Leverkusen, city (1994 pop. 161,760), North Rhine-Westphalia, W Germany, on the Rhine River. It is an industrial center and a road and rail junction. Manufactures include chemicals, pharmaceuticals, photographic film, machinery, and textiles. There is a noted chemical-research library in the city.

Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the eastern bank of the Rhine, half way between Cologne and Düsseldorf. Population: 161,342 (2005). The city of Leverkusen is a product of economic growth in the Rhine-Ruhr region. It was rural area until the late 19th century. The present city is made up of several villages, originally called Wiesdorf, Opladen, Schlebusch, Lützenkirchen, Steinbüchel, Rheindorf and Bergisch-Neukirchen. Wiesdorf, dating back to the 12th century, was chosen by the apothecary Carl Leverkus for establishing a dye factory in 1860. The factory was taken over by the Bayer company in 1891. The company moved its office to Wiesdorf in 1912, turning the town into the centre of German chemical industry.

Leverkusen was founded in 1930 by merging Wiesdorf, Schlebusch, Steinbüchel and Rheindorf. In 1975, Opladen (including Lützenkirchen since 1930), Hitdorf and Bergisch Neukirchen joined. Today the town is home of the football club Bayer Leverkusen.

Main sights and places of interest

• BayArena - Leverkusen's multifunctional football stadium
• Bayer Cross Leverkusen - one of the largest illuminated advertisements in the world
• Schloss-Morsbroich - moated castle in the baroque style
• Water Tower Leverkusen-Bürrig - 72.45 metres high water reservoir containing an observation deck
• Neuland Park - large park beside the Rhine
• Japanese Garden - A beautiful garden created by Carl Duisberg at 1923.
• Bayer Media Cladding - Until 2009 will arise the world biggest Media Cladding next to the Carl Duisberg Park

Twinned cities

Leverkusen is twinned with several cities across Europe and throughout the rest of the world. These include:

• Oulu, Finland, since 1968
• Bracknell Forest, United Kingdom, since 1973
• Ljubljana, Slovenia, since 1979
• Nazareth-Illit, Israel, since 1980
• Chinandega, Nicaragua, since 1986
• Schwedt, Germany, since 1989
• Racibórz, Poland, since 2002
• Villeneuve d'Ascq, France, since 2005

Notable people

• Jörg Bergmeister, racing driver
• Bärbel Dieckmann, politician
• Danny Ecker, athlete
• Hans Kühne, plant manager of IG Farben's (Bayer) plant in Leverkusen during World War II, acquitted of crimes against humanity in the IG Farben Trial
• Dietmar Mögenburg, athlete
• Detlef Schrempf, former NBA basketball player
• Felix Sturm, middleweight boxer
• Wolf Vostell, painter
• Werner Wenning, chairman of the board of Bayer AG

References

Literature

• Blaschke, Stefan (1999): Unternehmen und Gemeinde: Das Bayerwerk im Raum Leverkusen 1891-1914 Cologne: SH-Verlag, ISBN 3-89498-068-0 (german)
• Archive of Leverkusen (2005): Leverkusen. Geschichte einer Stadt am Rhein. Bielefeld: Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, ISBN 3-89534-575-X (german)
• Franz Gruß (1987): Geschichte und Porträt der Stadt Leverkusen. Leverkusen: Verlag Anna Gruß, ISBN 393047803X (german)

External links

• Leverkusen Official website of the city
• Leverkusen