Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia

The Schwebebahn over Sonnborner Straße in Wuppertal, Germany
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wuppertal-100522-13449-Sonnborn.jpg
Author: Mbdortmund


Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. It covers 168.41 sq km (65.02 sq mi) and has a population of 350,000 (2011), making it the biggest city in the Bergisches Land region. The city is at an elevation of between 100 m to 350 m above sea level. It is located in a valley with the Wupper river flowing through it (hence Wuppertal, meaning Wupper Valley), and surrounded by forested woodlands and parks. Wuppertal observes the Central European Time zone (UTC+1) and in summer the Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).

The Wuppertaler Schwebebahn, as seen from street level
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wuppertal-100522-13466-Sonnborn_.jpg
Author: Mbdortmund


Wuppertal is famous the world over due to its overhanging trains, the Wuppertaler Schwebebahn. Designed by Eugen Langen, the trains went into operations in 1901 and are still operating today, serving 82,000 passengers daily. It is the city's biggest and most noticeable tourist attraction.

The city of Wuppertal is one of the industrial towns of the Ruhr area. It is an industrial center manufacturing textiles, metallurgy, chemicals, medicine, electrical appliances, automotive parts, rubber products, printing equipment, and others. The pharmaceutical giant Bayer has a facility here, and Aspirin, a Bayer product, was invented here in 1897 by Dr. Felix Hoffman.

Interior of Hauptkirche Sonnborn in Wuppertal
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wuppertal_-_Hauptkirche_Sonnborn_11_ies.jpg
Author: Frank Vincentz


The city of Wuppertal was created as recently as 1929 - even the Schwebebahn is older. Before that, it is composed of a number of industrial towns including Barmen, Elberfeld, Vohwinkel, Ronsdorf, Cronenberg, Langerfeld and Beyenburg. When these towns were consolidated as one, it was originally called Barmen-Elberfeld, but renamed the following yer in the 1930 referendum to Wuppertal, as they are all within the Wupper Valley.

As steep hills flank the Wupper river, Wuppertal likewise grew into a linear city. Due to its position as a major industrial city, it was severely bombarded during the Second World War, destroying some 40% of its buildings. Nevertheless it has managed to preserve and restore many of its most significant historic sites.

Visiting Wuppertal, Germany

To reach Wuppertal by flight, land at the Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN). Then take a train to Wuppertal. The train ride takes about half an hour.

Unterbarmer Hauptkirche in Wuppertal
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wuppertal_-_Unterbarmer_Hauptkirche_03_ies.jpg
Author: Frank Vincentz

Places of Interest in Wuppertal

 Latest updates on Penang Travel Tips

About this website

Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.

To get to know me better, do follow me on Facebook!