Duisburg

Duisburg  is a German city in the western part of the Ruhr area (Ruhrgebiet) in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a metropolitan borough with a population of just under 500,000 in 2019. With the world's biggest inland harbour and its proximity to Düsseldorf Airport, Duisburg has become an important venue for commerce and steel production.



Understand
Contemporary Duisburg is a result of numerous incorporations of surrounding towns and smaller cities. It is the twelfth-largest city in Germany and the fifth-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The core city was founded in the 5th century AD as a marketplace on the Westphalian Hellweg trade route, a ford on the river Rhine and the border between the Frankish Empire and the Duchy of Saxons. Around 740 it became one of several royal courts of Francia, it was first mentioned in a chronicle dated 883 AD as one of the Rhenish places conquered by Normans. 16th-century cartographer Gerardus Mercator, creator of seminal globes and atlases as well as the Mercator projection still used in modern world maps, lived, worked and taught in Duisburg for 40 years.

Since the late 19th century, the city is renowned for its steel industry, being Central Europe's leading site in this sector. All seven blast furnaces in the Ruhr are now located in Duisburg, producing half of the pig iron and a third of the crude steel made in Germany. Coal-mining, on the other hand, has never played the big role it had in other places on the Ruhr. As Germany's heavy industries have lost importance since the mid-20th century (due to the rise of plastics and relocation of production to low-wage countries), Duisburg had to go through a major structural transformation, losing tens of thousands of jobs in the steel mills while creating new ones in the services and logistics sectors.

Duisburg-Ruhrort, on the confluence of rivers Ruhr and Rhine, has long been and still is Europe's biggest inland harbour. It has successfully kept up with the times, replacing its facilities for break bulk and dry bulk cargo in favour of container shipping and modern logistics infrastructure as well as minimising the average laytime of ships from more than a day to only a few hours. Duisburg also aims to be the terminal of a "New Silk Road", offering direct freight train links from China.

The University of Duisburg-Essen, with 42,000 students, ranks among the 10 largest German universities.

By plane

 * Frankfurt Airport is Germany's busiest airport with a wealth of short-haul and intercontinental connections. Direct high-speed trains take you from Frankfurt Airport to Duisburg Hauptbahnhof in about 1½ hr, departing frequently in daytime. Tickets can be had for €29 if booked in advance with Deutsche Bahn, passengers of many airlines serving Frankfurt Airport can also take advantage of the Rail&Fly offer.
 * Ryanair flies from some European destinations to Niederrhein Airport Weeze northwest of Duisburg, near the Dutch border. The only practical way to get from there to Duisburg is by ordering a minibus airport transfer, as there is no direct train connection. There is a bus between the airport and Weeze station, from which you can take the train.
 * Ryanair flies from some European destinations to Niederrhein Airport Weeze northwest of Duisburg, near the Dutch border. The only practical way to get from there to Duisburg is by ordering a minibus airport transfer, as there is no direct train connection. There is a bus between the airport and Weeze station, from which you can take the train.
 * Ryanair flies from some European destinations to Niederrhein Airport Weeze northwest of Duisburg, near the Dutch border. The only practical way to get from there to Duisburg is by ordering a minibus airport transfer, as there is no direct train connection. There is a bus between the airport and Weeze station, from which you can take the train.



By train
Deutsche Bahn offers hourly ICE high-speed trains from Berlin (under 4 hours), Hanover (2 hr 15 min), Munich (5 hours) and Frankfurt (1 hr 45 min). Moreover there are two-hourly ICEs from Amsterdam (2 hours), Stuttgart (under 3 hours), as well as intercity trains from Hamburg (3½ hours) and Bremen (2½ hours). Four times a day, the Eurostar from Paris (4 hours) and Bruxelles (2½ hours) stops in Duisburg. Flixtrain serves the city.

Moreover there is a wide range of frequently running local trains linking Duisburg with other cities in the Rhine-Ruhr region (VRR network), e.g. from Essen in 10–15 minutes, Düsseldorf in 15 minutes, Dortmund in 35–40 minutes.

By car
Duisburg is part of the Ruhr's very dense Autobahn network (located on the junctions of A3, A40, A42 and A59), which is however prone to traffic jams.

By bus


Flixbus serves Duisburg. Buses are usually comfortable enough but slower than trains if usually cheaper.

By public transport
Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft AG (DVG) operates a network of three tram and 32 bus lines. The U79 tram is a joint venture of the Düsseldorf and the Duisburg transport company, linking the cities. Moreover, Duisburg is part of the S-Bahn Rhein-Ruhr network operating urban rail both within the city and linking it with its neighbours Düsseldorf, Oberhausen, Mülheim and Essen. VRR combi-tickets are valid for all means of local transport (rail, tram, bus).

Trams 901, 903 and U79 cross the city centre in a tunnel .All 3 lines stop at the underground stations at Hauptbahnhof (central station) and König-Heinrich-Platz. Hauptbahnhof underground station consists of two levels stacked below.

West of König-Heinrich-Platz station, lines 903 and U79 branch off to the south towards Steinsche Gasse station, surfacing at Platanenhof, where they split again for Hüttenheim and Düsseldorf. Line 901 continues north through Rathaus station, surfacing and running through Ruhrort on its way to Marxloh.

East of Hauptbahnhof, 901 continues east on the surface and runs past Duisburg University and Duisburg Zoo to Mülheim. 903 and U79 take a sharp turn north and cross the Ruhr River and the vast port in a long tunnel to Meiderich, where U79 terminates. Past Meiderich, 903 keeps heading north through Hamborn, crossing 901 at Marxloh, past Walsum and ending in nearby Dinslaken.

901 and 903 still use some older high-floor vehicles with limited accessible space, the new low-floor fleet is being delivered as of 2024. U79 uses high-floor vehicles, not all stops have been rebuild with high platforms.

Buses have their meeting point in the underpass at the north end of the station. They cover most of the city, although at lower frequency than what you might expect. Still, a good and quick way to get around. Express buses link Duisburg to its surroundings. Bus drivers sell tickets. All buses are low-floor and accessible.

S-Bahn line S1 stops at 5 stations, including the central station, in Duisburg. Rheinhausen district is served by two stations on regional services. Regional branch line RB36 shuttles back and forth between Oberhausen and Duisburg-Ruhrort station, stopping at Meiderich Süd (called Meiderich on 903 and U79), Meiderich Ost and Obermeiderich stations.

by car
Not all, but most of Duisburg is inside the so called Umweltzone environmental protection zone. Driving inside of that zone requires a green pollution zone sticker, that rental cars all have, and the vast majority of foreign-registered cars should be eligible for. Contact your local automobile association for more information. Wide roads and major highways make traffic a breeze off-peak, but are prone to congestion during commuting times. You're never more than a few minutes drive away from a Autobahn or Autobahn-type road. Parking is available at a number of multistorey and underground car parks, electronic signs at major roads show the current amount of free spots in them. Short term drop-off is possible at the taxirank at the central station.

by taxi
A taxi rank sits on the left side of the city-side exit of the Hauptbahnhof central station. Fares are rather steep at €4.90 base fare plus €2.50 /km, as is usual in Germany. Expect taxi fares from Duisburg station like Düsseldorf Airport, Essen city centre , Duisburg-Marxloh.

Do

 * Visit the Innenhafen (inner harbour), a formerly industrial plot converted and gentrified, for museums (listed above), restaurants, pubs and bars overlooking the river.
 * Visit the Innenhafen (inner harbour), a formerly industrial plot converted and gentrified, for museums (listed above), restaurants, pubs and bars overlooking the river.
 * Visit the Innenhafen (inner harbour), a formerly industrial plot converted and gentrified, for museums (listed above), restaurants, pubs and bars overlooking the river.
 * Visit the Innenhafen (inner harbour), a formerly industrial plot converted and gentrified, for museums (listed above), restaurants, pubs and bars overlooking the river.
 * Visit the Innenhafen (inner harbour), a formerly industrial plot converted and gentrified, for museums (listed above), restaurants, pubs and bars overlooking the river.

Eat

 * The Innenhafen (inner harbour) also hosts Spanish, Italian, Asian and German restaurants overlooking the river.
 * The Innenhafen (inner harbour) also hosts Spanish, Italian, Asian and German restaurants overlooking the river.
 * The Innenhafen (inner harbour) also hosts Spanish, Italian, Asian and German restaurants overlooking the river.

Drink

 * Duisburg is the home of König Pilsener (KöPi), one of Germany's best-selling mainstream beers. One can buy it in supermarket, kiosks and in almost every restaurant.
 * Sinalco, a lemonade brand quite known throughout Germany (claiming to be the oldest brand of carbonated soft drinks in Europe) is produced in Duisburg.
 * There are two small breweries producing their own beer: Webster Brauhaus and Brauhaus Urfels. Both of them have restaurants too.
 * The Innenhafen (inner harbour) hosts a café, cocktail bar (Mississippi Queen), pubs (choose Diebels im Hafen for Alt, König Pilsener Wirtshaus Duisburg for Pils beer, but don't worry - both serve other drinks and varieties of beer, too), and restaurants overlooking the river.
 * The Innenhafen (inner harbour) hosts a café, cocktail bar (Mississippi Queen), pubs (choose Diebels im Hafen for Alt, König Pilsener Wirtshaus Duisburg for Pils beer, but don't worry - both serve other drinks and varieties of beer, too), and restaurants overlooking the river.

Go next

 * Mülheim an der Ruhr, 10 km to the east, the cities are effectively grown into each other (5 minutes by train)
 * Oberhausen, 12 km to the northeast, the cities are effectively grown into each other (5 minutes by train)
 * Essen, 20 km to the east (10–15 minutes by train)
 * Krefeld, 20 km to the southwest (15–25 minutes by train)
 * Düsseldorf, 25 km to the south (15 minutes by train)