When Nordrhein-Westfalen is mentioned, most people think of the Ruhrgebiet and of mining towns, smoking funnels and cities whose limits end where the next one starts. But Nordrhein-Westfalen is more than the much industrialised “Ruhrgebiet”, and even the Ruhrgebiet and all the other metropolitan areas of the highest populated federal state of Germany with its 17.6 million inhabitants on an area of 34,000 square kilometres are much better than their reputation.

Traditionally, the capital Düsseldorf and the biggest city Cologne are rivals, not only during the time of “Carnival” at the end of winter, but also in the sphere of economics. But Düsseldorf and Cologne both have to pay attention to quite a few other rivals: Nordrhein-Westfalen harbours 29 of all the 80 “big cities” of Germany. Most of them are located in the metropolitan area “Rhein-Ruhr”

Far from the maddening crowd tourists and also citizens of Germany can relax in the regions Eifel, Bergisches Land and Sauerland in the south of Nordrhein-Westfalen. Another region free from hustle and industry is the Weserbergland to the North of the federal state, bordering on Lower Saxony. Besides of these regions Nordrhein-Westfalen can be divided along cultural and traditional lines into Westfalen, Lippe and the Rheinland, with distinctly different cultural ties and ways of living and even very distinct dialects spoken by the people.

Tourists prefer to visit Düsseldorf which is well-known amongst visitors from Japan, the USA and Great Britain as well, also Cologne, as the centre of the Carnival, attracts lots of visitors. Less industrially developed rural regions like the Eifel and the Sauerland but also the Bergisches Land also attract tourist from the Netherlands and from the United Kingdom mostly in summer. Notwithstanding its reputation as the most industrialised part of Germany Nordrhein-Westfalen also can boast of nature parks like the “Nature Park Teutoburger Wald / Eggegebirge” and since 2004 also the national park “Nationalpark Eifel” to the South.

In regard to the local cuisine Nordrhein-Westfalen is a divided country: Dishes of the Lower Rhine region and the Bergisches Land are considered part of a greater “Rheinland Cuisine” which is influenced by France, whereas the cuisine of Westfalen and of the region Lippe must be placed closely to the “Northern German” cooking tradition, favouring meats and somewhat cruder fares. Wine is produced along the river Rhine in the south of Nordrhein-Westfalen, and in the north “Altbier” and “Kölsch” predominate as beer brands.

Football is the paramount sports in Nordrhein-Westfalen, with teams like Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1. FC Köln, FC Schalke and Bayer 04 Leverkusen most of our readers will know from the Champions League. Along with the carnival, being a fan of a football club most certainly forms a major part of the identity of many of the citizens of Nordrhein-Westfalen.

More information: http://www.nrw.de/en/

Photo: Cologne, gnoparus/Shutterstock