North Rhine-Westphalia Travel Guide

Contents
1. Introduction 2. History 3. Tourist Map 4. Places to Visit 4.1 Eifel 4.2 Rhine Valley 4.3 Westphalia

Cathedral of Cologne.

Introduction

North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen in German) is the most populous and most economically important state in Germany. The state was formed in 1946 by the merger of the Prussian provinces of northern Rhineland and Westphalia.

With a a population of 18,033,000 inhabitants, North Rhine-Westphalia would be the fifth most populous country in Western Europe, after France, the UK, Italy and Spain. The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, which occupies most of the North Rhineland section of the state, is the main population centre with over 11 million inhabitants. It comprises among others the cities of Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Mönchengladbach, Duisburg, Essen and Dortmund. Its population density is a staggering 1,422 inhabitants per km² (3,684/sq mi), 3.5 times more than the (already packed) neighbouring Netherlands and Belgium, and over 4 times the German average.

North Rhine-Westphalia has a surface area of 34,084 km², just in between that of Belgium and the Netherlands, and scarcely bigger than the U.S. state of Maryland.

Before the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, what is now North Rhine-Westphalia was composed of the Free Imperial City of Aachen, the Duchy of Jülich, the Duchy of Kleve, the Archbishopric of Cologne, the Free Imperial City of Dortmund, the Duchy of Berg, the County of Mark, the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, the Duchy of Westphalia, and the Bishopric of Paderborn.

Many famous German beers are brewed in North Rhine-Westphalia, including Dortmunder Export, Kölsch, König, Krombacher, Veltins, and Warsteiner (Germany's largest privately owned brewery).

Famous people from North Rhine-Westphalia include (chronologically): the composer Ludwig van Beethoven, the poet Heinrich Heine, the industrialist Alfred Krupp, the social scientist and political theorist Friedrich Engels, the physicist Wilhelm Röntgen, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, the F1 driver Michael Schumacher, the model Claudia Schiffer, and the model and actress Heidi Klum.

History of North Rhine-Westphalia

The region that comprises modern North Rhine-Westphalia boasts a rich tapestry of human settlement stretching back to prehistoric times, most famously evidenced by the discovery of Neanderthal remains just outside Düsseldorf. In ancient times, the territories west of the Rhine were inhabited by Celtic tribes including the Eburones, whom Julius Caesar identified as "Germani cisrhenani" around 55 BCE, before his systematic conquest incorporated the region into the Roman Empire as part of Gallia Belgica. The Roman occupation lasted approximately 500 years until 459-461 CE, during which time the area was reorganised as the province of Lower Germania (Germania inferior) around 85 CE, with the magnificent Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium—modern Cologne—serving as the provincial capital and seat of the Roman governor. Germanic tribes such as the Ubii, Sugambri, Usipeti, and Tencteri populated the eastern banks of the Rhine, frequently under pressure from the migrating Suebi, and these groups would eventually succeed Roman rule when the Franks captured Cologne in the 5th century. The province experienced considerable prosperity from the end of the 1st century, witnessed by Trajan's foundation of Colonia Ulpia Traiana near Xanten around 100 CE and the construction of the impressive Eifel aqueduct to supply Cologne with water.

During the medieval period, the region evolved into a complex patchwork of ecclesiastical and secular territories within the Holy Roman Empire, with Aachen achieving particular significance as the coronation site for 31 Holy Roman Emperors who were crowned Kings of the Germans. The Rhineland became integral to the Holy Roman Empire under Otto I, whilst Westphalia was elevated to ducal status by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1180, with the newly created Duchy of Westphalia being granted to the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne and lasting until its secularisation in 1803. The region's political fragmentation intensified over time as central imperial authority weakened, creating numerous smaller territories that nevertheless remained centres of German culture and progress. The area gained immense historical importance during the devastating Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), when the Westphalian cities of Münster and Osnabrück hosted the prolonged peace negotiations that culminated in the Peace of Westphalia on 24 October 1648. This momentous treaty not only ended one of Europe's most destructive conflicts but also established fundamental principles of international law and state sovereignty that continue to underpin the modern international system. The Napoleonic era brought dramatic upheaval as French forces dissolved the Holy Roman Empire and reorganised the region under the Confederation of the Rhine from 1806, with much of traditional Westphalia being assigned to the Grand Duchy of Berg, whilst Napoleon created an artificial Kingdom of Westphalia for his brother Jérôme with its capital at Kassel.

The modern state of North Rhine-Westphalia emerged from the post-Second World War reconstruction of Germany, when the British military administration implemented "Operation Marriage" on 23 August 1946, amalgamating the former Prussian provinces of Westphalia and the northern Rhine Province into a single territorial unit. This artificial union brought together two culturally distinct regions that had come under Prussian control following the Congress of Vienna in 1814-15, when Prussia was awarded most of the Rhineland as compensation for territorial losses elsewhere and established the Rhine Province in 1824. The new state was further enlarged on 21 January 1947 with the incorporation of the former Free State of Lippe, and its constitution was subsequently ratified through a popular referendum. The region's significance grew dramatically during Germany's post-war division when Bonn, located in North Rhine-Westphalia, served as the federal capital of West Germany from 1949 until reunification in 1990, and continued as the seat of government until 1999 when the capital functions transferred to Berlin. The late 19th and early 20th centuries had already transformed the area into the world's most heavily industrialised region, particularly the densely populated Ruhr valley, which became the powerhouse of German industrial development and remains a vital economic centre today. This remarkable historical journey from ancient Roman frontier province through medieval fragmentation and Napoleonic reorganisation to modern federal state reflects the region's enduring importance as a crossroads of European civilisation and political development.