North Rhine-Westphalia lies in the west of Germany and is the most densely populated of the federal states: 18 million people living in an area of 34,076 square kilometres. The Ruhr District is Europe’s largest industrial region. Düsseldorf is the seat of the state government, a coalition of CDU and FDP headed by Minister President Jürgen Rüttgers.
North Rhine-Westphalia was created on August 23, 1946 by a resolution of the British military government. Decree No. 46 united the former Prussian province of Westphalia and the northern part of the Rhine province, making it a “hyphen state”. The name Westphalia, as a designation for a tribe, was first documented in 775 in connection with Charlemagne’s Saxon Wars. The coat-of-arms of this three-part state combines Westphalia’s old emblem, the rearing Saxon horse, and the Rhine, as a silver wavy band on a green ground; in the middle is a red rose, which stands for the part of the state known as Lippe.
North Rhine-Westphalia has successfully shouldered the structural change from a region marked by the coal and steel industries to a modern manufacturing, research and service centre. Today, this federal state is known for chemicals and mechanical engineering, energy technology and microelectronics, vehicle manufacturing and environmental technology. 18% of all the goods exported from Germany are “made in NRW”. If North Rhine-Westphalia were a state in its own right, it would rank 14th on the list of the largest exporting nations.
North Rhine-Westphalia has Europe’s densest research network. 53 universities, ten Max Planck Institutes, twelve Fraunhofer Institutes, 24 state-maintained research institutes, 58 special research centres, 69 technology centres and 31 technology transfer offices make this federal state a high-tech location of international standing. Sector networks look after the transfer of know-how to the economy, making North Rhine-Westphalia an innovation driver.
North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the most important cultural centres alongside Paris and New York, according to a UNESCO study. 350 museums, more than 70 theatres and 60 orchestras mean a multifaceted program. The Wallraf-Richartz-Museum and the Ludwig Collection in Cologne, the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf, the theatre in Bochum and the Tanztheater in Wuppertal are already famous worldwide, while the up-and-coming generation is being trained and fostered at 170 music academies.
North Rhine-Westphalia links tradition and modernism. For 150 years the Ruhr District was synonymous with coal and steel. Over the past years, most of these industrial plants have been put out of commission, refurbished and reopened as centres of culture and communication. The “Route of Industrial Culture” includes 52 outstanding testimonies to the industrial culture of the past and the present in the Ruhr District, from the Zollverein mine in Essen to the foundry in Duisburg and the gasometer in Oberhausen.
Traditionally, the Carnival season in Cologne is officially opened every year on the 11th of the 11th month at 11 o’clock. Then the “Jecken” celebrate the Fifth Season of the Year at hundreds of Carnival sessions and balls. On Weiberfastnacht, women’s day, usually in early February, the keys of the city are presented to the Carnival Prince. Then, to the call of “Kölle Alaaf”, people celebrate day and night for a whole week with music and fancy dress on streets and squares, in offices and pubs. The famous parade takes place on Rosenmontag. Two days later, on Ash Wednesday, Carnival is over.
