Düsseldorf-Oberbilk
Encyclopedia
Oberbilk is an inner-city urban borough in the south-east of the German
city of Düsseldorf
. The back exit of the Central Station
leads to Oberbilk. The District Court of Düsseldorf will take its new seat in Oberbilk, as will the main office of the Communal Library of Düsseldorf. Oberbilk is also home to the Mitsubishi Electric Halle, a concert arena with a capacity for 7,500.
Oberbilk has a high population density, with 27,570 people living in just 4.38 km². Twenty-three percent are non-German, which is higher than the 17% found in Düsseldorf as a whole.
Traditionally Oberbilk was a working class borough containing heavy industry.
This changed in the 1980s and, following restructuring, employment is now dominated by the third sector. Unemployment is very high.
, Bilk
, Flingern
, Lierenfeld
and Wersten
.
and Meerbusch
.
Düsseldorf-Oberbilk station
connects it with the Central Station
, the International Airport
, other parts of Düsseldorf, Cologne, Leverkusen
, Solingen
, Ratingen Ost
, Duisburg
, Mülheim
and Essen
.
There are two tram lines and some bus lines as well.
from 1384. There were only a few farms then and agriculture dominated until 1838 when Düsseldorf-Elberfelder Eisenbahn took its railway through Oberbilk; the Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn line followed in 1845.
With good railway connections to the coal mines of the Ruhr area
, the steel industry built factories in Oberbilk, starting in 1852 with the Belgian Richard Brothers' Pudelstahlwerk. The industrial dynasty of Poensgen settled in Oberbilk in the 1860s.
The main part of Oberbilk was industrial or basic housing for the workers until the Second World War, when much of it was destroyed. Until the 1970s, when the war damage was repaired, restoration was piecemeal and rents in Oberbilk, especially its central district, were very low, in contrast to most other parts of Düsseldorf. This attracted immigrants and vice, with some brothel
s operating in the borough.
Oberbilk had three cinemas, a department store and a lot of small shops, but many in Düsseldorf regarded it as a slum
. In the 1980s the last industrial jobs left.
In the 1980s the Central Station of Düsseldorf was renovated, after which the area behind the railway station was planned anew. Insurance offices, the main seat of the Communal Library (Stadtbücherei), the State Court for Labour and Social Law (Landesarbeits und Landessozialgericht) settled in Oberbilk, bringing employment in services. The quality of life is much higher than in the 1980s, but it's still one of the poorer parts of Düsseldorf.
Communal Administration - Statistic Office
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
city of Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
. The back exit of the Central Station
Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Düsseldorf in Germany, state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.-History:The station was opened on 1 October 1891 opened as Düsseldorf Central Station...
leads to Oberbilk. The District Court of Düsseldorf will take its new seat in Oberbilk, as will the main office of the Communal Library of Düsseldorf. Oberbilk is also home to the Mitsubishi Electric Halle, a concert arena with a capacity for 7,500.
Oberbilk has a high population density, with 27,570 people living in just 4.38 km². Twenty-three percent are non-German, which is higher than the 17% found in Düsseldorf as a whole.
Traditionally Oberbilk was a working class borough containing heavy industry.
This changed in the 1980s and, following restructuring, employment is now dominated by the third sector. Unemployment is very high.
Geography
Oberbilk lies to the south-east of the Central Station and borders on the Central DistrictDüsseldorf-Stadtmitte
Stadtmitte is an urban borough in the central District 1 of Düsseldorf, Germany. Stadtmitte borders with Carlstadt, Pempelfort, Oberbilk and the old town of Düsseldorf: Düsseldorf-Altstadt.In the Stadtmitte there are:...
, Bilk
Düsseldorf-Bilk
Bilk, Oberbilk and Unterbilk are parts of Düsseldorf and together with Hamm, Flehe and Volmerswerth they constitute City District 3, which is the most populated district of Düsseldorf with 105,281 inhabitants....
, Flingern
Düsseldorf-Flingern
Flingern is a former blue-collar borough of Düsseldorf. Located northeast of Düsseldorf , it is divided into two boroughs today: Flingern-Nord and Flingern-Süd....
, Lierenfeld
Düsseldorf-Lierenfeld
Lierenfeld is an urban borough of Düsseldorf. It borders on Eller, Oberbilk, Flingern and Wersten.Lierenfeld was a conglomerate of homesteads when it became a part of Düsseldorf in 1384.For a long while Lierenfeld had an agricultural character....
and Wersten
Düsseldorf-Wersten
Wersten is an urban borough of Düsseldorf. It is south of Eller and Oberbilk, east of Bilk, north of Holthausen.It has been a part of Düsseldorf since 1909.-History:Wersten was written mentioned first time in 1063 as 'Werstine'....
.
Public transport
In Oberbilk there are five underground lines, leading in one direction to the south of Düsseldorf, in the other direction to the Central District and the northern and western boroughs of the city. There are also metro lines to the neighbouring cities of DuisburgDuisburg
- History :A legend recorded by Johannes Aventinus holds that Duisburg, was built by the eponymous Tuisto, mythical progenitor of Germans, ca. 2395 BC...
and Meerbusch
Meerbusch
Meerbusch, a town in Rhein-Kreis Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, has been an incorporated city since 1970. Meerbusch is the municipality with the second most income millionaires in North Rhine-Westphalia.- Geography :...
.
Düsseldorf-Oberbilk station
Düsseldorf-Oberbilk station
Düsseldorf-Oberbilk is an interchange railway station situated at Oberbilk, Düsseldorf in western Germany. It is served by the S1, S6 and S68 lines of Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn and lines U74, U77 and U79 of Düsseldorf Stadtbahn .- References :...
connects it with the Central Station
Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Düsseldorf in Germany, state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia.-History:The station was opened on 1 October 1891 opened as Düsseldorf Central Station...
, the International Airport
Düsseldorf International Airport
Düsseldorf International Airport is the largest airport in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and the third largest airport in Germany, handling 18.99 million passengers in 2010....
, other parts of Düsseldorf, Cologne, Leverkusen
Leverkusen Mitte station
Leverkusen Mitte is a railway station on the Cologne–Duisburg railway, located in Leverkusen, Germany. It is served by regional trains of Deutsche Bahn and the S6 line of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn.-Train services:...
, Solingen
Solingen Hauptbahnhof
Solingen Hauptbahnhof is the only train station in Solingen, Germany offering ICE and IC long distance trains....
, Ratingen Ost
Ratingen Ost station
Ratingen Ost is a railway station situated in Ratingen in western Germany. It is served by the S6 line of Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn....
, Duisburg
Duisburg Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof of the city of Duisburg in western Germany. It is situated at the meeting point of many important national and international railway lines in the Northwestern Ruhr valley.- Lines :...
, Mülheim
Mülheim (Ruhr) Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Mülheim in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It was renamed as a Hauptbahnhof in 1974 at the time of the rebuilding of the Dortmund–Duisburg line as part of the establishment of the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn....
and Essen
Essen Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof for the city of Essen in western Germany. It is situated south of the old town centre, next to the A 40 motorway.It was opened in 1862 by the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn...
.
There are two tram lines and some bus lines as well.
History
Oberbilk was a part of BilkDüsseldorf-Bilk
Bilk, Oberbilk and Unterbilk are parts of Düsseldorf and together with Hamm, Flehe and Volmerswerth they constitute City District 3, which is the most populated district of Düsseldorf with 105,281 inhabitants....
from 1384. There were only a few farms then and agriculture dominated until 1838 when Düsseldorf-Elberfelder Eisenbahn took its railway through Oberbilk; the Cöln-Mindener Eisenbahn line followed in 1845.
With good railway connections to the coal mines of the Ruhr area
Ruhr Area
The Ruhr, by German-speaking geographers and historians more accurately called Ruhr district or Ruhr region , is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With 4435 km² and a population of some 5.2 million , it is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany...
, the steel industry built factories in Oberbilk, starting in 1852 with the Belgian Richard Brothers' Pudelstahlwerk. The industrial dynasty of Poensgen settled in Oberbilk in the 1860s.
The main part of Oberbilk was industrial or basic housing for the workers until the Second World War, when much of it was destroyed. Until the 1970s, when the war damage was repaired, restoration was piecemeal and rents in Oberbilk, especially its central district, were very low, in contrast to most other parts of Düsseldorf. This attracted immigrants and vice, with some brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s operating in the borough.
Oberbilk had three cinemas, a department store and a lot of small shops, but many in Düsseldorf regarded it as a slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
. In the 1980s the last industrial jobs left.
Restructuring
In the late 1970s, restructuring began. After the last steel factory left Oberbilk in 1979, the communal administration planned Oberbilk as a third sector area.In the 1980s the Central Station of Düsseldorf was renovated, after which the area behind the railway station was planned anew. Insurance offices, the main seat of the Communal Library (Stadtbücherei), the State Court for Labour and Social Law (Landesarbeits und Landessozialgericht) settled in Oberbilk, bringing employment in services. The quality of life is much higher than in the 1980s, but it's still one of the poorer parts of Düsseldorf.
Sources
This article is based on a translation from the German Wikipedia.Communal Administration - Statistic Office