The Bayer Cross in Leverkusen

Leverkusen

Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the South, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne and to the North is the state capital Düsseldorf....

 is the largest illuminated advertisement in the world. The advertisement is for Bayer

Bayer

Bayer AG is a chemical and pharmaceutical company founded in Barmen , Germany in 1863. It is headquartered in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and well known for its original brand of aspirin.-History:...

, the multinational pharmaceutical company based in Leverkusen

Leverkusen

Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the South, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne and to the North is the state capital Düsseldorf....

. The advertisement, installed in 1958, shows the emblem of the company Bayer. It hangs on two 118-metre steel towers and possesses a diameter of 51 metres and a weight of 300 tons. It takes 1,712 40-Watt bulbs to light the display. In 2003, the Bayer cross was overhauled completely.

An older Bayer Cross existed before World War II. This was erected in 1933 and placed between two 126-metre chimney

Chimney

A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...

s of a power station; it had a diameter of 72 metres. It was dismantled in 1944.

External links

• http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b46049 Leverkusen-guide