Düsseldorf

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Overview

Düsseldorf impresses with boundary-pushing architecture, zinging nightlife and an art scene to rival many higher-profile cities. It’s a posh and modern city that seems all buttoned-up business at first glance: banking, advertising, fashion and telecommunications are among the fields that have made North Rhine–Westphalia's capital one of Germany’s wealthiest cities. Yet all it takes is a few hours of bar-hopping around the Altstadt (the historical quarter along the Rhine) to realise that locals have no problem letting their hair down once they shed those Armani jackets.

01 / Attractions

Must-see attractions

K21 Ständehaus
Düsseldorf
A stately 19th-century parliament building forms a fabulously dichotomous setting for the cutting-edge art of the K21 – a collection only showcasing works…
K20 Grabbeplatz
Düsseldorf
A collection that spans the arc of 20th-century artistic vision gives the K20 an enviable edge in the art world. It encompasses major works by Picasso,…
Schloss Benrath
Düsseldorf
About 10km south of the city centre, Schloss Benrath is a park-and-palace ensemble where elector Carl Theodor, a man of deep pockets and good taste, came…
Medienhafen
Düsseldorf
Where sweat once dripped off dockland workers’ foreheads, creative minds now forge ad campaigns and newspaper headlines. The Medienhafen (Media Harbour)…
Rheinturm
Düsseldorf
Spearing the sky at the southern end of the Rheinuferpromenade, the Rheinturm, which is brilliantly lit at night, and has an observation deck at the 164m…
Museum Kunstpalast
Düsseldorf
The Kunstpalast stages changing exhibitions drawn from its well-respected art collection and often presented in paradigm-shifting ways. As such, old…
Heinrich Heine Institut
Düsseldorf
For a literary kick, swing by the Heinrich Heine Institut, where the 'Romanticism & Revolution' exhibit uses letters, portraits, first editions and…
Mahn-und Gedenkstätte Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Just west of the central Marktplatz, this memorial trains the spotlight on local persecution and resistance during the Third Reich. It reopened in 2015…