in one direction and from 18:30 hrs to 1 hr at night into the other, for the remaining time the restaurant does not move).

Below the restaurant is a self-service restaurant and a viewing platform affording a breathtaking view of Düsseldorf: below are the Media Harbour, the Old Town, Hofgarten public gardens, Königsallee and the Rhine with its bridges, and in clear weather one can see all the way to the Bergisches Land and Cologne.

The illuminated portholes of the Rhine tower are a unique feature worldwide: 39 of its 62 portholes, separated by air traffic control lamps, form a decimal clock over three sections along the tower’s shaft, 160 m high. The 62 portholes are fitted with twelve LEDs each, which are composed of a group of four red, green and blue LEDs each. Variable dimming can produce different colours.

Aktuelles, Sport, Promis, Termine, Wetter, Verkehrsservice - bei Antenne Düsseldorf gibt es täglich die geballte und tagesaktuelle Ladung 'Düsseldorf kompakt' auf die Ohren. 104,2 ist die Frequenz, auf der Sie täglich hören, was wann wo wie überhaupt in Düsseldorf passiert. Dazu hat Antenne Düsseldorf natürlich auch das aktuelle Geschehen in Deutschland und der Welt für Sie im Blick.

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