Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia and the seventh-largest city in Germany, with a population of more than 600.000.

The first written mention of Düsseldorf dates back to 1135. In 1186, Düsseldorf came under the rule of the Counts of Berg. In 1288 Count Adolf VIII of Berg granted the village town privileges just after a bloody power struggle had taken place between the Archbishop of Cologne and the count of Berg, culminating in the Battle of Worringen.

A market square, protected by city walls, sprang up on the banks of the Rhine. In 1380, the dukes of Berg moved their seat to the town, and Düsseldorf was made the regional capital of the Duchy of Berg. In 1609, the ducal line of the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg died out, and Jülich and Berg fell to the Wittelsbach Counts of Palatinate-Neuburg, who made Düsseldorf their main domicile.

Destruction and poverty struck Düsseldorf after the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon made Berg a Grand Duchy and Düsseldorf it's capital. After Napoleon's defeat, the whole Rhineland including Berg was given to the Kingdom of Prussia in 1815. By the mid-19th century, Düsseldorf enjoyed a revival thanks to the Industrial Revolution as the city boasted 100,000 inhabitants by 1882; the figure doubled in 1892.