The Northern Rhineland, or short North Rhine called, is one of the two historical parts of the country that made up the state in 1945 North Rhine-Westphalia was formed (in 1946 the much smaller Land Lippe was added as the third part). The lower one is formative and eponymous Medium- and Lower Rhinethat flows through this area. North Rhine was formed from the northern parts of the former Proßischen Rheinprovinz, while the southern parts too Rhineland-Palatinate came.
Even if a common North Rhine-Westphalian identity has developed in some respects, especially in the area of Ruhr area the boundary is largely blurred, there are still noticeable differences in landscape, culture, language and - as many believe - the mentality of the people. Politically, the part of the country lives in the form of Regional Association of Rhineland (LVR), which maintains numerous institutions, especially museums and clinics.
Regions
The travel regions of the northern Rhineland are:
- Lower Rhine
- southwestern part of the Ruhr area
- Bergisches Land
- Cologne Bay
- in NRW-located part of the Middle Rhine Valley
- Jülich-Zülpicher Börde
- Siebengebirge
- North Eifel, the part of the Eifel in North Rhine-Westphalia
Cities
- largest cities in the northern Rhineland
- Cologne - largest city in the country and fourth largest in Germany with an abundance of sights of all kinds and the German carnival stronghold
- Dusseldorf - State capital, shopping paradise and air traffic hub
- eat - second largest city in the Ruhr area with many industrial heritage monuments
- Duisburg - Germany's largest inland port on the Ruhr and Rhine
- Wuppertal - idyllically located in the green valley of the Wupper, known for the suspension railway, zoo and historical district
- Bonn - Former federal capital on the Rhine with a historic city center
- other larger cities
- Aachen - Germany's most western city, with a cathedral (UNESCO World Heritage Site) and cityscape that is well worth seeing
- Bergisch Gladbach - Young city in the green Bergisches Land with a university of applied sciences
- Krefeld - formerly a textile metropolis on the Lower Rhine, today an industrial city in transition
- Leverkusen - Industrial city between the Rhine and Bergisches Land
- Moers - the smallest big city in the country
- Mönchengladbach - on the southern Lower Rhine
- Mülheim an der Ruhr - green city in the southwestern Ruhr area
- Neuss - more than 2,000 years old city on the western bank of the Rhine
- Oberhausen - Center of the western Ruhr area
- Remscheid - the "seaside town on the mountain"
- Solingen - known for its blades and cutlery
background
Until the time of the French Revolution, there were numerous small and medium-sized rulers in the area. The most important of these were the powerful Archdiocese of Cologne, the Duchy of Jülich and Grafschaft Berg (the latter two were linked in personal union, so they had the same prince and were ruled by the Wittelbachers, in 1685 they were linked to the Electoral Palatinate and in 1777 to Bavaria) and the county of Kleve (ruled from 1609 by the electors of Brandenburg and kings of Prussia).
In 1794 all areas on the left bank of the Rhine were annexed by revolutionary France and converted into departments. The French rule, which lasted until 1815, left lasting traces, some of which still have an impact today. To the right of the Rhine, Napoleon created the dependent Grand Duchy of Berg with the capital Düsseldorf, which he had his brother-in-law Joachim Murat rule.
After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the entire Rhineland became part of Prussia, and in 1822 the Rhine Province was formed from it. Many of the predominantly Catholic Rhinelander, whose typical mentality differed greatly from the Prussian, could not really identify with belonging to the Prussian state and saw themselves as "Must Prussians". Parts of the Rhineland and Westphalia were among the most industrialized and most modernly developed parts of what was then Prussia.
After the First World War, according to the Versailles Treaty, the Rhineland was militarily occupied by the Allies (French, British, Belgians) until 1930 in order to have a “bargaining chip” for German reparations payments. In the "crisis year" of 1923, there were attempts by Rhenish separatists to found a Rhenish Republic with French support and to separate it from the German Reich. After the end of the occupation, the Rhineland was to remain a demilitarized zone, but Hitler ignored this and had it occupied by the German military in 1936.
After the Second World War, the northern Rhineland, like Westphalia, and the entire Ruhr area belonged to the British occupation zone, while the southern Rhineland was occupied by the French. This set the course, which then led to the founding of the federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia in the British and Rhineland-Palatinate in the French zone. The Rhine Province lived as a provincial association, d. H. as a special purpose association of the Rhineland districts, continued until 1953 and since then as the Rhineland Regional Association (LVR). Among other things, he is responsible for (soil) monument preservation, operates several museums and open-air museums, the Xanten Archaeological Park, numerous special needs schools, clinics (especially psychiatric hospitals) and a vocational college.
So it is not surprising that over the centuries a feeling of belonging to the term (northern) Rhineland has developed. Nevertheless, the boundaries are partly blurred, they go through today's urban or district areas. For example, the core of Essen belonged to the Rhineland, while some parts of the city that were later incorporated were Westphalian. Border areas on the Belgian side are sometimes still counted as part of the Rhineland.
language
Traditionally, Kleverland, Limburg, Bergisch and Ripuarian dialects (the latter better known as "Kölsch") were spoken in the northern Rhineland. However, the dialects have declined in many places due to the influence of the mass media and greater mobility of the population. In public, they are mainly still cultivated at traditional events.
Most of the Rhinelanders today speak a Regiolect or a regionally colored variant of High German, which is often described as "Singsang" because of its melodious pronunciation and into which some characteristic Rhenish vocabulary is interspersed, which may initially be incomprehensible to outsiders. In the Rhineland part of the Ruhr area, Ruhr German is spoken, here practically no difference to the Westphalian part can be heard.
getting there
mobility
Tourist Attractions
The Rhineland Regional Council maintains a number of state museums and institutes:
- the LVR industrial museum, formerly Rhenish Industrial Museum (RIM) named with six locations:
- Alte Dombach paper museum in Bergisch Gladbach
- Cotton mill Ermen & Engels and Oelchenshammer in Engelskirchen
- Cloth factory Müller and museum guest house Mottenburg in Euskirchen
- Zinc factory Altenberg, the museum platform of the Oberhausen main station, Eisenheim (the oldest workers' settlement in the Ruhr area), St. Antony hut, LVR industrial archaeological park and the collections in the Peter Behrens building in Oberhausen
- Cromford textile mill in Ratingen
- Drop forge Hendrichs in Solingen
- LVR Institute for Regional Studies and Regional History, formerly: Office for Rhenish Regional Studies in Bonn
- this is also located in Bonn Rheinisches Landesmuseum
- the Xanten Archaeological Park (APX) and that Roman Museum in Xanten
- Further Open air museums in Mechernich-Kommern and Lindlar
The state's preservation of monuments is in the hands of the municipal association, with the headquarters in the Brauweiler Abbey.
activities
kitchen
Information about the kitchen can also be found on the website Eating and drinking in the Rhineland.
