Editing Düsseldorf (section)

==History==
{{for timeline|Timeline of Düsseldorf}}

===Early development===
When the [[Roman Empire]] was strengthening its position throughout Europe, a few [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]] clung on in [[marsh]]y territory off the eastern banks of the [[Rhine]].<ref>Weidenhaupt, Hugo: ''Kleine Geschichte der Stadt Düsseldorf'', Triltsch-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1979; {{ISBN|3-7998-0000-X}}. {{in lang|de }}</ref> In the 7th and 8th centuries, the odd [[Agriculture|farming]] or [[fishing]] settlement could be found at the point where the small river [[Düssel]] flows into the Rhine. It was from such settlements that the city of Düsseldorf grew.
[[File:Duesseldorf-Kupferstich-Merian.png|thumb|left|Düsseldorf in 1647]]
[[File:Karte_von_Düsseldorf_(um_1740).tif|thumb|Map of Düsseldorf ({{circa|1740}})]]
[[File:Jan van der Heyden and Adriaen van de Velde - View of Düsseldorf with the church of St. Andrew in the centre.jpg|thumb|left|View of Düsseldorf with the church of [[St. Andreas, Düsseldorf|St. Andrew]] in the centre, 1667. The architectural elements were painted by [[Jan van der Heyden]] and the figures by [[Adriaen van de Velde]].]]
[[File:Stadt Düsseldorf 1899.jpg|left|thumb|Bond of the town Düsseldorf, issued 26. July 1899<ref>Jörg Nimmergut: Historische Wertpapiere – Sinnvoll sammeln – garantiert gewinnen, p. 144-145, {{ISBN|3894410426 }}</ref>]]

The first written mention of Düsseldorf (then called ''Dusseldorp'' in the local [[Meuse-Rhenish|Low Rhenish]] dialect) dates back to 1135. Under [[Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa]] the small town of [[Düsseldorf-Kaiserswerth|Kaiserswerth]] to the north of Düsseldorf became a well-fortified outpost, where soldiers kept a watchful eye on every movement on the Rhine. Kaiserswerth eventually became a suburb of Düsseldorf in 1929. 

In 1186, Düsseldorf came under the rule of the Counts of [[County of Berg|Berg]]. 14 August 1288 is one of the most important dates in the history of Düsseldorf, the day the sovereign Count [[Adolf VIII of Berg]] granted [[town privileges]] to the village on the banks of the Düssel. Before this, a [[War of the Limburg Succession|bloody struggle for power]] had taken place between the [[Archbishop of Cologne]] and his allies arrayed against the count of [[County of Berg|Berg]] and other local powers, culminating in the [[Battle of Worringen]].{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} The Archbishop of Cologne's forces were wiped out by the forces of the count of [[County of Berg|Berg]], who were supported by citizens and farmers of Cologne and Düsseldorf, paving the way for Düsseldorf's elevation to city status, which is commemorated today by a monument on the Burgplatz. 

After this battle the relationship between Cologne and Düsseldorf deteriorated, because they were commercial rivals; it is often said that there is a kind of hostility between the citizens of Cologne and Düsseldorf. Today, it finds its expression mainly in a humorous form (especially during the Rhineland ''[[carnival|Karneval]]'') and in sports.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

[[File:NRW, Dusseldorf, Rheinturm - view to Landtag.jpg|thumb|The [[Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia|state parliament]], seen from the top of the [[Rheinturm]]]]
[[File:Rheinturm Düsseldorf NRW mit Sternschnuppe.jpg|thumb|Rheinturm Düsseldorf 70th Anniversary of the NRW state, illumination with [[Rheinkomet]]]]
[[File:Dusseldorf Germany - Various scenes - 2014 Dec 27 28.webm|thumb|Various scenes around Düsseldorf in December 2014]]

The custom of turning cartwheels is credited to the children of Düsseldorf. There are variations of the origin{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} of the cartwheeling children. Today the symbol (Der Radschläger){{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} represents the story and every year the Düsseldorfers celebrate by having a cartwheeling contest. 

A [[market square]] sprang up on the banks of the Rhine and the square was protected by [[Defensive wall|city walls]] on all four sides. In 1380, the dukes of [[Duchy of Berg|Berg]] moved their seat to the town and Düsseldorf was made regional capital of the Duchy of Berg. During the following centuries several famous landmarks were built, including the {{ill|Collegiate Church of St Lambertus|de|St. Lambertus (Düsseldorf)}}. In 1609, the ducal line of the [[United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg]] died out, and after a violent struggle over succession, Jülich and Berg fell to the [[House of Wittelsbach|Wittelsbach]] Counts of [[Palatinate-Neuburg]], who made Düsseldorf their main domicile, even after they inherited the [[Electorate of the Palatinate]], in 1685, becoming now [[Prince-elector]]s as Electors Palatine.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}

Under the art-loving [[Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine|Johann Wilhelm II]] (r. 1690–1716), a vast [[art museum|art gallery]], with a huge selection of paintings and sculptures, was housed in the ''Stadtschloss'' (city castle). After his death, the city fell on hard times again, especially after Elector [[Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria|Charles Theodore]] inherited Bavaria and moved the electoral court to [[Munich, Germany|Munich]]. With him he took the [[collection (museum)|art collection]], which became part of what is now the [[Alte Pinakothek]] in Munich. 

Destruction and poverty struck Düsseldorf after the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. [[Napoleon]] made Berg a [[Grand Duchy of Berg|Grand Duchy]] and Düsseldorf its capital. [[Johann Christian Claudius Devaranne|Johann Devaranne]], a leader of [[Solingen]]'s resistance to Napoleon's conscription decrees, was executed here in 1813. 

After Napoleon's defeat, the whole [[Rhineland]] including Berg was given to the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] in 1815. The [[Rhine Province]]'s parliament was established in Düsseldorf.{{When|date=December 2014}} By the mid-19th century, Düsseldorf enjoyed a revival thanks to the [[Industrial Revolution]] as the city boasted 100,000 inhabitants by 1882; the figure doubled in 1892.

===World War I===
During [[World War I]] the [[Royal Naval Air Service]] (RNS) undertook the first [[Entente Powers|Entente]] strategic bombing missions on 22 September 1914, when it bombed the Zeppelin bases in Düsseldorf.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Madison |first=Rodney |title=Air Warfare, Strategic Bombing |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of World War I: A Political, Social and Military History |volume=1 |location=Santa Barbara |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2005 |pages=45–46 |isbn=1851094202}}; {{cite encyclopedia |last=Tilford |first=Earl H. Jr. |title=Air Warfare: Strategic Bombing |encyclopedia=The European Powers in the First World War: An Encyclopedia |location=Santa Barbara |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=1996 |pages=13–15 |isbn=0-81533-351-X }}</ref>

===Weimar Republic===
In 1920, Düsseldorf became the centre of the [[Ruhr uprising|General Strike]] that grew out of the resistance to the [[Kapp Putsch]]. On 15 April 1920, 45 delegates of the German Miners Union were murdered by the [[Freikorps]].<ref>Birchall, Ian H./Pierre Broué/Brian Pearce, ''The German Revolution 1917–1923'', p. 278.<!-- publishing info; ISBN needed --></ref>

===World War II===
{{See also|Gau Düsseldorf|Bombing of Düsseldorf in World War II}}
During [[World War II]], Düsseldorf was the location of a Nazi prison with several [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|forced labour]] subcamps,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1109 |title=Strafgefängnis und Untersuchungshaftanstalt Düsseldorf-Derendorf |website=Bundesarchiv.de |access-date=31 March 2024 |language=de |archive-date=31 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331103914/https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1109 |url-status=live }}</ref> five subcamps of the [[Buchenwald concentration camp]] for mostly Polish and Soviet prisoners, but also French, Dutch, Belgian, Czech, Italian, Yugoslav,<ref>{{cite book |last=Megargee |first=Geoffrey P. |year=2009 |title=The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume I |publisher=Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |pages=330–336 |isbn=978-0-253-35328-3 }}</ref> and a camp for [[Sinti]] and Romani people (see ''[[Romani Holocaust]]'').<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bundesarchiv.de/zwangsarbeit/haftstaetten/index.php?action=2.2&tab=7&id=1107 |title=Lager für Sinti und Roma Düsseldorf |website=Bundesarchiv.de |access-date=31 March 2024 |language=de }}</ref> The Rabbi of the Düsseldorf Jewish Community fled to the Netherlands and died in KZ [[Auschwitz]] in 1943.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310937 |title=Israel National News 1 August 2021 |access-date=3 August 2021 |archive-date=3 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210803175038/https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310937 |url-status=live }}</ref> 

The city was a target of [[strategic bombing during World War II]], particularly during the [[battle of the Ruhr|RAF bombing campaign in 1943]] when over 700 bombers were used in a single night. Raids continued late into the war. As part of [[Oil Campaign of World War II|the campaign against German oil facilities]], the RAF raid of 20–21 February 1945 on the Rhenania Ossag refinery in the Reisholz district of the city halted oil production there. 

The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Düsseldorf in mid-April 1945. The [[97th Infantry Division (United States)|United States 97th Infantry Division]] easily captured the city on 18 April 1945,<ref>Stanton, Shelby, ''World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946'' (Revised Edition, 2006), Stackpole Books, p. 174.<!-- ISBN needed --></ref> after the local [[German resistance to Nazism|German Resistance]] group launched [[Aktion Rheinland]].

===German Federal Republic===
In 1946, Düsseldorf was made capital of the new [[Federation|federal state]] of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]]. The city's reconstruction proceeded at a frantic pace and the economic transformation guided Düsseldorf's economic growth.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}