In addition to urban modernity, NRW also offers a number of fascinating historical sights. Ten percent of Germany's UNESCO World Heritage Sites are to be found in NRW – six buildings have been declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO:
Life in NRW is surprisingly diverse: Here, imposing industrial monuments stand next to relaxing landscape parks, elegant shopping streets alternate with urban metropolitan oases. Cosmopolitanism and creativity determine the attitude to life and the quality of life to be found in NRW. 130 stages offer the densest theater landscape in Europe. In addition, there are thrilling live events and plenty of sports to watch or participate in.
Life in NRW – authentic and creative
Life in NRW is in a state of flow – work, leisure and education go hand in hand. Cologne, Düsseldorf and the Ruhr metropolis in particular are increasingly becoming destinations for digital nomads. All cities are closely interconnected. Due to their proximity, their quality of life, the cosmopolitan outlook of the people, and the special way in which work and life are harmonized, urban spaces like these act as a catalyst for the creativity of innovative people.
NRW is synonymous with an unconventional and urban lifestyle: inimitable, diverse and with numerous locally located creative scenes. "Urbanana," for example, is the banana-shaped urban jungle that stretches from the Ruhr metropolis to Düsseldorf and Cologne. Not everything is smooth and perfect here, but people who love and help to shape their urban space live here, open to new inspirations.
And what's more: Compared to other Western European regions and cities, life in NRW is inexpensive. This is confirmed by a study in which over 200 European cities were examined in terms of their cost of living, including six from NRW. The result: The average cost of living index in Western European cities is 79.53 – in NRW, by contrast, it is only 69.91.
Living in NRW means experiencing world cultural heritage
01
Cologne Cathedral
is the largest Gothic building in the world and the most popular German attraction with 6.5 million visitors annually.
02
Aachen Cathedral
is a key example of Carolingian architecture.
03
Corvey Abbey
in Höxter, Westphalia, is one of the most important Carolingian monasteries.
04
The castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust
near Brühl, with their architecture, paintings and gardens, are considered masterpieces of German rococo.
05
The Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex
in Essen is one of the most imposing industrial monuments.
06
The Lower Germanic Limes
and its sites in NRW have been included in the World Heritage List: The border between the Roman province of Lower Germania and free Germania stretched over 400 kilometers.
Variety of theater venues
Something to suit every taste
Festivals and concerts provide variety
A wide range of leisure activities in NRW
01
Activities and a wide range of outdoor recreational possibilities in NRW are facilitated by 14,000 kilometers of cycle paths and around 50,000 kilometers of marked hiking trails. On hot days, over a hundred lakes offer bathing and water sports fun.
02
In winter, the Sauerland region is the largest skiing area north of the Alps and attracts hundreds of thousands of winter sports fans. In addition, Bottrop and Neuss also have covered ski halls so that visitors can take to the slopes regardless of the weather.
03
Whether it's soccer, basketball or ice hockey, NRW also boasts a variety that is unique in Europe of traditional clubs offering first-class professional spectator sports. Attractive top events regularly take place in the high-tech arenas in Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen/Schalke or Cologne. In total, there are 5,100 soccer clubs in NRW with around 1.5 million members. Golf enthusiasts swing their clubs on the greens of more than 170 golf courses, and CHIO Aachen, one of the world's most important equestrian tournaments, brings together the international equestrian elite every year.
Life in NRW offers one of the most diverse cultural landscapes in Europe
Life in NRW combines culture, shopping and enjoyment
Museums
It would take about two and a half years to visit all 900 museums if you wanted to visit one every day. Even Paris and London combined have fewer museums than NRW. The Kunstsammlung NRW in Düsseldorf shows works by the most important artists of the 20th century. Cologne's Museum Ludwig houses one of the most important collections of contemporary art in Europe. Other outstanding houses include the Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle Bonn, the Museum Folkwang in Essen, the Haus der Geschichte in Bonn and Schloss Moyland. The world's oldest art fair, ART COLOGNE, is also held in Cologne every year.
Shopping
NRW is also a shopper's paradise with a high density of highly frequented shopping districts. Düsseldorf's Königsallee is one of the most elegant shopping streets in Germany, while the Westfield Centro in Oberhausen is the largest shopping and leisure center in Europe.
Food and drink
Food and drink are also part of the cultural heritage: NRW offers international restaurants, large beer pubs with gardens or cozy bistros with specialties from all over the world. Local specialties such as Rhenish Sauerbraten or (marinated pot roast) "Pommes Schranke" (French fries with ketchup and mayonnaise) are already cultural commodities, and top chefs of world renown have grabbed several handfuls of stars from the sky in NRW, which boasts 52 star-rated restaurants.
Photo credits
The photographic material was kindly provided by
© Dieter Jacobi KölnTourismus GmbH
© Per Appelgren Ruhr Tourismus GmbH
© NRW.Global Business/Jan Tepass
© Düsseldorf Tourismus GmbH - Sabrina Weniger
© Per Appelgren Ruhr Tourismus GmbH
© Klaus-Peter Kappest /Touristikverband Siegerland-Wittgenstein e.V.
© Ruhr Tourismus Jochen Schlutius
© Südwestfalen Agentur GmbH/ Patrick Bonzel
© Dominik Ketz, Tourismus NRW e.V.
© Tourismus NRW e.V.
© Axel Schulten
© NRW.Global Business/Jan Tepass
© Engel.ac, Shutterstock
© Yuri A., Shuterstock
© Soloviova Liudmyla, Shutterstock
© Ysbrand Cosijn, Shutterstock
© Menna, Shutterstock
© Ruslan Lytvyn, Shutterstock
© Sina Ettmer Photography, Shutterstock
© SeventyFour, Shutterstock
© Eugen Z., Shutterstock
© Andreas Hermanspann, Shutterstock
© Telesniuk, Shutterstock
© iHispanolistic, iStock
Welcome to NRW!
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