Düsseldorf on the Rhine: a walkable, small-town-feeling city break in Germany
During my time as a student in the quaint, historic town of Heidelberg, Germany, we snooty students dismissed the industrial area along the Rhine River to the north, including Düsseldorf. Compared to Heidelberg’s quaint, narrow alleys and the hilltop castle towering over the Old Town, this was a region we saw and imagined only as one filled with smog, too many autobahns, unfriendly coal and steel production, and lacking in green spaces and sights.
Maybe then, but no more, especially Düsseldorf!
I recently rediscovered this city on the Rhine, and my eyes opened wide. It’s a large city disguised as a small town—walkable, friendly, historic, charming, with a great riverfront, greenbelts, stunning architecture, and a Japantown with stores and restaurants that feel and smell like Tokyo.
I can’t wait to go back. I am still dreaming of the great Rhine River views from the city’s landmark Rhine Tower. I want to stroll the greenways along the river and take in the sunset. And boy, oh boy, do I dream about the creamy “umami” ramen soup and fresh, daily mochi in the so-called Little Tokyo.
Autobahn tunnel triggers urban revitalization
Residents call Düsseldorf the “10-minute city” because you can supposedly get most anywhere in the core in 10 minutes. What city of nearly 650,000 can say that? I walked everywhere!
The true catalyst for Düsseldorf’s urban renewal was the Rhine Tunnel, built in 1993. After extensive planning, the city dismantled the Bundesstrasse 1 highway along the riverside. This concrete highway, which handled 55,000 cars daily, had severed the city and its old town from the beautiful riverfront.
After that, everything started to steamroll: Düsseldorf has always been an industrial and trade center, but when the last coal mine in Germany near there closed in 2018, the air cleared, and the focus shifted purely to trade fairs, fashion, arts, and tourism. Today’s most prominent industries are financial and business – not that a visitor really perceives this suit-and-tie slant when puttering around the cobblestone streets of old town, sauntering along the riverfront promenade, taking in historic sights and the glam architecture in the “Media Harbor,” or poking around Little Tokyo’s shops and stores.
A little background: Düsseldorf is named after the tiny nearby river called “Düssel,” while “Dorf” in German means “village.” Tourism officials love to say it is the only big city that can claim to be a village. OK, so that doesn’t really translate, right? But Düsseldorf sits right on the Rhine River. So why not Rheindorf? Because, in the 1200s, there was already a town located about 16 miles south, called Rheindorf. Voilà, instead, Düsseldorf is born.
Eight hundred and some odd years later, the city has developed into a metropolis with any number of iconic symbols, and I didn’t want to miss a single one – neither will you on a visit. Other than hopping on a tram for expediency to get around a couple of times during my visit, feet are the way to go
City symbols from towers to cart wheelers
What city doesn’t love a towering symbol with great views? St. Louis has the arch, Paris has the Eiffel Tower, and Berlin has the TV Tower. Thus, Düsseldorf has its own reigning tower, the Rhine Tower (“Rheinturm”), which was completed in 1981. With a 551-foot-high observation deck, the tower also vast views of the riverfront and town. It also has a vertical digital 24-hour clock on the shaft that lights up at night. Granted, it takes some head-scratching to figure it out. (Tip: Read it from top to bottom with the top 2 sets representing the hour, the next two the minutes, and the last two the seconds, but you have to count the lights to come up with the time.) And the view from the observation deck and restaurant? Nothing short of spectacular. I could have dawdled a long time, just watching the shadows from people below flowing like a symphony.
As an official architecture freak, I was itching to visit the Media Harbor (“Mediahafen”). Eye-popping architecture really revs me up, and you get that in spades there. From a declining and largely abandoned industrial port has emerged a hub for international companies, including those in media and fashion, with some of the world’s top architects responsible for the buildings (Frank O. Gehry, David Chipperfield, Claude Vasconi, etc.). It all began in the 1990s -- perhaps you are getting a better feel for the revitalization timing: Once the ugly autobahn was torn down with traffic going underground, everything started to blossom in Düsseldorf.
I didn’t partake in the array of trendy hotels, bars, and clubs that now dot the Media Harbor area, but had my eye out for all the angles, curves, lines, and colors in the buildings, both modern and historic. I wandered all the corners and crossed the foot bridges that now connect all the thumbs of land in the harbor.
I already mentioned the visit-worthy Little Tokyo, but there is so much in this area that is mainly centered around a few blocks on all sides of Immermannstrasse. It was established when Japanese businesspeople began relocating to Düsseldorf to work for Japanese companies there after WWII. They brought their families. And they, of course, wanted a taste and feel of home. That’s when the district bloomed. I have never tasted ramen soup that was so slurpy-yummy (Try one of several Takumi outlets or the low-key Zero Banchi). Small boutiques offer delicate Japanese art, special tea varieties (drop into Kyoto by Japan Art Deco, which also carries an elegant selection of tea), and manga characters. And then there’s the mochi?!? Oh my, fresh daily at Aiko’s Mochi with traditional flavors such as red bean paste or green tea and a few modern ones like Oreo Cream Cheese and Tiramisu. Get there early. Go often. This is the best of Japan in Germany. I was so infatuated that I tried to take a few home. Sigh, that creamy, fluffy pillow of rice dough doesn’t age well. I guess I gotta go back.
Since Düsseldorf is renowned worldwide for its Löwensenf mustard, which has been produced there since 1920, I had to stop by the official Löwensenf store, conveniently located in the heart of Old Town. You really can’t miss it with the big decorative mustard pot in the front and a lion in the window (“Löwe” means “lion” in English and “Senf” means “mustard”). What mustard fan won’t enjoy perusing flavors beyond the traditional, such as coconut-curry, honey-dill, or red wine-plum. I tasted to my heart’s content, but particularly loved the darker, slightly spicy, traditional ABB style, which is usually not available outside of Germany.
Düsseldorf is also known for a very strong herbal liqueur called Killepitsch. OK, I like bitters, so I had to do as the locals do: Belly up to a little take-out window at the Killepitsch bar (Killepitschstube) in Old Town, order a couple of shots. Just pay and take away the little plastic shot glasses to meander the street. The way to drink this is the way Italians down an espresso: Toss back your head and throw it all down your throat in one big gulp. I tried a shot late one night – emphasis on LATE one night. It’s thick and black like motor oil, but somehow manages to be both cringe-worthy, bitter, and wow, uber-sweet. And the Düsseldorfers have been searing their insides with this stuff since 1858.
Walkable Old Town
After partaking in herbal liqueur that made my already curly hair curl even more, reveling in incredible views from the Rhine Tower, and eating more mochi than I should admit, I had to do a gander around the cobblestoned streets of Old Town.
Despite being a financially oriented city, the old town is quaint indeed. There are ancient castle towers, a church tower with a twisted shape, a statue of children cartwheeling (more on that in a sec), an historic riverside tide clock marked with high-water levels over time, and a musical clock. Then there is this hulking bronze monument that marks the 700th anniversary of the city’s founding (read on for more on that).
Düsseldorf’s city symbol is cartwheeling kids. It’s found everywhere, including on fountains and manhole covers. Although nobody is certain about its origins, this symbol appears to stem from a battle victory in 1288 that granted Düsseldorf the right to become a city, and children started cartwheeling in joy. At least that’s one of the stories I heard. In fully embracing its cartwheeling history, Düsseldorf has held an annual cartwheeling tournament in the city since 1937. When you walk about the city, keep an eye out for the cartwheeling symbol here, there, and everywhere.
Now, back to that large monument celebrating the city’s founding: In German, it is called “Stadterhebungsmonument” – yeah, yeah, I know, one of those tongue-twisting long words German is renowned for. Take a moment to explore the symbols in the hulking, detailed, and intricate bronze sculpture, ranging from skulls to city charters, swords, and soldiers. The monument by German sculptor Bert Gerresheim was unveiled in 1988 – take a few moments to ponder its parts.
If you’d like to take an easy 60-minute stroll around Old Town to see all this and more, download the PDF below from Visit Düsseldorf, which summarizes a tour that takes you past churches, city squares, and breweries that specialize in the town’s unique Altbier.
All that touring aside, the primary goal of my visit to Düsseldorf was to ride on a float in the huge annual carnival parade, renowned for skewering and satirizing global issues and political figures. Nobody is safe from the wicked wit of float creator Jacques Tilly, who has been designing a flotilla of paper mâché wagons for the Shrove Monday parade since 1983. Considering the no-holds-barred creations that take on the likes of Putin, Trump, and the Pope, I’m almost surprised he still lives to tell the tale.
I, too, lived to tell the tale of my ride on the Düsseldorf carnival float. Now, I need to get back to this city on the Rhine to stuff my face with more ramen and mochi.
— Story by Therese Iknoian. See more photos by Therese Iknoian here -- all available for purchase as gifts or just for you, as fine art prints or other keepsakes. Free Substack subscribers get 25% off any order, and paid supporters receive 50% off any order. For travel photography tips, visit our HI Travel Tales website.
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