Düsseldorf, located on the river Rhine, is the capital of the federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia.

With a population of 573.000 Düsseldorf is one of the economic centers of western Germany and is widely known as a stronghold of the German advertising and fashion industries.

After Frankfurt and Munich, Düsseldorf International Airport is Germany’s third largest commercial airport, with about 16 million passengers annually.

The Kö, which stands for Königsallee (King’s Avenue), is THE street to go shopping in Düsseldorf. Some of the most reputed jewellery shops, designer labels and galleries have their stores here.

Heinrich Heine, after whom the local university is named, Clara and Robert Schumann as well as Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy are the most prominent artists related to the city.

Düsseldorf’s most famous contribution to the culture of modern popular music is the avant-garde electronic music band Kraftwerk.

Rhein Fire, a franchise of National Football League Europe, is one of NFL Europe’s most successful teams, having won two World Bowl championships.

One of the biggest cultural events is the Düsseldorfer Karneval which starts every year on November 11th at 11:11am and reaches its climax on Rosenmontag, featuring a huge parade through the streets of Düsseldorf.

The movie director Wim Wenders as well as Germany’s super model Claudia Schiffer were born in Düsseldorf.