Wuppertal. Probably a city you’ve never heard of, right?
Wuppertal is a town south of Essen. (If you’ve never heard of Essen, it’s about 2 hours north of Frankfurt, near Düsseldorf). Wuppertal is a beautiful university town, with lots of hills. It is biker friendly, artsy, eccentric and unique. It’s more small town meets big city (emphasis on the small town part). Despite its unpopularity, it still has unique things to offer, like a sculpture park, skytrain, and botanical gardens.
Lucas and I have been attempting to go to Wuppertal to the sculpture park for a while now, but either felt too tired, or the weather wasn’t cooperating in order to visit it. I have also REALLY wanted to go on the skytrain for a while, but the last time we were in Wuppertal, it was closed for maintenance. Sometimes, you just have to postpone things.
This time, we had the goal of going to the sculpture park, and got to Wuppertal and actually saw that the sky train was operating, so we added that to our destinations for the day.
The sculpture park features art from various artists that is located outdoors. It ranges from abstract to naturalistic (representing things as we see them). Sculptures are made from a variety of materials, such as sandstone, iron, marble, and even trash!
I really enjoyed the experience of walking through the park, even though I am not the biggest fan of art. I like to look at the art, even though I don’t really have a full understanding or appreciation of it. Sometimes you have to go places that are out of your comfort zone, to gain a different perspective.
With that being said, the park is quite beautiful. It is filled with bright green and happy trees, which line the walking paths to each sculpture. Some of my favorite sculptures were the sandstone monuments “Here Today, Gone Tomorrow”, as well as the different “Trashstones.” I like seeing what people can do with various mediums, including trash.
After the walk through the 30-acre sculpture park, we headed down to the SKY TRAIN!!!! I was so excited! I’ve never been on a sky train, except for at the Düsseldorf airport. But that is so tiny, I don’t feel like it is the same thing.
The sky train is a pretty blue color, and travels from one end of the city to the other, going along and over the river, across a highway, and over streets. One of it’s main stops is at the main train station for Wuppertal. I had never imagined, but it was actually built in 1901. It has about 8,25 miles or 13,3 kilometers of track that it covers. It goes a maximum of 60 km/hour or 37 mph.
FUN Facts:
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There is an Emoji for the Schwebebahn, which is the same color and style as one of the models: 🚟
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There are gummies shaped after the Schwebebahn, called Wuppertaler Schwebis from Haribo
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It is the oldest electric hanging train system in the world
i would really like to see more sky trains in the world- I like them better than subways. They seem much safer and not subject to sketchy people. I also like being able to look out over the city- somehow, it seems cleaner to me than subways, which get so dirty and grimy. Take a ride on a sky train if you have a chance! I hear there is one in Memphis, Tennessee!
“TWO ROADS DIVERGED IN A WOOD AND I – I TOOK THE ONE LESS TRAVELED BY.” -ROBERT FROST
Watch this video we made of the sculpture park to see more of the area. Be sure to watch to the end to take a ride with us on the skytrain!