From a busy market, this walk takes you through the Old Town to buildings that tell of the beginnings of the village on the river Düssel, famous rulers, Baroque churches and modern art! The starting point for the walk is Carlsplatz, which is surrounded by numerous pubs and restaurants. From Monday to Saturday the market on the square is absolutely worth a visit. Goods and produce from all parts of the world are on offer here and everything a gourmet could wish for is obtainable. Two museums invite you to a visit: The Hetjensmuseum in the historic Palais Nesselrode is one of the top addresses for ceramics.  It presents ceramics from eight millennia. Cineasten’s favorite place is the Film Museum, a veritable temple of film history that illuminates all facets of this art form, telling posters, projectors, cameras, costumes and backdrops all about the history of film.

The landmark of the oldest part of the old town with beautifully restored residential buildings and cobblestone streets is St. Lambertus, the oldest church in the city with a leaning tower, the spire of which, according to folklore, the devil personally shot. Meeting point on the Rhine is the Burgplatz, where once stood the ducal castle. In the warmer months, especially the large outside staircase leading down to the Rhine is a popular place. In the midst of millions of splashes of color on the stairwells, which were designed by the Academy Professor Hermann-Josef Kuhna and his students, you can watch the boats on the Rhine, some street artists and just enjoy being among the other people.

The best-known buildings in the MedienHafen are the three inclined Gehry buildings designed by the American star architect Frank O. Gehry in the colours white, silver and red, which look like they have been made of modelling clay because nothing is linear about them. Other architectural highlights include the building at the Port Event Center called “Wolkenbügel” because of its boldly floating construction, the Maki solitaire, the cube-shaped office building designed by Japanese star architect Fumihiko Maki, the Colorium with its colorful facade, whose 2,200 window panes have been screen-printed, and the Roggendorf House, on which colorful plastic creatures climb up.

Don’t miss the view of Düsseldorf’s skyline from the outdoor terrace of the Pebble’s in the Hyatt Regency.

An excursion to the north of Düsseldorf takes you to a place that includes an emperor, “Kaiser”, in its name. In the oldest district of the city, Kaiserswerth, you can stroll through the picturesque centre with an old marketplace and Baroque buildings dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. You can visit impressive ruins of an imperial castle and enjoy a view of the Rhine beneath great old trees.

You will visit the imposing ruins of the imperial palace (Kaiserpfalz) directly on the banks of the Rhine, which despite its destruction in the War of the Spanish Succession still gives an idea of the once gigantic complex built by Friedrich Barbarossa in 1174 – 1184.

…AND THAN SHOPPING

Schadowstrasse borders directly on the Königsallee and  just like the typical pedestrian zones – leaves nothing to be desired in the way of fashion houses, department stores, and branches of international chains. The architectural highlight is the building with gigantically arched windows, which the American architect Richard Meier designed for the fashion house Peek & Cloppenburg.

Have a break at the Bazar Café in Wilhelm-Marx-Haus, Europe’s first office tower dating from 1924.

The trip to the south of the city leads to one of the architectural highlights of the Rhineland and lets you experience the full glory of an allembracing work of Baroque art! ! Those who’d like to see where the upper classes staged their hunting par- ties in the 18th century are at the right address. No other architectural monu- ment from this epoch is so well preserved, which is why the elaborately restored ensemble of palace and park is regarded as a jewel of European architectural history. Elector Carl Theodor from the Palatinate commis- sioned the sumptuous building with large park grounds from his court architect Nicolas de Pigage in 1755 as a “Maison de Plaisance” or pleasure palace. Up until 1771, a unique total work of art was created in the late-Baroque style, one that unifies architecture, sculpture, painting, the decorative arts and landscape gardening within an overriding design conception.

Where the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament used to debate after the Second World War, K21 today presents contemporary art over 5,300 square metres in the spectacularly converted historic at- mosphere of the Ständehaus. As a continuation of the programme in K20, so to speak, the museum has set itself the task of representing the art of the dawning of a new age in its collection and special exhibitions. Within this compass, older works that point to modern developments have their place just as much as contemporary innovations. Room-filling installations and artists’ spaces are part of the special charm of K21 – for example Reinhard Mucha’s monumental installation Deutschlandgerät, created in the year of German reunification for the German pavilion at the 44th Biennale in Venice, or Juan Muñoz’ Conversation Pieces, which displays 27 identical figures en- gaged in lively communication.