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City Guide: Dusseldorf
Dusseldorf is Germany's modern and vibrant fashion capital with a robust commercial focus and a sophisticated appreciation for fine art, architecture and urban design. Sometimes likened to Milan with its elegant style and astute business sense, the city has a little less pretension and more of a down-to-earth fondness for fun and leisure activities. Located less than 50km from the Dutch border in the far west of Germany Dusseldorf is defined geographically by its position on the banks of the Rhine.
The city now takes full advantage of its proximity to the majestic river and visitors can enjoy extended walks enjoying both. It is home to a large number of corporate headquarters
and as an indication of this has the largest number of Japanese restaurants in Europe. Full of designer shops and chic boutiques you can splurge on luxury fashion and accessories or just enjoy the ambience of its boulevards, promenades, galleries and public spaces.
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Dusseldorf Airport
Only a few years old, Dusseldorf International is a showpiece airport - superbly designed, sleek and modern and user-friendly. About 6km from the city centre it is served by a rail shuttle or taxis costing about €15. For best deals on car hire in Dusseldorf see EasyCar for the best deals on Rental cars in Dusseldorf.
Sightseeing Highlights
The vibrant heart of Dusseldorf is the Altstadt (old town) that sits alongside the eastern bank of the Rhine, a jumble of narrow streets and alleys packed with bars, cafes, restaurants, and trendy boutiques interspersed with peaceful nooks and even a few interesting museums. The drink of choice in the area is Altbier (old beer), a top fermented dark and mellow brew best consumed fresh. Its hub is the Marktplatz (market place) dominated by the Rathaus (town hall), a fine Renaissance building dating from 1573. The Platz is overseen by the impressive figure of the Elector Jan Wellem, cast in bronze on horseback. The man himself is buried nearby in the Andreaskirche, a beautiful baroque church (1629) with 22 statues of the apostles and other biblical characters and renowned for its midday sermons and organ concerts. Its neighbour is the St Lambertus Kirche, the oldest building in the city, with an odd twisted tower, an opulent interior with a mix of styles including Gothic, Renaissance, baroque and modern. Modern horror is depicted in the Memorial for the Victims of the Nazi Regime evoking a sense of the repression of the times and local resistance to the brutality of Hitler's Reich.
The car-choked road that once separated the city from its river is now below ground and in its place is the Rheinuferpromenade: a 1.5km pedestrian/cycling/blading pavement in a bluish wave-patterned design that stretches from Oberkassel Bridge to the Parliament buildings of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lined with plane trees and interspersed with cafes and benches it is perfect for a leisurely stroll or just to take in the passing parade with a coffee and cake. The city's landmark structure, the 234m Rheinturm is in the Rheinpark with a restaurant and viewing platform at the 180m mark providing a stunning view for miles over the surrounding landscape. It also doubles as the world's largest decimal clock made up of different coloured lights on the tower shaft.
 Dusseldorf's exclusive shopping strip is the Konigsallee known colloquially simply as the Ko. A justly-renowned tree-lined boulevard with a canal down the middle its east side is packed with designer boutiques and luxury retailers. Not surprisingly, the haute couture can only be had for haute prices but the value shopper can find bargains at the newly opened Schadow Arcade at one end of the Ko. Keep going to the Trident Fountain at the northern end of the canal and you'll come to the Hofgarten (palace garden) an enormous, rambling parkland with scenic paths, manicured gardens and fountains all watched over by the steely gaze of statues of some of Germany's greats (Heine, Schumann etc). The Hofgarten is a good place to orientate yourself to (and seek respite from) the city's premier museums and major cultural attractions, most of which are on the garden's perimeter.
The city's public art galleries have a long and revered history and constitute one of the finest collections outside the continent's national capitals. The Museum Kunst Palast focuses on European works from the Middle Ages to the present (including Rubens' Venus and Adonis) and also has an extensive glass collections and pieces from the East. The K20 Kunstammlung am Grabbleplatz is a dazzling showcase of 20th century painting and sculpture housing Chagall, Picasso, Modigliani, Jasper Johns and the homegrown Beckmann, Grosz and Klee. The Kunsthalle provides a moving feast of art and photography with a continuous cycle of temporary exhibitions. The most recent addition to the portfolio of museums is the K20 Kunstammlung am Standehaus. It may be housed in a 19th century mansion but has art so new it's fresh from the studios of its painters, photographers and installation and video artists. It is an uber-contemporary gallery with works from Thomas Schutte and Nam June Paik among other hot artists on display.
Other museums worth a visit are the Hetjens Museum, given over to 8,000 of ceramics; the Film Museum focusing on the history of German cinema; the Heinrich Heine Institut - one of the city's favourite sons showcasing his life and literature; the Schiffart Museum detailing the history of waterborne transport on the Rhine and also the region's industrial, technical and social evolution; the Ernst Schneider Collection - a local industrialist and arts patron with fine displays of silverware, furniture and Meissen porcelain; the Theatremuseum assembles Dusseldorf's long tradition of theatre that includes a collection of marionettes and toy theatres; the Goethe Museum in the Schloss Jagerhof (Jagerhof Palace - unmistakable with its pink exterior and rococo style) is a temple to the genius himself as well as the times in which he lived with a vast collection of first editions, manuscripts and letters; the Schloss Benrath, 10km south of the city, combines the Natural History Museum and the Museum for European Garden Art.
For those with a particular interest in modern architecture and urban renewal, Dusseldorf's Medienhafen (Media Harbour) is an awe-inspiring example of what's possible with the contemporary built environment. The area is south of the Rheinturm and what was once a decrepit neighbourhood of derelict warehouses has been transformed into a stunning district of cutting-edge office buildings interspersed with visually arresting structures. They include Frank Gehry's Neuer Zollhof, a sculptured, curving series of three buildings and the Grand Bateau of Claude Vasconi which takes the shape of a ship. The artistic geometry of Piet Mondrian is adopted in the façade of William Alsop's Colorium, remarkable for its red roof resembling a diving springboard and a nearby building that is quite plain except for its Flossies or multi-coloured stick figures plastered over its front.
Dusseldorf Photo courtesy Ulrich Otte, Düsseldorf Marketing & Tourismus GmbH
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