Dusseldorf
This town will turn your world upside down, writes ROSAMUND BRENNA
CARTWHEELING is the most popular pastime in Dusseldorf. Yes, you heard correctly. Statues of cartwheeling children spring up from the pavement throughout the city.
There’s a dedicated cartwheeling area on the promenade next to the Rhine, just in case you feel like a quick tumble over on your morning walk. And the annual Radschlag-Turnier – a tournament dedicated to the humble gymnastic manoeuvre – has been around since the mid-1900s.
Comical as it may sound, perhaps you’d be cartwheeling too if you lived in Dusseldorf. Here, the curved outlines of its award-winning architecture twirl triumphantly upwards to the sky, reflected in the glittering blue surface of the Rhine. Its immaculate streets are coated with colourful pre-war buildings, and there’s enough museums, galleries, theatres, couture boutiques and concept stores to please even the most cultured travellers – bearing witness to Düsseldorf’s international reputation as a city of art and fashion.
The locals here speak about their city as if it’s their own cordoned off utopia, and after spending a day cruising around the Pearl on the Rhine, I have to agree. It’s one of those few destinations where the reality outshines its reputation, and setting foot in it for the first time feels like a thrilling discovery.
HIT THE HIGH STREET
“Fashion is part of Düsseldorf’s DNA,” says our guide, Krista, leading us on to Konigsallee, which dissects the centre of town. “In 1949, the city hosted the world’s first fashion fair for retailers, and now plays host to five major fashion fairs each year.”
Translating to King’s road, Konigsallee is the widest boulevard in the country and is known as Germany’s answer to the Paris Champs-Élysées. Prada, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, you’ll find just about every prestigious international label here – plus a number of local German designers too. But it’s not just the sparkling shopfronts that evoke the famous Parisian boulevard.
The buildings are impeccably preserved, skirted with bright green lawns and manicured flowerbeds, with a tranquil, tree-lined canal running through its centre.
The people who trot up and down “the Ko” are stylish in a relaxed, understated way. As Krista explains, “You’ll notice there’s an elegance that runs through the city – personal style is very important here.”
To emulate their style, check out Semi-Couture, featuring premium women’s apparel by German fashion designer Thomas Rath, who previously worked for Mulberry, Jil Sander and Escada. Or experience the city’s thriving Japanese influence at local designer Tina Miyake’s self-titled store, featuring beautiful knitted and woven fabrics, vintage kimonos, long dresses with apron-style belts, and asymmetric Merino dresses. The store is emblematic of the celebrated cultural influence of Düsseldorf’s Japanese population (more than 11,000 at last count, one third of London’s).
MEANDER THROUGH THE ALTSTADT
“They call Dusseldorf the 10-minute city, because everything is an easy 10 minutes from Central Station,” says Krista as we veer off Konigsallee towards the Altstadt (old town) – a buzzing square kilometre packed with nightlife, food and culture.
Compared to German cities like Berlin and Dresden, which were devastated in WWII, Dusseldorf was largely spared – nearby Cologne bore the brunt of Allied bombings – so it offers an old-world, postcard-perfect aesthetic other German cities lack.
“See these gas street lamps along the street’s edge,” Krista says, pointing to the ornate, goldrimmed, glass structures which proudly mount the sidewalk. “There are almost 16,000 in Dusseldorf. In fact, it’s the largest urban area covered by gas lamps in the whole world – with some dating back to the 1850s. The local government tried to take them down a few years ago and everyone protested. People really appreciate heritage and beauty here.”
And the city brims with art galleries too, with the major Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, the innovative NRW-Forum, the venerable Museum Kunstpalast and the Filmmuseum all within strolling distance.
But of course, people don’t just come to the Altstadt for the architecture and art. Thanks to its concentration of almost 300 wine bars, cocktail lounges, breweries and clubs, the Altstadt has earned the moniker of the “longest bar in the world”. Roll in on a Friday evening to see the atmosphere really hit its peak, with live music, street performances and locals enjoying their “Freitag feierabend” (a German colloquialism for Friday after-work drinks).
THE ARCHITECTURAL MILE
Folding up pieces of paper doesn’t sound like the start of a multi-award winning artwork. But in fact, it’s how one of Düsseldorf’s most celebrated landmarks was conceived.
The building in question is The Rheinhafen
Centre of Arts and Media and the architect is Frank Gehry, known for designing buildings by crumpling up a piece of paper and setting welders to work. Built in 1999, the property consists of three contrasting buildings, the undulating facade of each lending them the appearance of giant sculptures, while the stainless-steel exterior of the middle building reflects the white plaster and red brick facades of its counterparts.
Gehry’s masterpiece, which has become Düsseldorf’s emblem of sorts, sits among an assortment of gleaming modern buildings in the Medien Hafen (media harbour) – titled as such thanks to the hundreds of start-ups, advertising and media companies which call the harbour home.
The former docklands is also referred to as the “architectural mile”, with Gehry joined by fellow luminaries David Chipperfield, Joe Coenen, Steven Holl and Claude Vasconi, who were each given a blank canvas to add to the city’s skyline.
Echoing the magnificence of Medien Hafen’s built environment is the dining, with a premier league of culinary experiences dotted around the harbour edge. Particularly exquisite is Michelin-starred Berens am Kai, known for creative German-inspired cuisine including the “most golden” curry sausage in Dusseldorf plus a 600-strong wine list.
Also worth checking out is DOX at the Hyatt Regency, which looks back over the harbour towards the Altstadt, offering arguably the most spectacular view in all of Dusseldorf. After a meal of contemporary, locally sourced Europe
an cuisine, head to Pebble’s Bar, the Hyatt’s famed terrace. Perched on the furthest tip of the harbour and featuring a remarkable pebbleshaped sculptural installation, it hosts open-air parties throughout the summer season.
FROM SUCH GREAT HEIGHTS
After a day crisscrossing the city, inspecting it from almost every vantage point, it might be time to get a little perspective. From 168m up, that is. For €9 (about $14) a person, take the lift up to Rhine Tower’s observation deck, one of Düsseldorf’s most iconic landmarks. Designed by German architect H. Dielmann and built in 1979, from afar it looks almost like a flying saucer, hovering above a giant concrete block. But from inside, it’s much different. The chorus of the street is dulled to a low hum and the buildings are dwarfed to dolls’ houses, while antsized humans zip around on bicycles.
But what strikes me perhaps the most is just how green the city is. “Dusseldorf is more than 57 per cent green space,” Krista tells us, pointing out the 28ha Hofgarten, the city’s oldest public park. “And see that section of white, just over there on the edge of the Rhine? It’s sort of hard to make out from up here, but it’s a flock of sheep and goats grazing on a meadow.”
They call it “city grazing”, Krista says. Sheep or goats are used to clear brush in areas that people or machines cannot easily reach, helping to restore soil fertility and eliminating the need or toxic herbicides. “Whenever I see the sheep, it reminds me of how connected we are to our rural past. Dusseldorf is one of Germany’s wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities – but there is this longing for nature and a slow pace of life that makes it so special.”
From up here, all of the city spans out below until it fades into the nothingness of the horizon: the Media Harbour, Königsallee, the Altstadt and Rhine with its numerous bridges lie at the foot of Rhine Tower. You can even just make out the spires of Cologne Cathedral in the distance. And perhaps a few cartwheeling kids on the pavement below, if you look really closely. It all makes sense from up here.