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DUSSELDORF

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 713 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DUSSELDORF , a See also:

town of See also:Germany, in the Prussian See also:Rhine See also:province, on the right See also:bank of the Rhine, 24 M. by See also:rail N. by W. from See also:Cologne. Pop. (1885) 115,190; (1895) 175,985; (1905) 252,630. Dusseldorf is one of the handsomest cities of western Germany. Its situation on the See also:great See also:mid-See also:European waterway and as the junction of several See also:main lines of railway has largely favoured its rapid growth and See also:industrial development. It is the See also:principal banking centre of the Westphalian See also:coal and See also:iron See also:trade, and the favourite See also:residence of the leading merchants of the See also:lower Rhine. The See also:city consists of five main portions—the Altstadt, the See also:original town with narrow, irregular streets; the See also:Karlstadt, dating from 1787 and so called after the electoral See also:prince See also:Charles See also:Theodore; the See also:Neustadt, laid out between 1690 and 1716; and the Friedrichstadt and the Konigstadt, of See also:recent formation. In addition, the former villages of Pempelfort, Oberbilk, Unterbilk, Flingern and Derendorf have been incorporated and See also:form the See also:outer suburbs of the town proper. On the See also:south See also:side the town has been completely metamorphosed by the removal of the Koln-Mindner and Bergisch-Maerkisch stations to a central station lying to the See also:east. The site thus gained was converted into new boulevards, while the railway to See also:Neuss and See also:Aix-la-Chapelle was diverted through the suburb of Bilk and thence across the Rhine by an iron See also:bridge. A road bridge (completed 1898, 2087 ft. See also:long), replacing the old bridge of boats, carries the electric tram-See also:line to See also:Crefeld. The town, with the exception of the Altstadt, is regularly built, but within its See also:area are numerous open grounds and public squares, which prevent the regularity of its See also:plan degenerating into monotony: the See also:market-See also:place, with the See also:colossal See also:bronze statue of the elector See also:John See also:William, the See also:parade, the Allee Strasse, the Konigs Allee, and the Konigs Platz may be specially mentioned.

Of the See also:

thirty-seven churches, of which twenty-six are See also:Roman See also:Catholic, the most noticeable are:—St See also:Andrew's, formerly the Jesuit and See also:court See also:church, with frescoes by J. See also:Hubner (1806–1882), E. Deger (1809–1885), and H. Miicke (1806–1891), and the embalmedbodiesof several Rhenish See also:electors; St See also:Lambert's, with a See also:tower 18o ft. high and containing a See also:monument to See also:Duke William (d. 1592); Maximilians, with frescoes by J. A. N. Settegast (1813–189o); the Romanesque St See also:Martin's, and the new See also:Gothic church of St See also:Mary. Besides the old ducal See also:palace, laid in ruins by the See also:French in 1794, but restored in 1846, the See also:secular buildings comprise the See also:government, offices, the See also:post-See also:office in See also:Italian See also:style, the town See also:hall on the market square, the See also:law courts, the municipal See also:music hall, the municipal See also:theatre, the See also:assembly hall of the Rhenish provincial See also:diet, an Italian See also:Renaissance edifice erected in 1879, the See also:academy of See also:art (1881; in pure Renaissance), the industrial art museum (1896), the See also:historical museum, and the industrial art school. The town also possesses a library of 50,000 volumes, several high-grade See also:schools, and is the seat of a great number of commercial and intellectual associations; but to nothing is it more indebted for its celebrity than to the Academy of See also:Painting. This famous institution, originally founded by the elector Charles Theodore in 1767, was re-organized by See also:King See also:Frederick William III. in 1822, and has since attained a high degree of prosperity as a centre of See also:artistic culture. From 1822 till 1826 it was under the direction of See also:Cornelius, a native of the town, from 1826 to 1859 under See also:Schadow, and from 1859 to 1864 under E.

Bendemann (1811–1889). From Bendemann's resignation it continued in the hands of a See also:

body of curators till 1873, when See also:Hermann See also:Wislicenus (1825–1899) of See also:Weimar was chosen director. The See also:noble collection of paintings which formerly adorned the Disseldorf See also:gallery was removed to See also:Munich in 18o5, and has not since been restored; but thereis no lack of artistic treasures in the town. The academy possesses 14,000 original drawings and sketches by the great masters, 24,000 engravings, and 248 See also:water-See also:colour copies of Italian originals; the municipal gallery contains valuable specimens of the See also:local school; and the same is the See also:case with the Schulte collection. The principal names are Cornelius, See also:Lessing, the See also:brothers Andreas and See also:Oswald See also:Achenbach, A. See also:Baur (b. 1835), A. Tidemand (1814-1876), and L. Knaus (b. 1829). An See also:annual See also:exhibition is held under the auspices of the Art See also:Union; and the members of the Artists' Society, or Malkasten, as they are called, have annual festivals and masquerades. The town is embellished with many handsome monuments—notably a bronze statue of Cornelius, by A.

Donndorf (b. 1835), an equestrian statue of the See also:

emperor William I. (1896), and a large bronze See also:group in front of the assembly hall of the diet, representing the See also:river Rhine and its See also:chief tributaries. In the suburb of Bilk there are the Floragarten and Volksgarten, the astronomical See also:observatory and the See also:harbour. Extensive quays afford See also:accommodation for vessels of deep See also:draught, and the trade with the Dutch cities and with See also:London has been thereby greatly enhanced. Within recent years Dusseldorf has made remarkable progress as an industrial centre. The first place is occupied by the iron See also:industries, embracing foundries, furnaces, See also:engineering and See also:machine shops, &c. Next come See also:cotton See also:spinning and See also:weaving, See also:calico See also:printing, See also:yarn-spinning, See also:dyeing and similar textile branches, besides a variety of other industries. A little to the See also:north of the town lies the See also:village of Diisselthal, with See also:Count von der Recke-Volmerstein's See also:establishment for homeless See also:children in the former Trappist monastery, and in the suburb of Pempelfort is the Jagerhof, the residence at one See also:time of Prince Frederick of See also:Prussia, and afterwards of the prince of See also:Hohenzollern-See also:Sigmaringen. Dusseldorf, as the form of the name—the village on the Diissel —clearly indicates, was long a place of small See also:consideration. In 1288 it was raised to the See also:rank of a town by Count Adolf of See also:Berg; from his successors it obtained various privileges, and in 1385 was chosen as their residence. After it had suffered greatly in the Thirty Years' See also:War and the War of the See also:Spanish See also:Succession, it recovered its prosperity under the patronage of the electoral prince John William of the See also:Palatinate, who' dwelt in the See also:castle for many years before his See also:death in 1716.

In 1795 the town, after a violent See also:

bombardment, was surrendered to the French; and after the See also:peace of See also:Luneville it was deprived of its fortifications. In 1805 it became the See also:capital of the See also:Napoleonic duchy of Berg; and in 1815 it passed with the duchy into Prussian See also:possession. Among its celebrities are Johann Georg and See also:Friedrich Heinrich See also:Jacobi, Heinrich See also:Heine, Varnhagen von Ense, See also:Peter von Cornelius, Wilhelm See also:Camphausen and Heinrich von See also:Sybel. See H. Ferber, Historische Wanderung durch See also:die alte Stadt Dusseldorf (Dusseldorf, 1889–189o) ; Brandt, Studien zur Wirtschafts- and Verwaltungsgeschichte der Stadt Dusseldorf (Dusseldorf, 1902) ; and local See also:Guide by See also:Bone.

End of Article: DUSSELDORF

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