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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.
The Altstadt claims fame as the ‘longest bar in the world’ but some focus has moved to Medienhafen, a redeveloped harbour area home to international avant-garde architecture. Older neighbourhoods are also evolving, including the now-hip Flingern and the vibrantly creative Unterbilk, especially along Lorettostrasse. And the new underground Wehrhahn line's six stations are an eye-catching blend of architecture, design and art.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Düsseldorf.
Museum
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 to relax and frolic in the late 18th century. Designed by Frenchman Nicolas de Pigage, the three-winged palace centres on the residential tract (Corps de Logis), where tours offer a glimpse of the elector’s lifestyle. Tours in English run at 3pm Tuesday to Sunday; tours in German are more frequent.
Museum
A stately 19th-century parliament building forms a fabulously dichotomous setting for the cutting-edge art of the K21 – a collection only showcasing works created after the 1980s. Large-scale film and video installations and groups of works share space with site-specific rooms by an international cast of artists including Andreas Gursky, Candida Höfer, Bill Viola and Nam June Paik.
Museum
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, Matisse and Mondrian and more than 100 paintings and drawings by Paul Klee. Americans represented include Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns. Düsseldorf's own Joseph Beuys has a major presence as well.
Architecture
Where sweat once dripped off dockland workers’ foreheads, creative minds now forge ad campaigns and newspaper headlines. The Medienhafen (Media Harbour) is Düsseldorf’s most spectacular urban revitalisation project, an old commercial harbour transformed by such architectural heavyweights as Richard Meier, Helmut Jahn and Claude Vasconi into a tableau of avant-garde buildings. Top billing goes to Frank Gehry’s Neuer Zollhof, a trio of sculptural high-rises sheathed in stainless steel, red brick and white plaster, respectively.
Museum
The Kunstpalast stages changing exhibitions drawn from its well-respected art collection and often presented in paradigm-shifting ways. As such, old masters may find themselves juxtaposed with modern iconoclasts and non-Western works to reveal unexpected connections between the ages and artistic trends. Concerts are held in the grand Robert Schumann Saal music hall.
Church
This early baroque church, built from 1622 to 1629, is drenched in fanciful white stucco. Six baroque saint sculptures from the original altar are integrated into the sanctuary. More religious art awaits in the treasury in the upstairs gallery. A great time to visit is for the free organ concert at 4.30pm on Sundays.
Museum
A short detour off the Rheinuferpromenade takes you to the Hetjens Museum, famous for its comprehensive survey of 8000 years of ceramic art from around the world. A German or English audioguide is available for €2.
Gallery
Young artists – many from the local art academy – get the nod in this underground exhibition space housed in a spectacularly adapted tunnel below the Rheinuferpromenade. The entrance is via a glass pavilion.
Gallery
For innovative artistic expression, head to the NRW-Forum Düsseldorf; it primarily deals in cutting-edge media, including digital art, and mounts zeitgeist-capturing exhibits that blur the boundaries between genres.