"Wuppertal - Ugly lovely town" a Wuppertal Travel Page by brummielaura

Wuppertal is one of those 'ugly, lovely towns' (that's what Dylan Thomas said of Swansea, of course). Or, as Nobel prize winner Heinrich Boell put it, 'Wuppertal doesn't put make-up on' (Wuppertal schminkt sich nicht).

It's a very industrial place, but you can find a lot of hidden pretty corners, if only you take your time to look!

Wuppertal has some 360,000 inhabitants.

The area has been populated since the Middle Ages, but the town of Wuppertal was only created in 1929, when the previously independent towns of Barmen, Elberfeld, Cronenberg, Ronsdorf, Vohwinkel and Beyenburg were joined together to make up the new town. Some cynics talk about a 'forced marriage', and even today a little bit of friction is left, especially between Barmen and Elberfeld.

Life is centered around the river Wupper (Wuppertal literally means 'valley of the Wupper).

The list of famous 'Wuppertaler' includes: Johann Carl Fuhlrott (discovered the Neanderthaler), Friedrich Engels (chum of Karl Marx), Else Lasker-Schueler (expressionist poet), Johannes Rau (8th president of the Federal Republic of Germany), Tom Tykwer (film director, eg. 'Run, Lola, Run' and 'Perfume').

Wuppertal is most famous for the Schwebebahn, which is a suspension railway that is over 100 years old. The route stretches over 13 km along (or rather, above) the river Wupper.

In 1950, a circus decided to take one of their baby elephants for a ride on the Schwebebahn - for publicity! However, Tuffi the elephant panicked and jumped out of the carriage into the river Wupper. Luckily, she survived!

Yes, this really is a true story!