Posted December 29, 20204 yr Over New Year's 2019/20 I took a trip to Europe. You can see the first set of photos in Maastricht and Cologne by clicking the links below. Future entries will be linked as I upload them. Maastricht, Netherlands - December 28-30, 2019 Cologne, Germany - December 30, 2019 - January 3, 2020 Wuppertal, Germany - January 3, 2020 Aachen, Germany - January 3-5, 2020 Paris, France - January 5-7, 2020 Map of my route Wuppertal 🟦 Digital photos taken with a Nikon D600. Film camera failed to properly load this roll of film. DSC_5709 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr As most people here are aware, Wuppertal is home to the infamous Schwebebahn! (In case you didn't know, a "W" in German is pronounced like a "V" in English) The Schwebebahn is a suspended railway that primarily follows the Wupper River as it goes from Vohwinkel at the western end to Oberbarmen Bahnhof to the east. The Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof (main train station) sits almost perfectly in the center of the line. I arrived fairly early in Wuppertal from Cologne. Riding on the Schwebebahn was one of the major factors in my choice of cities to spend New Years in once I bought the tickets to Paris. As you can see from the map above, Wuppertal wasn't on my way to Aachen, but the Schwebebahn was calling. I left my luggage in Cologne so I wasn't lugging that around everywhere, and I had to go through Cologne on my way to Aachen, anyway. I purchased a day pass for the North Rhine Westphalia region, which includes all local transit and public intercity transit in the state outside of the high speed routes. Since all of my locations that day were in NRW, it was really easy to purchase a single pass to use everywhere without thinking about schedules or fare machines. You can essentially show up at the train station at any time, and be certain that a train going where you need to go will be there sometime soon. I arrived at the Wuppertal Hauptbahnhof. Despite my desire to ride the Schwebebahn, I decided to walk around the city first. It was raining some, and I wanted to walk around the city some in case it got worse later. You can see my approximate walking route here. Occasionally I had to stop and seek cover from the rain. It was usually a pretty slow trickle, and manageable. We'll start the tour outside the Hauptbahnhof and then go north through the city center. DSC_5479 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5480 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5502 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5508 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5509 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5511 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr The Elberfeld City Hall sits at this intersection just north of downtown. Elberfeld was the name of the city center until 1930 when it merged with neighboring Barmen to the east. Wuppertal is literally just "Wupper Valley". DSC_5515 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5518 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5526 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr I started walking toward this church, and I noticed the interesting pavement markings showing the bus stop. DSC_5527 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5531 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5535 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5536 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5538 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5548 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr This city has hills. DSC_5550 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5552 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Friedhofskirche at the top of the hill outside of downtown. A large cemetery sits behind the church. I took a quick break from the rain under a shelter at the entrance of the cemetery until the rain slowed down. DSC_5557 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5561 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr In order to avoid walking along an unappealing highway to the north of the cemetery, I wandered down a narrow sidewalk and stair set that led me to this bicycle tunnel presumably on a former rail line. The sign reads "Dance Tunnel" DSC_5562 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr It started raining more as I walked down Briller Straße, so my photos are less frequent here and a little smudged from rain. This was one of the more striking scenes in the city, though. I wanted to spend more time around this area. DSC_5571 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5575 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5576 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5579 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr At this point the rain was too much, so I took shelter at a bus stop and waited for one to arrive. I took the bus the remaining four blocks to get to the Schwebebahn at Robert-Daum-Platz, where I spent the rest of my time in Wuppertal. DSC_5581 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5584 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5587 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr I took the Schwebebahn to the western end of the line at Vohwinkel, and then went all the way to the opposite end, Oberbarmen. The remaining photos go along that trip, starting in Vohwinkel where the cars turn around to start heading east. DSC_5590 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5592 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr In Vohwinkel, the Schwebebahn travels over Kaiserstraße instead of the Wupper River. DSC_5597 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5605 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5608 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5609 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5610 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5612 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr The glare from inside the car was every difficult to control, so I ended up taking a ton of photos. Combined with the low light for the day and constantly moving, it was a tough thing to photograph, but the back of the car provides some really spectacular views. Here are some of the better shots I got. DSC_5617 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5619 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5621 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5628 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5632 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5633 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr I thought we were going from the street to the river here, but it was actually a large highway we were crossing DSC_5637 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5639 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Now we are switching to the long stretch over the Wupper. DSC_5642 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5650 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5652 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Aside from the Schwebebahn, Wuppertal is most well-known as the site of origin for the development of aspirin. Bayer, who developed it, has a very large presence in Wuppertal centered along the Schwebebahn. DSC_5653 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5654 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5657 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5658 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5663 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5665 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5666 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5667 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5668 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr This is outside of the Hauptbahnhof where I started my day, and took the first photos of the Schwebebahn. DSC_5669 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5672 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr I wish I would have gotten a better photo of the Schwebebahn signage, but it is delightful. DSC_5676 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5680 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5685 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr The final station on the line is the Oberbarmen. DSC_5692 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr DSC_5706 by Ryan Lammi, on Flickr Hope you enjoyed my tour of Wuppertal. The next city will be Aachen, Germany!
December 30, 20204 yr Now I am pleased. Had to get that stench of Cologne out of my system... "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 30, 20204 yr Author This video of the Schwebebahn was making the rounds on the internet this year. It's fascinating, especially when you've seen it in person and recognize some of the landmarks.
December 31, 20204 yr Great photos, @ryanlammi! The Schwebebahn has an outstanding safety record. It only has a handful a safety incidents in its entire 120 year operating history, only one of which resulted in fatalities. A different incident was actually humorous - in 1950, a circus arranged a publicity stunt by putting a baby elephant on one of the trains. During the ride, the elephant started to bump around, eventually falling out of the car and into the river. The elephant sustained minor injuries, but survived. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Schwebebahn#Incidents I look forward to visiting Wuppertal and riding the Schwebebahn someday. Thanks for sharing! When is the last time I-71 turned a profit?
December 31, 20204 yr On 12/29/2020 at 8:02 PM, ColDayMan said: Now I am pleased. Had to get that stench of Cologne out of my system... That city does smell kinda funny. Not like eau de toilette though
December 31, 20204 yr great thread — its kind of like a cross between disney and the ny el subway stretches, but nicer and with more light. i would love to ride it someday — looks like fun and great views. looks like a very handsome town or towns too. this was a day euro trip well spent!
December 31, 20204 yr Author 2 hours ago, mrnyc said: great thread — its kind of like a cross between disney and the ny el subway stretches, but nicer and with more light. i would love to ride it someday — looks like fun and great views. looks like a very handsome town or towns too. this was a day euro trip well spent! I don't know that there is a lot going on in Wuppertal for a long stay, but I'm sure for a night or two you would find it very rewarding. It's also a perfect location to check out the Schwebebahn on a day trip, even if you aren't staying the night. It felt like a weird mixture of a big city like Pittsburgh, PA and a smaller Appalachian town like Cumberland, Maryland or something. A very unique city that I don't think has a real counterpart anywhere in the US. There may be some more analogous examples in South America or something within the more mountainous regions, but I don't know any specific examples.
December 31, 20204 yr Germany never fails to amaze me. For a country that where every city was nearly destroyed in the war, the old buildings are carefully restored and the infrastructure makes me envious. This is what happens when you don't spend nearly a trillion dollars a year policing the world and enriching stockholders. Great pics thanks for sharing!
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