Travelling North Rhine-Westphalia

The Town of Monschau
(photo by Ronrad)

The North Rhine-Westphalia is the fourth largest in territory federal state (Land) of Germany but with its population of 17 million people it is the most populous one. As its name suggests this state consists of two historically differentiated regions - the North Rhine (Nordrhein) and Westphalia (Westfalen). The first one was once possessed by the Franks and the second one marked the eastern boundary of the Saxon territories. With the quick industrialization of the River Ruhr valley during the 19th century and the annexation of the both regions by the powerful Kingdom of Prussia all cultural differences between them disappeared. It was formed a clearly recognizable territory unit, although symbolically divided in two almost equal parts. When the World War II ended it was decided the two provinces to be united in one in order to be preserved the economic integrity of the industrial area of Ruhrgebiet as the region came to be known. Germany has 38 cities with population of over 200.000 and sixteen of them are situated in North Rhine-Westphalia. Many of them are interlinked in large urban conglomerations and the entire Ruhrgebiet is joined to another urban area in the southern neighbor province Rhineland-Palatinate forming the most densely populated part of Europe.

The Town of Soest
(photo by Britta)

In this large and strongly urbanized area Cologne is the most impressive city, successfully preserved much of the old charm and atmosphere of its centuries-long existence as an independent state, being at times the most powerful of all German states. Another attractive historic city in the province is Aachen, the former capital of the Charlemagne's empire and later of the Holy Roman Empire. Next in the series comes the city of Münster, the capital of the informal region of Westphalia. The headquarters of the Land government are in the cosmopolitan city of Düsseldorf. Close to the southern boundary of the Land is located Bonn, the capital of the former state of West Germany and still one of the seats of the federal government. Not suitable for the important role it was given in 1949, it is a city all too easily slandered. Despite the heavy industry, you can see spacious rural landscapes in North Rhine-Westphalia too. These areas live mainly from agriculture, forestry and tourism. There are also some pleasantly surprising picturesque small towns, such as Soest, Monschau and Lemgo. Another two similar towns along the Rhine River - Xanten and Brühl have been heavily ruined by the war but still have what to show you.

Getting around the Land couldn't be much easier. An extensive public transportation network has been built. It consists of two integrated systems of main-line trains, S-Bahn trains, trams and buses. One of them comprises Cologne and Bonn and the other one - the Ruhrgebiet, Düsseldorf and the Lower Rhineland.