Duisburg (German:[ˈdyːsbʊʁk]ⓘ;Low German:Duisborg,pronounced[ˈdʏsbɔɐ̯χ]) is a major city in the western part ofGermany, located in the state ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia. With around half a million inhabitants, it is one of the largest cities in theRuhr urban area and part of the largerRhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, one of the biggest population centers in Europe. Duisburg is situated at the confluence of theRuhr and theRhine, a geographic position that has historically made it an important center of trade, industry, and transportation. Administratively, Duisburg forms an independent city (kreisfreie Stadt).
The city is known for hosting the world's largestinland port, thePort of Duisburg [de], which plays a key role in European logistics and international trade. The port's facilities are directly linked to major motorways, rail networks, and the Rhine waterway, connecting Duisburg to theNorth Sea and beyond. Today, Duisburg is a hub for the steel, chemical, and logistics industries, and it has also become an important node in trade relations withChina, being a key terminus for freight trains on theChongqing–Xinjiang–Europe railway.
Historically, Duisburg traces its origins back to aFrankish settlement and was first documented in the 9th century. During theMiddle Ages, it developed as a trading town on the Rhine and briefly served as a member of theHanseatic League. Although the city lost importance after the silting of its old Rhine port in the late medieval period, it gained renewed significance with the rise of heavy industry in the 19th century. The expansion of coal mining, ironworks, and steel production transformed Duisburg into one of Germany's key industrial centers during theIndustrial Revolution.
Modern Duisburg combines its industrial legacy with cultural and educational institutions such as theUniversity of Duisburg-Essen, one of the largest universities in Germany. The city is also home to theaters, museums, and sports venues, while its industrial heritage sites, such as theLandschaftspark Duisburg-Nord, have been repurposed into landmarks of cultural tourism. Like much of the Ruhr area, Duisburg has undergone structural change in recent decades, shifting from heavy industry to a more diversified economy that includes services, logistics, and research.
Duisburg is a city in Germany'sRhineland, the fifth-largest city (afterCologne, Düsseldorf,Dortmund andEssen) in the nation's most populous constituent state ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia. Its 500,000 inhabitants make it Germany's15th-largest city. Located at the confluence of theRhine river and itstributary theRuhr river, it lies in the west of theRuhr urban area, Germany's largest, of which it is the third-largest city after Dortmund and Essen. The Ruhr itself lies within the largerRhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, one of Europe's largest conurbations. The city lies on both sides of the Rhine, with the city centre and most boroughs on the river's right bank, and is the only city of the Rhine-Ruhr region lying on both the Rhine and Ruhr rivers. Duisburg is one of the largest cities in theMeuse-Rhenish (closely related toDutch) dialect area and the largest in the Kleverlandish area (north of theUerdingen Isogloss).
Duisburg has the world's largestinland port,[4] "Duisburg-Ruhrorter Häfen", in Duisburg-Ruhrort. Germany's fourth-largest and the Rhine-Ruhr region's main airport,Düsseldorf Airport, lies near the city, inDüsseldorf-Lohausen. With 42,747 students, theUniversity of Duisburg-Essen is Germany's ninth-largest university. It has campuses in Essen and Duisburg, and auniversity hospital in Essen. Duisburg is a result of numerous incorporations of surrounding towns and smaller cities. The city is renowned for itssteel industry. Allblast furnaces in the Ruhr are now located in Duisburg. In 2000, 49% of all hot metal and 34.4% of allpig iron in Germany were produced here. It also has a large brewery,König. In the early Middle Ages, it was a royal court of the Franks, first mentioned in writing in 883.
The first syllable of the name of the city could go back to theProto-Indo-European root*dʰeus-, meaning something like "wet area" or "flood plain".[citation needed] Duisburg therefore could mean "fortified place in the floodplain". Another interpretation assumes that the name is derived from the Old German "duis" which means "hill".[citation needed] Duisburg could mean something like "castle on the hill". Thus, a place on a hill overlooking the Rhine, that could refer to the area of the present Town Hall. Duisburggau (Diuspurgau) was also the name of the medievalGau (country subdivision) on the Lower Rhine.
A legend recorded byJohannes Aventinus (fl. 1525) holds that Duisburg (along withDeutz, Cologne, Duisdorf inBonn, andDoesburg in the Netherlands) was built by the namesakeTuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, about 2395 BCE. There is nothing to establish any historical basis for such an early founding of Duisburg, which would have made it among the earliest cities in Europe.
Duisburg developed at the confluence of theRuhr and theRhine, on the outer bank of the Rhine and at the western end of theHellweg trade route.[5] Continuous settlement in the city's core area can be traced from the 1st century, initiallyRoman and from the 5th century onwardFrankish.[5]
In 420, the Franks seized the former Roman settlement and recolonised it. By the 8th century, a Frankish–Carolingian royal estate had been established, which later developed into a palatinate.[5] The first recorded mention of Duisburg dates from 883, whenNorman raiders captured the settlement and remained there over the winter.
Due to the town's favorable geographic position apalatinate was built and the town was soon granted theroyal charter of afree city. Duisburg became a member of theHanseatic League. Around 1000 the river Rhine moved westward from the town. This put an end to the Duisburg's development as a trading town and it soon transformed into a predominantly agrarian settlement.
Construction of thecity wall began in 1120, and the “city charter” was granted by KingLothar III in 1279. By 1290, Duisburg had become part of the County (and, after 1417, the Duchy) ofCleves. In 1445, an attack by Archbishop-ElectorDietrich II von Moers (de) of theElectorate of Cologne was successfully repelled.
TheReformation spread to Duisburg only gradually around the mid-16th century.[5] Refugees from theNetherlands andEngland contributed to the city's increasingCalvinist orientation.[5]
In 1566,Johannes Corputius completed hiscity map of Duisburg. The city's reputation as “Educated Duisburg” (“Duisburgum Doctum”) was established through the work of cartographerGerardus Mercator and the founding of a university in 1655.[5] By 1666 the city, still within the Duchy of Cleves, became incorporated intoBrandenburg-Prussia.
The city's commercial activity revived in 1674 with the establishment of a regular shipping route to the Netherlands.[5] Trade, particularly in colonial goods, led to the development of a significantfreight forwarding industry, as well astextile,tobacco, andsugar factories, which became the city's most important economic sectors.[5]
The rise of tobacco and textile industries in the 18th century made Duisburg an industrial centre. Big industrial companies such as iron and steel producing firms (Thyssen andKrupp) influenced the development of the city within the PrussianRhine Province.Large housing areas near production sites were being built as workers and their families moved in.
In 1823, a district (Landkreis) of Duisburg was established, encompassing the neighboring cities ofEssen andMülheim an der Ruhr. The following year, in 1824, the construction of thesulfuric acid factory Fr. W. Curtius marked the beginning of the industrial era in Duisburg. With the construction of a canal connecting the city to the Rhine beginning in 1826, Rhine trade regained considerable importance.[5] In 1828,Franz Haniel [de] founded a dockyard forsteamships, further contributing to the city's economic development. From 1844 onward, the connection to the Ruhr enabled Duisburg to participate in the growingcoal trade.[5] As the port expanded to handletimber,ore, and especiallygrain, Duisburg's port became the second-largest Rhine port afterRuhrort.[5]
Duisburg's connection to the expanding railway network began in the 1840s, with therailway line to Düsseldorf completed in 1846, followed by therailway line via Dortmund to Minden in 1847. The city became anindependent city borough in 1873, and by 1904 it celebrated the birth of its 100,000th resident, Ernst R. Straube. Increasing competition between the ports of Duisburg and Ruhrort led, in 1905, to the merger of the ports, followed soon after by the unification of the cities of Duisburg, Ruhrort, andMeiderich.[5]
On 8 March 1921, French infantry occupied Duisburg to secure war reparation payments incurred duringWorld War I. In 1929, Duisburg was merged with the neighboring city of Hamborn to form the new city of Duisburg-Hamborn. This name was later shortened to Duisburg in 1935.
In November 1938, during theKristallnacht pogroms organized bythe Nazis, the city's synagogue was destroyed.
A major logistical center in the Ruhr and location of chemical, steel and iron industries, Duisburg was a primary target ofAlliedbombers. As such, it is considered by some historians[who?] to be the single most heavily bombed German city by theAllies duringWorld War II, with industrial areas and residential blocks targeted by Alliedincendiary bombs.
On the night of 12–13 June 1941, British bombers dropped a total of 445 tons of bombs in and around Duisburg. As part of theBattle of the Ruhr, another British raid of 577 bombers destroyed the old city between 12 and 13 May 1943 with 1,599 tons of bombs. During thebombing raids, 96,000 people were made homeless with countless lives lost.
In 1944 the city was again badly damaged as a total of 2,000 tons of bombs were dropped on 22 May. On 14 October, the tonnage was repeated with 2,018 tons whenHalifax,Lancaster, andMosquito bombers appeared over Duisburg as part ofOperation Hurricane. This daylight raid was followed by a night attack; over 24 hours about 9,000 tons of HE and incendiaries had been dropped on Duisburg. Numerous similar attacks followed until the end of 1944.
The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Duisburg in April 1945. The US17th Airborne Division, acting as regular infantry and not in a parachute role, met only scattered resistance in the vicinity and captured the city on 12 April 1945.[6]
A total of 299 bombing raids had almost completely destroyed the historic cityscape. 80% of all residential buildings had been destroyed or partly damaged.[citation needed] Almost the whole of the city had to be rebuilt, and most historic landmarks had been lost.[citation needed]
Beginning in the mid-1960s, the decline of Duisburg's steel and mining industry caused a significant loss of residents. While in 1975 approximately 590,000 people were living in Duisburg, the number had shrunk to 518,000 in 1985.
Duisburg celebrated its 1100th anniversary in 1983. The city's population recovered a little in the following years, up to 537,000 in 1992. It declined to 488,000 in 2011. On 19 July 2004, it was hit by atornado. The municipal theater and parts of the city center were damaged. The city hosted the 7thWorld Games in 2005. In 2010, 21 people died because of a mass panic at theLove Parade; over 500 people were injured.[8]
In March 2011, the inaugural freight train of theChongqing–Xinjiang–Europe Railway arrived in Duisburg and since then the city has served as the railway's western terminus.[9]
On 7 April 2025 15 schools were closed after an unknownfar right extremist sent multiple bomb threats.[10]
Duisburg is in the Lowland Rhine area at the confluence of the Rhine and Ruhr and near the outskirts of theBergisches Land. The city spreads along both sides of these rivers.
Duisburg has anoceanic climate (Köppen:Cfb).[12] On25 July 2019, Duisburg recorded a temperature of 41.2 °C (106.2 °F), which is the highest temperature to have ever been recorded in Germany.[13]
The Duisburg city council (Duisburger Stadtrat) governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 14 September 2025, and the results were as follows:
In theLandtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, Duisburg is divided between three constituencies: 61 Duisburg I (containing Süd district and most of Mitte), 62 Duisburg II (Walsum, Rheinhausen, and most of Homberg/Ruhrort/Baerl), and 63 Duisburg III (Hamborn, Meiderich/Beeck, and parts of Mitte and Homberg/Ruhrort/Baerl). After the2022 North Rhine-Westphalia state election, all three constituencies were held by the SPD. Duisburg I was represented bySarah Philipp, Duisburg II by Rainer Bischoff, and Duisburg III by Frank Börner.
Population size may be affected by changes in administrative divisions.source:[14][circular reference][15]
Duisburg has one of the highest proportions of Muslims in Germany, with the city's Muslim population at approximately 15%, or 71,000 residents, as of 2011.[16]
Duisburg is home to 85,000 people ofTurkish origin.[19] Other estimates suggest that the Turkish population is as large as 100,000.[20][21][22] The new Merkez Mosque, one of the largest Muslimplaces of worship in Western Europe, was built with help by the way of contribution of 3.2 million euro from the EU and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.[23]Asiye Nur Fettahoğlu, a Turkish-German actress, was born in Duisburg on 12 November 1980.[24]
Duisburg hosts a comprehensive range of cultural facilities and events. A highlight is the annual "Duisburger Akzente",[25] a festival focusing on modern social, political and cultural topics.
Due to its history as a harbour city and a trade and industrial center, Duisburg offers a variety of architectural places of interest, such as theGerman Inland Waterways Museum. Buildings vary from old churches such as St. Johann Baptist in Duisburg-Hamborn, which was built in 900, tomodern age buildings such as Micro-Electronic-Centrum in Duisburg-Neudorf, built in 1995. Another subject of interest is theLandschaftspark Duisburg-Nord[26] an abandoned industrial complex open to the public and an Anchor Point of ERIH, TheEuropean Route of Industrial Heritage. The city center contains theWilhelm Lehmbruck Museum,[27] the municipal theatre[28] and the shopping street known as the "fountain mile".
As with the Venlo dialect, the city's local dialect, the Düsberjesch, called Duisburger Platt in German, is a tonal dialect of theKleverlandish heavily influenced historically by the Bergish dialects of theLimburgish language spoken in its southern boroughs.[citation needed]
Port of Duisburg [de] is the city's inland port. It is officially regarded as a seaport because seagoing river vessels go to ports in Europe, Africa and theMiddle East. Numerous docks are mostly located at the mouth of theRuhr where it joins theRhine.
Each year more than 40 million tonnes of various goods are handled with more than 20,000 ships calling at the port. The public harbour facilities stretch across an area of 7.4 square kilometres (2.9 sq mi). There are 21 docks covering an area of 1.8 km2 (0.7 sq mi) and 40 kilometres (25 miles) of wharf. The area of the Logport Logistic Center Duisburg stretches across an area of 2.65 km2 (1.02 sq mi). With 2.5 millionTEU it is also the largest inland container port, based on 2011 figures.[30] A number of companies run their own private docks and 114 million tonnes of goods yearly (2010) are handled in Duisburg in total.[needs update]
Duisburg is served by severalautobahns, with 3 east–west routes and 2 north–south routes.A3 forms a bypass east of the city and mostly serves through traffic.A59 runs parallel to A3 and serves the city from north to south with 14 interchanges, much more than most other cities in the Ruhr area. TheA40 andA42 are two east–west routes that serve central and northern Duisburg. Autobahn A40 also serves major through traffic from the Netherlands to Berlin and points east. A short spur,A524 serves southern Duisburg. Most Autobahns have six lanes or are upgraded to six lanes (A59).
Apart from the autobahns, noBundesstraßen serve the city directly.B8 runs through the city, but uses A59's alignment. B288 runs in the extreme south of the city, and serves traffic to and fromKrefeld. Several bridges span the Rhine, most prominently the A40 and A42 bridges, but also the L287suspension bridge and the L237arch bridge, a three-lane bridge with 2 lanes per peak direction with dynamic lane usage.
TheDuisburg Stadtbahn, theDuisburg tramway network, and a bus system, all operated by the Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft, provide local services. Stadtbahn line U79, the so-called "D-Bahn" ("D-Line"), connects to the neighbouring city ofDüsseldorf and is operated jointly with theRheinbahn of Düsseldorf. All S-Bahn, Stadtbahn, and bus lines operate under the umbrella of theVerkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr.
There are several newspapers reporting on local events and politics, including theWestdeutsche Allgemeine (WAZ), theNeue Ruhr Zeitung (NRZ) and theRheinische Post (RP). The localradio station "Radio Duisburg" was the first local radio broadcaster in theGerman state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It started broadcasting in 1990.There is a local television station ("STUDIO 47"), which was the first local station to broadcast inNorth Rhine-Westphalia. It started broadcasting in 2006. In its Duisburg studios theWDR produces a local programme for the city of Duisburg and theLower Rhine region north of Düsseldorf. WDR is part of the German television and radio networkARD.
Duisburg hosts a variety of sports activities and events, withfootball being the most prominent among residents. The local football club,MSV Duisburg, plays a central role in the city's sporting culture. MSV Duisburg plays its home matches at theMSV-Arena, a modern stadium accommodating football,American football, and other sporting events.
Duisburg served as one of the host cities for the2005 World Games during the summer of 2005. During the2006 FIFA World Cup, the city was used as the training base for the Portuguese national team, while theItalian national team, which went on to win the tournament, was accommodated there.
^abcdefghijklKraume, Hans Georg."Stadt Duisburg".Internetportal Rheinische Geschichte (in German). Landschaftsverband Rheinland (LVR). Retrieved2025-10-11.
^Stanton, Shelby,World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946 (revised ed., 2006), Stackpole Books, p. 97.
^Peacock, Jim; Peacock, Tom."Duisberg".Geocities. Yahoo. Archived fromthe original on 24 October 2009. Retrieved5 May 2009.
