Wuppertal Things to Do

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A beautifully landscaped garden - I dare say this would be a nice place for a stroll even without the animals. Don't worry though, there are plenty of animals to look at!

The highlights include brand new enclosures for tigers and lions, a group of elephants (including babies that were born here!), polar bears, orang-utans, chimps, gorillas, penguins, ... and my personal favourite - the tapirs!

Opening times: summer 8.30-18.00, winter 8.30-17.00

Admission: EUR 8 (adult), EUR 4 (child)

(As of July 2008)

For many people around the world, Pina Bausch is the queen of modern dance theatre - and it all started here in Wuppertal, where her company is based.

The performances of Tanztheater Wuppertal are regularly sold out, not just in Wuppertal but around the world - they are regular guests in London, Paris, Japan and elsewhere.

If you are around and one of their plays is on, I'd definitely recommend watching it. However, you will most likely need to book well in advance.

Shows will be on either at the Opernhaus (opera) or Schauspielhaus (theatre) building (check the website of the municipal theatre: http://www.wuppertaler-buehnen.de).

Quite an impressive collection of international art from the 16th century to the present. Amongst the artists present here are: Max Beckmann, Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, August Macke, Franz Marc, Wassily Kandinsky, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gustave Courbet etc.

Opening times: Tue-Sun: 11-18 hours, Thu 11-20 hours. Closed on Mondays.

The Begegnungsstätte was created to remember the Jewish community of Wuppertal and their persecution and suffering in Nazi Germany. It was built at the location of the synagogue which was destroyed in the pogrom on 9th November 1938.

Today, the building is used as a cultural centre. There are frequent exhibitions, talks, concerts etc. A lot of school classes visit as well.

Open Tue-Fri, Sun 14-17 hours.

Admission is free.

Sitting in the unique traffic vehicle known around the world it is just like sitting in a boat.

When driving through curves the cars keep on swinging for a while when going back onto straight forward.

However, since the "Schwebebahn" is following the course of the river, swinging is quite a steady movement. Not really for everybody, if seasickness is a problem.

Whilst many of the stations are being modernised, with glass and steel with easier access for wheelchair users via modern lifts, it was good to see that some stations were being preserved as listed buildings. This is one such station at Landgericht.

The western terminal of the 8.3 mile length of the track is Vohwinkel - one of 4 overland stations. The easternmost station is Oberbarmen and it takes about 30 minutes to ride the length. The 20 stationsx are a mix of modern (glass) and old styles (art nouveay). We parked the car near Westende station, one of the modern ones and rode sections in either direction but not the complete route.

We spent several minutes on the Landgericht station admiring its charm and views of the bridges over the River Wupper.
With trains running ever couple of minutes or so it was no problem to let a few trains go past and take some pics before getting another one.