How a little-known German city became home to one of the world’s most exciting train journeys

When someone does the train trip of your dreams life through Europethe thrill of riding the rails can wear thin quickly.

We pass a month traveling by Interrail through the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Franceso my family of five felt like they had experienced everything that train travel had to offer.

But then we headed to Wuppertal, east of Düsseldorf (Germany), when there is railway attraction that will restore enthusiasm even to the most experienced travelers.

Schwebebahn: Wuppertal’s unique suspension railway

This is where the Schwebebahn is located, arailway unique pendant in which the wagons are suspended from a central track and are transported along the 13 kilometer route, about 12 meters above the river.

There is even a panoramic window at the back of the train that allows you to see the city and the watercourse that serves as the track to the system of public transportation.

It was the perfect way to spend a rainy day, since once on board, you can go from one end of the track to the other without getting wet. It takes about half an hour to travel the route and then you have to get off while he train goes around the terminal to return along the line.

Unlike many urban transportation systems that are a bit hidden, such as theLondon subwaythis is very visible, thanks to the huge green frames that support the rail above the road and the river.

Here, the structure and architecture that make up the Schwebebahn have come to be celebrated and adopted as part of the city’s identity.

Why was Wuppertal chosen for this unique public transport system?

The journey of the Schwebebahn began 200 years ago, when Englishman Henry Robinson Palmer designed a hanging container system drawn by horses that was tested at Elberfeld (Germany) two years later.

Another 80 years passed before construction work began on the system electric what we see todaywith the inverted monorail offered to large cities like Berlin and Munich before being installed in what is now known as Wuppertal.

At the beginning of the 21st century, there were three separate cities called Barmen, Elberfeld and Vohwinkelbut within 30 years the trio had expanded so much, thanks to the Schwebebahn, that they merged to become Wuppertal.

The hardness of the rock on which the city sits prevented the installation of an underground system, and The cities were distributed along the valley, with most of the busiest buildings close to the river itself. It was logical to install a system that followed the course of the water.

Do you want to ride the Schwebebahn? This is what you need to know

Take the train Düsseldorf and Wuppertal main station, where you can connect to the Schwebebahn, takes about 20 minutes. You can also take a train from Coloniawhich takes between 30 and 45 minutes.

If you travel in Interrail, your ticket does not cover a trip on the suspension system, just as you can’t use it to get on the subway in Paris or a bus in Berlin. But there are still many ticket options, such as buying the Germany ticket49 euros per month, which covers all local transport such as buses, subways, trams and regional trains throughout Germany.

We bought a 20 euro bill that covers 24 hours for up to four people, so you can hop on and off as you please and explore all that Wuppertal has to offer.

The city has just been included in a list of Europe’s best hidden gems for 2024 by European Best Destinationsso you might want to head off the slopes a bit to see what else there is to explore in this lesser-known location.

What else can you do in Wuppertal?

In addition to its unique railway system, much appreciated by tourists and travelers, Wuppertal is also the greenest city in Germanysince you are never more than 10 minutes walk from one of its many green spaces.

Outdoor attractions are the garden botanical garden, the Grüne Zoo Wuppertal or the Waldfrieden sculpture park.

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art lovers you can visit the Von der Heydt Museumwhich includes works from the 17th century by artists such as Cezanne, Monet y Gauguin.

If your trip on the Schwebebahn has inspired you, there are two transport museums in the area. The Bergische Museumsbahn transports trams historical on Saturdays throughout the year and on Sundays in summer.

At the end of last year, the Schwebodrom was inaugurated, after three years of construction. This museo is dedicated to counting the history of the suspension railwayincluding a virtual reality experience in one of the original carriages, replaced by a modern one.

Throughout its 125 years of existence, many fascinating stories have been told, such as the time when a circus elephant was transported in one of the carriages as a publicity stunt in 1950, before panicking, crashing through a window and falling into the river.

Fortunately, Tuffi only suffered minor injuries and lived 39 more years. But the story of his fall from the train is just one of the Schwebebahn’s memorable moments. If you are looking for a place that is making a name for itself as a different destination, Wuppertal is well worth a visit.

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