ProWein 2014: Things to do in Düsseldorf

ProWein is big enough and boasts enough of its own activities to keep you more than busy for a week, if it went on that long.

If, however, you desperately need a break from all that tasting, and perhaps if you’ve never been to Düsseldorf before, you should get out and explore the city.

Be warned, Düsseldorf is not a classically beautiful German city but it does still have a great many cultural attractions. Here is our list of the top six non-wine-related things to do there.

Additional Düsseldorf diversions include the Nordrhein-Westfalen parliament buildings, the Rheinturm (the Rhine Tower), the botanical gardens, Germany’s first high-rise building, the ARAG-Tower, designed by Sir Norman Foster, more art and film museums, churches and breweries. A flight extension might just be in order.

1. The Altstadt

Despite suffering carpet bombing at the hands of the Allies in the Second World War, like a great many German towns and cities Düsseldorf rebuilt its historic centre as it once was. Thirteenth-century churches, cafés, beer gardens, the opera house, museums and art galleries abound. The art link is particularly strong, as the city’s ruler in the 18th century, the Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm II, was cajoled by his wife, Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, into buying a great many artworks, especially Rubens. The original collection is now in Munich.

2. Media Harbour

Anyone with an architectural bent can spend a happy hour or so admiring the works of Frank Gehry, David Chipperfield, Joe Coenen, Steven Holl and Claude Vasconi, all of whom have contributed to the harbour area, the city’s commercial centre. And for those looking for a real culinary kick, try the Michelin-starred restaurant Berens am Kai.

3. Rhine walk

The Altstadt and Media Harbour are linked by a riverside walk along the Rhine. Lined with bars and cafés, it’s a good place to unwind, watch the shipping slip by and reflect on the coming day’s appointments.

4. Königsallee

Lined with chestnut trees and in the same league as the Champs-Elysées or Fifth Avenue, Königsallee boasts the city’s best hotels and most luxurious shops and restaurants.

5. Benrath palace and park

Commissioned by the Elector Carl Theodor von der Pfalz in 1755 and designed by his personal architect and garden designer, Nicolas de Pigage, the UNESCO world heritage site of Schloss Benrath was a maison de plaisance in the rococo style. It now houses three museums: the Naturkunde (Natural History), Gartenkunst (Landscape Gardening) and Corps de Logis (state apartments of the elector).

6. Kaiserswerth

Düsseldorf’s northernmost district, one of its oldest, holds the old castle of Kaiserswerth, one-time seat of the Holy Roman Emperors. Captured and recaptured by warring factions over the centuries, the fortifications were largely destroyed in 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession.

Florence Nightingale studied at the town’s clinic in 1850 and wrote her first published work, “The Institution of Kaiserswerth on the Rhine, for the Practical Training of Deaconesses”, as a result.