Living Room Kaarst/Düsseldorf (D)

Kaarst

Name origin

Carlesforst

First documented mention

1218 AD

Population

44,000

Area

37.39 km²

Administrative district (Regierungsbezirk): Düsseldorf

District (Kreis): Rhein-Kreis Neuss

Vehicle registration: NE, GV

River: Nordkanal (a drainage channel, formerly a waterway between Neuss and Neersen)

The club Living Room is located in Kaarst-Holzbüttgen near Düsseldorf.

Düsseldorf:

Düsseldorf, the state capital of NRW, is the ultimate insider tip among German metropolises when it comes to quality of life, and has a lot to offer: a beautiful landscape, the river Düssel and plenty of sporting activities. So why isn't Cologne, the Rhine metropolis twice its size, the state capital of NRW instead? - The British occupying forces wanted it that way after World War II! The British were based in Düsseldorf, and that's where the key administrative structures existed. Once the decision had been made in favour of the city on the Düssel, the British went on to found the state of North Rhine-Westphalia on 21 June 1946.

Düsseldorf is an extremely affluent city, home to numerous well-known companies from the manufacturing, trade and services sectors. In particular, Düsseldorf is regarded as Germany's leading fashion metropolis. No fewer than 20 public and private universities and colleges, such as the Heinrich-Heine-Universität, the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf or the AMD Akademie Mode & Design, contribute to education here today. The football club Fortuna Düsseldorf and the well-known ice hockey club Düsseldorfer EG both thrill their fans. Throughout the year numerous national and international sporting events take place that are well worth a visit. Anyone who'd rather stroll through the city is well catered for in the Altstadt. Because of its many pubs, the Altstadt is known as the "longest bar in the world".

Who has the nicer Rhine riverside promenade? As in almost every respect, Düsseldorf is here too locked in stubborn cross-cultural rivalry with its competitor Cologne. The fact that Altbier is the drink of choice in Düsseldorf's Altstadt is met with rather disdainful acknowledgement in Colonia. In any case, Düsseldorf is fashionably on the Quivive, and so people cheerfully parade up and down the riverside promenade as if on a catwalk - from the Medienhafen with its hip, creative architecture and its towering 240 m Rheinturm, all the way up to the old imperial palace Kaiserswerth, or at least as far as the Golzheimer Stadtgarten right by the Rhine, where, in nice weather, half of Düsseldorf seems to gather.

Düsseldorf is also Nippon on the Rhine - in no other German city has Japanese culture, based primarily on flourishing trade relations, spread so extensively over the decades as it has in Düsseldorf, and this is honoured every year here on the Rhine with the Japan-Tag. Opposite, on the left bank of the Rhine, one of the biggest folk festivals in Germany, the Rheinkirmes, also takes place annually. Numerous other parks and several palaces and manor houses, such as the Nordpark/Aquazoo and the Rococo/Baroque Schloss Benrath, are open to visitors within the city limits of Düsseldorf.

Düsseldorf, the shopping city: the Schadowstraße is one of the busiest shopping streets in Germany. It runs from the so-called Wehrhahn westwards through the city centre and flows almost directly into Düsseldorf's grand boulevard par excellence, the KÖ. The shopping boulevard Königsallee naturally also invites you to shop, with the futuristic shopping centre Sevens-Center as well as the elegant and chic KÖ-Galerien and the Schadow-Arkaden on the KÖ. The Arkaden enchant with a gleaming granite façade and the seemingly free-floating glass cylinder above the main entrance. A little way diagonally opposite at the Hofgarten, you'll finally find the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, which is run in cooperation with the Stadttheater Duisburg.

How do you get to Düsseldorf quickly? The Düsseldorf Airport NRW is the intercontinental hub of North Rhine-Westphalia and enables a fast transfer from all national and many international airports. Travel by car can be done via the Autobahnen A 44, A 46, A 52, A 57 and A 59. The Bundesstraßen B 1, B 7, B 8, B 228 and B 326 lead right through the city to every destination. The tram network even runs as far as Krefeld, Duisburg and Benrath.

Famous sons and daughters of Düsseldorf include Heinrich Heine, Gustaf Gründgens, Hugo Wilhelm Henkel, Helmut Käutner, Jürgen Habermas, Heide Keller, Rosemarie Nitribitt, Thomas Allofs, Doro Pesch, Heike Makatsch, Heino, Wim Wenders, Marie Bäumer, Marius Müller-Westernhagen and Campino.

Recommended hotels include, for example, the Steigenberger Parkhotel, Hilton Düsseldorf, Günnewig Uebachs or the Innside Düsseldorf Hafen.

Kaarst:

The larger eastern neighbour Neuss, itself a city of considerable historical significance, separates the city of Kaarst - apart from the Rhine - from the mighty state capital Düsseldorf, which Kaarst can nevertheless quickly reach via the A52 motorway. At the Kaarster Kreuz, the A52 and A57 motorways meet, ensuring an ideal transport connection. In rail traffic, the S-Bahn line 28 runs between Kaarster See and Mettmann (via Düsseldorf). The nearest main railway station is in Neuss.

Kaarst is made up of the districts of Kaarst, Büttgen, Holzbüttgen, Driesch and Vorst. The district of Büttgen was already mentioned in documents as early as the year 793 under the name "Butica". The oldest churches, Alt St. Martinus in Kaarst and St. Aldegundis in Büttgen, date from the 12th century. Worth a trip are the Tuppenhof in Vorst and the Braunsmühle in Büttgen; also, as a leisure paradise, the Kaarster See with its outdoor swimming pool.

Like Meerbusch, Ratingen and Mettmann, Kaarst is regarded as a favoured place to live and do business in the Düsseldorf conurbation, and accordingly the purchasing power of its residents is well above the national average. The largest employer in the city is IKEA.

The former football player and football coach Berti Vogts was born in Kaarst-Büttgen.