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With about 163,000 inhabitants, Leverkusen is one of the state's smaller cities. The city is known for the pharmaceutical companyBayer and its sports clubBayer Leverkusen.
The heart of what is now Leverkusen was Wiesdorf, a village on theRhine, which dates back to the 12th century.[2] With the surrounding villages which have now been incorporated, the area also includes the riversWupper andDhünn,[3] and has suffered a lot from flooding, notably in 1571 and 1657, the latter resulting in Wiesdorf being moved East from the river to its present location.[2]
Leverkusen was ravaged during theCologne War (1583 to 1588). The entire area was rural until the late 19th century, when industry prompted the development that led to the city of Leverkusen, and to its becoming one of the most important centres of the German chemical industry.
The chemistCarl Leverkus, looking for a place to build adye factory, chose Wiesdorf in 1860. He built a factory for the production of artificialultramarine blue at the Kahlberg in Wiesdorf in 1861, and called the emerging settlement "Leverkusen" after his family home inLennep. The factory was taken over by theBayer company in 1891; Bayer moved its headquarters to Wiesdorf in 1912. After asset confiscation at the end of the First World War, it becameIG Farben. The city of Leverkusen proper was founded in 1930 by merging Wiesdorf, Schlebusch, Steinbüchel and Rheindorf, and was posthumously named for Carl Leverkus.[3]
During the Second World War, the IG Farben factories were bombed by theRAF on 22 August 1943,[4] again by the RAF duringbombing campaigns on 19/20 November, the USAAFEighth Air Force on 1 December 1943,[5] and finally once again by the RAF on 10/11 December 1943.
In 1975,Opladen (including Quettingen and Lützenkirchen since 1930), Hitdorf and Bergisch Neukirchen joined Leverkusen. The present city is made up of former villages, originally called Wiesdorf, Opladen, Schlebusch, Manfort, Bürrig, Hitdorf, Quettingen, Lützenkirchen, Steinbüchel, Rheindorf and Bergisch-Neukirchen.[3]
The current mayor of Leverkusen is Uwe Richrath of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD), elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:
The Leverkusen city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:
The coat of arms consists of the two-tailed rampant red lion of theBergisches Land with a blue crown on a silver background and anembattled line in front.[3]
Colony of workers – historical area in the form of houses and other buildings constructed for employees and families of the chemical works at the end of the 19th and beginning of 20th century.[9]
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit – historical boat bridge next to the Rhine, between Wiesdorf and Rheindorf.
Mausoleum ofCarl Duisberg – mausoleum in the centre of the Carl Duisberg Park, next to the Casino.
NaturGut Ophoven – educational centre for nature in Leverkusen-Opladen.
The nearest airports to the city areCologne Bonn Airport, located 63 km (39 mi) south andDüsseldorf Airport, located 41 km (25 mi) north west of Leverkusen.
