Wuppertal: The city in the valley

Sheltered in a long, steep river valley, Wuppertal often feels far-flung, cut off, somehow unreal. Indeed, the city 'Wuppertal' is in many ways not real: thrown together by town planners and local politicians, Wuppertal (the name means literally 'Wupper valley') is a large city composed of several small towns along the Wupper valley: the towns maintain their own identities, but two things bring them all together: the River and the 'Schwebebahn', or 'hovering railway'.

Wuppertal introduced

Schwebebahn, Photo: Wikimedia Commons (cc) Chris 73 Wuppertal is often called 'the San Francisco of Germany', and not because it has a famous prison or a big red bridge. No, this city of 350,000 people shares another characteristic with SF: steep hills lined by pretty houses and lots - and we mean lots - of steps. This guarantees that Wuppertal's residents are never more than two minutes and a sweat-inducing climb way from one of the city's many fine hill parks and view points.
Looking down from one of these parks along the 15km of valley occupied by the city, Wuppertal makes a very industrial impression. Chimney stacks, red bricks, unidentified lumps of steel and corrugated iron. A pioneer of Germany's industrial revolution, Wuppertal was slowly overtaken by neighbouring cities which had more room for expansion. At the beginning of the 20th century, the giant chemicals company Bayer, for example, moved from Wuppertal to Leverkusen on the Rhine floodplain, maintaining only an outpost in its former hometown. Then again, many companies see opportunity in Wuppertal and are quite happy to deal with the architectural difficulties of building in a valley. The Delphi Corporation for example, the supply arm of General Motors, has its German headquarters in Wuppertal, along with E/D/E, one of Europe's largest purchasing organisations supplying medium sized hardware producers and dealers. One of the city's oldest companies, once a small carpet manufacturer in the industrial Barmen district, is now an international distributor of household goods and cosmetics: Vorwerk. Further important trade sectors in Wuppertal are mechanical engineering and, surprisingly perhaps, publishing.
On the subject of mechanical engineering, no description of Wuppertal could possibly be considered complete without reference to the city's greatest feat of metalwork: the Schwebebahn, or 'hovering railway'. Running the full length of the city, often straddling the river, the Schwebebahn is the perfect answer to the challenges of mass transit in an urban area surrounded by steep hills. The rails hang in mid-air, suspended from metal arch supports, with the train wheels on the roof of the carriages. Because there is nothing below the carriages, passengers have the impression of hovering, floating along the valley. Stations, often built in mock medieval style, sit above the streets and wherever you are in Wuppertal, the odd rumble of these airborne trains is never far away: a truly unique transport experience hidden in provincial Germany. Indeed, some visitors, as well as residents, have even been known to ride the full length of the railway just for the fun of it.

Overview of the universities

Bergische Universität Wuppertal
Wuppertal uni Perched on the southern wall of the Wupper valley, the Bergische Universität certainly lives up to its name, which literally means 'mountainous', but in fact refers to the rural region south of Wuppertal: the 'Bergische Land' serves as a sort of catchment area for the University, which has been taking in students since 1972. Currently, 14,000 people are pursuing a course of study at Wuppertal, with large contingents taking sports science and German studies. A wide range of subjects is available for study, though, with sociology and psychology being particular strong-points.
The aesthetic of the University, however, is certainly no strong-point. The buildings were erected primarily during the seventies, and it shows: their dark concrete and monumental size, when viewed whilst approaching the campus from the valley floor, can appear quite forbidding. Inside, however, a modern, bright University awaits those who make the steep climb, with a recently refurbished student bar and terrace offering superb views of the Wupper valley. The campus itself is surprisingly green, bordered as it is on three sides by a park; further, the new sports science building, as well as some nicely designed student flats, should do something to rescue the University from true architectural purgatory.
One major advantage resulting from the controversial seventies architecture, however, is that the main University building was designed with an overarching scheme in mind. Rooms, floors and corridors are numbered according to a system that, although cryptic to the outsider, allows staff and students to navigate the University with amazing ease.
Furthermore, the main campus is easily accessible on foot from the city centre - albeit provided a certain level of cardiovascular fitness. For those with less energy, or bags bursting with books, there is a bus service three times in the hour; the other two satellite locations belonging to the University are also quite accessible - indeed, the Haspel Campus is right next to a Schwebebahn stop.

What Wuppertal is like

Wuppertal, Photo: Flickr (cc) knips2oo7(Rainer) Mila Flinkenflugel is studying Psychology at the Bergische Universität. Originally from Borken, a small town close to the Dutch border, Mila has grown to like both the University and the City.

What do you like best about studying in Wuppertal?

The fact that it isn't an anonymous university. Our professors know us personally and sometimes even come for a drink with us. On campus, you're always bound to run into someone you know, and the new bar is a great place to meet after lectures. The mix between different subjects is good, too. Discussion doesn't get boring, especially since the University is starting to actively recruit students from abroad. Nevertheless, foreign students considering studying at Wuppertal would do well to get in touch with the student council for their subject directly. University bureaucracy can be a little slow around here, and it sure helps to have a contact who is actually on campus.

Did Wuppertal meet your expectations?

Wuppertal as a city is nice for students. Although lots of people commute into the University from the surrounding towns and go home after lectures, the Elberfeld district around Campus is still a typical student area - lots of fun flatshares and nice little bars. Down in the city centre, there's plenty of cultural stuff going on, especially in terms of music and theatre, as well as some interesting industrial museums. And did I mention the Schwebebahn? Speaking of which, there's something really cool about having a large city spread out along a valley. Each area is slightly different, like a city within a city. Take the Louisenviertel, for example, a lovely area full of shops and cafés.

What's your favorite spot?

My personal recommendation: Café Crème, situated at the western end of the Louisenviertel, is where I like to take it slow on the weekend. The décor, the staff, the people: it's all very comfy and friendly. Also, with the amount of plants in there, it's a bit like being in a jungle. The prices are not low, but the coffees are generous and, above all, delicious.

And what do you do when you've drunk enough coffee and a ready for a change of scene?

Well, you hop on the Schwebebahn, of course! Always a good way to kill a few minutes in an agreeable manner.

Did you know?

Wuppertal is the stairway to heaven! Well, not quite: but if the city's 469 registered stairways, totalling over 12,000 steps, were placed in a line, you could probably climb half the way there. One of the most famous flights of stairs in the city is the Tippen-Tappen-Tönchen, an onomatopoetic name recalling the noise the hordes of industrial workers used to make climbing it everyday when returning to the Ölberg, one of Germany's largest purpose-built workers' housing projects in the nineteenth century.

Things to check out

In terms of industrial places of interest like Ölberg, Wuppertal is a fascinating city. One of the first areas in Germany to industrialise, Wuppertal benefited from the river Wupper, which gave easy access to energy, and later from its nearness to the coal riches of the Ruhr area. This story is told in the Friedrich Engels House, where Marx's co-author was born in 1820.
Indeed, in the next valley South at Cronenburg, one of the water mills that drove early industrialisation has been preserved in full working order. Further South, industry fans will find even more by way of museums and monuments to the achievements of the 19th century: the city of Solingen, for a long while Germany's leading producer of steel, is only 30 minutes away by train or bus
Just a short walk around Wuppertal is enough to see some of the fine architecture on which a substantial chunk of the industrialists' money was spent. As well as the several period townhouses and the impressive neoclassical Stadthalle, there is the Von-der-Heydt Museum, whose fine art collection was financed primarily by the wealthy industrial families of the time.
Wuppertal is also very well known for its zoo, with over 5000 different species. Set in a charming, wooded landscape, it would be easy to forget when wondering amongst the big cats and monkeys that you were in urban North Western Germany. Well, until a Schwebebahn rumbles overhead, of course.

What's happening?

Once you've had your fun hovering up and down the valley, you might want to actually get off the Schwebebahn and explore Wuppertal. The city centre is in the Elberfeld district, only a short walk downhill (!) from the University, and is compact, with all the usual shops, cafés and restaurants. A short promenade along the river followed by some food on Herzogstraße is a good plan.
In the afternoon, you might want to get on the trolley buses and ride out towards Solingen and the 'Bergisches Land'. There, you'll find hills and forests, traditional slate houses with white and green fittings ('Schieferhäuser') and, more to the point, traditional restaurants serving the 'Bergische Kaffeetafel'. This consists of a copious spread of rice pudding, jams, freshly-cooked waffles and, as the name suggests, coffee, served charmingly from an ornate ceremonial pot.
If you feel the need to work all of those calories off afterwards, the 'Bergisches Land' provides plenty of nice steep climbs: just don't wear flip-flops in the summer! Renting a bike is, of course, an even more challenging way to take a look at the surrounding countryside.
You'll want to be back in Wuppertal before dark, though, so that you can get out on the town. You might want to get started down in Barmen, towards the eastern end of the valley, at the Wuppertal brewery. Unlike in neighbouring Düsseldorf, or Cologne further south, there's no one beer to the exclusion of all others here, so you can have fun trying the various different brews: clear, cloudy, light, dark - let your taste buds run wild.
In the evening, you might want to run wild yourself. Die Börse, Live Club Barmen - there are several spots strewn along the valley that might be worth a look. Having said that, Wuppertal is not a clubbing capital like nearby Düsseldorf, and the best parties are the one's you get told about when you live there. Then again, with the S-Bahn running all night, you could always go and check out the party scene in Düsseldorf.