Wikipedia:WikiProject Germany/Portal:North Rhine-Westphalia

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Selected1 panorama

Wölanburg in Harsewinkel
Wölanburg in Harsewinkel
Wölanburg in Harsewinkel - photo by Daniel Brockpähler

Introduction


North Rhine-Westphalia (German: Nordrhein-Westfalen [ˈnɔɐ̯tʁaɪn vɛstˈfaːlən] , usually shortened to NRW, official short form NW) is the westernmost, most populous, and economically most powerful state of Germany. The state was formed in 1946, by merger of two rather distinct territories of the historic Free State of Prussia: the Rhine Province and the Province of Westphalia. The former Free State of Lippe was joined in 1947.

North Rhine-Westphalia is situated "deep in the West" of Germany and includes the plains of the Lower Rhine region and parts of the Central Uplands (Mittelgebirge) up to the gorge of Porta Westfalica. The state comprises a land area of 34,083 km² (13,158 square miles) and shares borders with Belgium in the southwest and the Netherlands in the west and northwest. It has borders with the German states of Lower Saxony to the north and northeast, Rhineland-Palatinate to the south and Hesse to the southeast.

North Rhine Westphalia has a population of approximately 18 million inhabitants, and is centred around the polycentric Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, which includes the formerly industrial Ruhr region and the Rhenish cities of Bonn, Cologne (Köln) and Düsseldorf. 30 of the 80 largest cities in Germany are located within North Rhine-Westphalia. The state's capital is Düsseldorf, the state's largest city is Cologne.

As the most urbanised federal state in Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia possesses the country's highest density of cultural, educational and research institutions, the densest transport infrastructure and the highest number of multinational corporations. North Rhine-Westphalia contributes about 22% to Germany's gross domestic product and accounts for about 28% of the country's foreign direct investments.[1]

Topics

Geography Rhineland | Eifel (National Park) | Cologne Bight | Lower Rhine | Lower Rhine region | Westphalia | Münsterland | Sauerland | Ostwestfalen-Lippe | Lippe
History Germania Inferior | Ripuarian Franks | Salian Franks | Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle | Electorate of Cologne | Duchy of Berg | Duchy of Cleves | Rhine Province | Province of Westphalia | Occupation of the Ruhr | International Authority for the Ruhr | European Coal and Steel Community
Politics Constitution of North Rhine-Westphalia | Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia | List of Ministers-President of North Rhine-Westphalia
Economy Companies | Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region | Ruhr Region | WestLB | E.ON | Metro AG | Deutsche Telekom | Düsseldorf International Airport | Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr | NRW.INVEST | Blue Banana
Culture NRW Forum | Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen | Rhein in Flammen | Ruhrtriennale | The Industrial Heritage Trail | Westdeutscher Rundfunk | Lied für NRW | Art Cologne | Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
Landmarks World Heritage Sites: Aachen Cathedral | Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust at Brühl | Cologne Cathedral | Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex | Further sites: Benrath Palace | Historical City Hall of Münster | Hermannsdenkmal | Neuer Zollhof
Sport Football clubs: Borussia Dortmund | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 1. FC Köln | FC Schalke 04 | Bayer 04 Leverkusen | Ice hockey clubs: Kölner Haie | DEG Metro Stars | Iserlohn Roosters
Society Cooperative Dictionary of the Rhinelandic Colloquial Language | Rhenish Carnival | Cologne Gay Pride | International Women's Film Festival Dortmund/Cologne | Karlspreis

Selected article

Kraftwerk (meaning "power plant" or "power station", German pronunciation: [ˈkʁaftvɛɐk]) is a pioneering and a highly influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The signature Kraftwerk sound combines driving, repetitive rhythms with catchy melodies, mainly following a Western classical style of harmony, with a minimalistic and strictly electronic instrumentation. The group's simplified lyrics are at times sung through a vocoder or generated by computer-speech software. Kraftwerk were one of the first groups to popularize electronic music. In the early to late 1970s and the early 1980s, Kraftwerk's distinctive sound was revolutionary, and it has had a lasting effect across many genres of modern music.

Selected biography

Dorothee Pesch (born 3 June 1964, Düsseldorf, Germany), popularly known as Doro Pesch or Doro, is a female vocalist, formerly of the German heavy metal band Warlock.

After Warlock went through many line-up changes, Pesch was the only remaining original member of the band. After changing her record label, she released the fifth album as Doro, as the former label owned the trademark on the Warlock name.

Pesch now pursues a solo career and lives in New York City. The 2004 album Classic Diamonds was a collaboration with The Classic Night Orchestra which reworked some of her earlier songs. Her latest album is Fear No Evil which was released in 2009.

Related portals

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

  1. ^ data by NRW.INVEST