Düsseldorf () is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the seventh-largest city in Germany, with a 2025 population of 619,444. Most of Düsseldorf lies on the right bank of the Rhine, and the city has grown together with Neuss, Krefeld, Hilden, Langenfeld, Ratingen, Meerbusch, Dormagen, Erkrath, Solingen, and Monheim. Düsseldorf is the central city of Rhine-Ruhr, the second-biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union, which stretches from Bonn via Cologne and Düsseldorf to the Ruhr.
Düsseldorf began as a small settlement at the mouth of the Düssel River, gaining city rights in 1288 after the Battle of Worringen. In the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, it grew into a regional political and cultural centre under the Dukes of Berg and later as the capital of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. The 17th and 18th centuries saw flourishing arts and architecture, with Düsseldorf becoming known for its court culture and early art academy. During the Napoleonic era, it was briefly part of the Grand Duchy of Berg before coming under Prussian control in 1815, where it industrialised rapidly in the 19th century. During the 20th century, Düsseldorf developed into one of Germany's most important centres for administration, business, and culture. In 1946, it became the capital of the newly created state of North Rhine-Westphalia, strengthening its political role.
Düsseldorf is classified as a GaWC Alpha- world city. It is an international business and financial centre, known for its fashion and trade fairs, and is headquarters to two Fortune Global 500 (Uniper and Metro) and three DAX companies (Rheinmetall, Henkel and GEA). Messe Düsseldorf organises nearly one-fifth of premier trade shows. Düsseldorf Airport is Germany's fourth-busiest airport, serving as the main international hub for the Ruhr, Germany's largest urban area. Mercer's 2023 Quality of Living survey ranked Düsseldorf the tenth most livable city in the world.
There are 22 institutions of higher education in the city including the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, the university of applied sciences (Hochschule Düsseldorf), the academy of arts (Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, whose members include Joseph Beuys, Emanuel Leutze, August Macke, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, and Andreas Gursky), and the university of music (Robert-Schumann-Musikhochschule Düsseldorf). The city is also known for its influence on electronic/experimental music (Kraftwerk) and its Japanese community. As the second-largest city of the Rhineland, Düsseldorf holds Rhenish Carnival celebrations in February and March, which rank as the third most prominent in Germany after those of Cologne and Mainz.2010 survey by Jones Lang LaSalle ; accessed 8 December 2014.
Etymology
The name is derived from the small river Düssel, which joins the Rhine at the city's location. The suffix (German for "village") reflects the original character of the settlement as a fishing and farming community on the riverbanks. Thus, the literal meaning of Düsseldorf is "village on the Düssel."
As the settlement expanded and developed into a regional and later international centre, the name remained unchanged. Düsseldorf is unusual among Germany's major cities in having retained the suffix, which is otherwise mostly associated with small villages.
In the Limburgish language, called , the city is called .
History
Early development When the Roman Empire was strengthening its position throughout Europe, a few Germanic tribes clung on in marshy territory off the eastern banks of the Rhine.Weidenhaupt, Hugo: Kleine Geschichte der Stadt Düsseldorf, Triltsch-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1979; . In the 7th and 8th centuries, the odd farming or fishing settlement could be found at the point where the small river Düssel flows into the Rhine. It was from such settlements that the city of Düsseldorf grew.
The first mention of Düsseldorf dates from 1135 to 1159; in 1162 it was referred to as . Under Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa the small town of Kaiserswerth to the north of Düsseldorf became a well-fortified outpost, where soldiers kept a watchful eye on every movement on the Rhine. Kaiserswerth eventually became a suburb of Düsseldorf in 1929.
Duchy of Berg
In 1186, Düsseldorf came under the rule of the County of Berg, a state of the Holy Roman Empire. Around 1206, the settlement was likely separated from the parish of Bilk and became an independent parish. In 1263, the Count of Berg granted ferry rights to the inhabitants.
14 August 1288 is one of the most important dates in the history of Düsseldorf, the day the sovereign Count Adolf VIII of Berg granted town privileges to the village on the banks of the Düssel. Before this, a bloody struggle for power had taken place between the Archbishop of Cologne and his allies arrayed against the count of Berg and other local powers, culminating in the Battle of Worringen. The Archbishop of Cologne's forces were wiped out by the forces of the count of Berg, who were supported by citizens and farmers of Cologne and Düsseldorf, paving the way for Düsseldorf's elevation to city status, which is commemorated today by a monument on the Burgplatz.
After this battle the relationship between Cologne and Düsseldorf deteriorated, because they were commercial rivals; it is often said that there is a kind of hostility between the citizens of Cologne and Düsseldorf. Today, it finds its expression mainly in a humorous form (especially during the Rhineland Karneval) and in sports.
In the first century following its founding, Düsseldorf developed only slowly. It was not until the rule of William II of Berg, who became Duke in 1380, that the town experienced significant growth. He expanded Düsseldorf by establishing a new town, increasing its area to about 22.5 hectares. William also enlarged the ducal palace and commissioned the construction of stone fortifications around the entire settlement. During the following centuries several famous landmarks were built, including the . In 1609, the ducal line of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg died out, and after a violent struggle over succession, Jülich and Berg fell to the Wittelsbach Counts of Palatinate-Neuburg, who made Düsseldorf their main domicile.
Under the art-loving Johann Wilhelm II (r. 1690–1716), a vast art collection comprising numerous paintings and sculptures was established in the (city palace). After his death, the city fell on hard times again, especially after Elector Charles Theodore inherited Bavaria and moved the electoral court to Munich. With him he took the art collection, which became part of what is now the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.
Destruction and poverty struck Düsseldorf after the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon made Berg a Grand Duchy and Düsseldorf its capital. In 1806, Joachim Murat (1767–1815) became Grand Duke of Berg but handed power over to Napoleon in 1808. Düsseldorf was visited by Napoleon in November 1811. Johann Devaranne, a leader of Solingen's resistance to Napoleon's conscription decrees, was executed in the city in 1813.
Prussia
Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the Rhineland including Düsseldorf was incorporated into the Kingdom of Prussia. Düsseldorf lost its status as a capital, but became the seat of a regional governor and of the Rhenish established in 1824. In 1820, the city lost its municipal independence and was incorporated into the District of Düsseldorf, to which it belonged until 1872.
In the first half of the 19th century Düsseldorf earned the nickname "City of Art and Gardens." Prominent painters such as Peter von Cornelius and Wilhelm von Schadow, composers including Friedrich August Burgmüller, Felix Mendelssohn, and Robert Schumann, and writers like Karl Leberecht Immermann and Christian Dietrich Grabbe shaped Düsseldorf’s cultural life.
During the period of industrialisation, Düsseldorf benefited from its favourable location on the Rhine, its proximity to the Ruhr region, opportunities to expand into the surrounding areas, and its connection to various railway lines. From the 1850s onwards, numerous industrial enterprises, particularly in the iron, steel, and chemical industries, settled in Düsseldorf, greatly increasing the demand for labour. The city also developed into a centre for associations, trade unions, and corporate headquarters, growing into an important industrial and commercial city by the end of the 19th century. Düsseldorf’s population grew from 40,000 in 1850 to 100,000 in 1882. In 1908 and 1909, the partially industrialised towns of Wersten, Gerresheim, Eller, Heerdt, Himmelgeist, Ludenberg, Rath, Stockum, and Vennhausen were incorporated into the city.
During World War I, the Royal Naval Air Service (RNS) undertook the first Entente strategic bombing missions on 22 September 1914, when it bombed the Zeppelin bases in Düsseldorf.; As both a garrison town and an armaments centre, Düsseldorf was particularly affected by the war.
After the war, the city was occupied by Belgian and British forces after 1918 and by French troops from 1921 to 1925. In 1920, Düsseldorf became the centre of the General Strike that grew out of the resistance to the Kapp Putsch. On 15 April 1920, 45 delegates of the German Miners Union were murdered by the Freikorps.Birchall, Ian H./Pierre Broué/Brian Pearce, The German Revolution 1917–1923, p. 278.
World War II
During World War II, Düsseldorf was the location of a Nazi prison with several forced labour subcamps, five subcamps of the Buchenwald concentration camp for mostly Polish and Soviet prisoners, but also French, Dutch, Belgian, Czech, Italian, Yugoslav, and a camp for Sinti and Romani people (see Romani Holocaust). The Rabbi of the Düsseldorf Jewish Community fled to the Netherlands and died in KZ Auschwitz in 1943.
The city was a target of strategic bombing during World War II, particularly during the RAF bombing campaign in 1943 when over 700 bombers were used in a single night. Raids continued late into the war. As part of the campaign against German oil facilities, the RAF raid of 20–21 February 1945 on the Rhenania Ossag refinery in the Reisholz district of the city halted oil production there.
The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Düsseldorf in mid-April 1945. The United States 97th Infantry Division easily captured the city on 18 April 1945,Stanton, Shelby, World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946 (Revised Edition, 2006), Stackpole Books, p. 174. after the local German Resistance group launched Aktion Rheinland.
German Federal Republic
Düsseldorf was incorporated into the British occupation zone on 21 June 1945. In 1946, Düsseldorf was made capital of the newly established state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The establishment of ministries and the state parliament gave the city an important political role that it retains to the present day.
The immediate postwar decades were marked by reconstruction. Much of the old town and city centre was rebuilt, though partly in modernist forms rather than historical replicas. Düsseldorf emerged as a key economic hub during the ("economic miracle") of the 1950s and 1960s, attracting industries such as steel, machinery, chemicals, and banking. From the 1960s onwards, the city developed into one of Germany’s most important centres for trade fairs and international business. The Messe Düsseldorf became a leading venue for global exhibitions.