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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 the state capital, Düsseldorf. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr, one of Europe's largest urban areas.
With about 163,000 inhabitants, Leverkusen is one of the state's smaller cities. The city is known for the pharmaceutical company Bayer and its sports club Bayer Leverkusen.
Leverkusen was ravaged during the Cologne War (1583 to 1588). The entire area was rural until the late 19th century, when industry prompted the development that led to the city of Leverkusen, and to its becoming one of the most important centres of the German chemical industry.
The chemist Carl Leverkus, looking for a place to build a dye factory, chose Wiesdorf in 1860. He built a factory for the production of artificial ultramarine blue at the Kahlberg in Wiesdorf in 1861, and called the emerging settlement "Leverkusen" after his family home in Lennep. The factory was taken over by the Bayer company in 1891; Bayer moved its headquarters to Wiesdorf in 1912. After asset confiscation at the end of the First World War, it became IG Farben. The city of Leverkusen proper was founded in 1930 by merging Wiesdorf, Schlebusch, Steinbüchel and Rheindorf, and was posthumously named for Carl Leverkus.
During the Second World War, the IG Farben factories were bombed by the RAF on 22 August 1943, WW2 People's War - A Bedfordshire Bomb Aimer - Part Two. BBC. Retrieved on 2013-07-17. again by the RAF during bombing campaigns on 19/20 November, the USAAF Eighth Air Force on 1 December 1943, 322nd Dailies from 1943 - 91st Bomb Group (H). 91st Bomb Group. Retrieved on 2013-07-17. and finally once again by the RAF on 10/11 December 1943.
In 1975, Opladen (including Quettingen and Lützenkirchen since 1930), Hitdorf and Bergisch Neukirchen joined Leverkusen. The present city is made up of former villages, originally called Wiesdorf, Opladen, Schlebusch, Manfort, Bürrig, Hitdorf, Quettingen, Lützenkirchen, Steinbüchel, Rheindorf and Bergisch-Neukirchen.
On 27 July 2021, an explosion at the Chempark site in the city killed 7 people and injured 31 others.
! rowspan=2 colspan=2| Candidate
! rowspan=2| Party
! colspan=2| First round
! colspan=2| Second round
|-
! Votes
! %
! Votes
! %
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Uwe Richrath
| align=left| Social Democratic Party
| 28,016
| 46.1
| 29,438
| 70.0
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Frank Schönberger
| align=left| Christian Democratic Union
| 14,198
| 23.4
| 12,619
| 30.0
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Stefan Baake
| align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens
| 7,283
| 12.0
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Roland Hartwig
| align=left| Alternative for Germany
| 3,132
| 5.2
|-
|
| align=left| Karl Schweiger
| align=left| Citizens' List Leverkusen
| 3,070
| 5.1
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Monika Ballin-Meyer-Ahrens
| align=left| Free Democratic Party
| 2,613
| 4.3
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Christian Alexander Langer
| align=left| Die PARTEI
| 1,377
| 2.3
|-
|
| align=left| Markus Beisicht
| align=left| Awakening Leverkusen
| 1,101
| 1.8
|-
! colspan=3| Valid votes
! 60,790
! 98.8
! 42,057
! 99.1
|-
! colspan=3| Invalid votes
! 744
! 1.2
! 362
! 0.9
|-
! colspan=3| Total
! 61,534
! 100.0
! 42,419
! 100.0
|-
! colspan=3| Electorate/voter turnout
! 126,846
! 48.5
! 126,801
! 33.5
|-
| colspan=7| Source: State Returning Officer
|}
! colspan=2| Party
! Votes
! %
! +/-
! Seats
! +/-
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Christian Democratic Union (CDU)
| 16,859
| 27.8
| 4.7
| 14
| 3
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Social Democratic Party (SPD)
| 15,276
| 25.2
| 3.1
| 13
| 1
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne)
| 11,015
| 18.2
| 8.8
| 9
| 4
|-
|
| align=left| Citizens' List Leverkusen (Bürgerliste)
| 3,630
| 6.0
| 1.0
| 3
| 1
|-
|
| align=left| Opladen Plus (OP)
| 3,601
| 5.9
| 0.7
| 3
| ±0
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Alternative for Germany (AfD)
| 3,466
| 5.7
| New
| 3
| New
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| Free Democratic Party (FDP)
| 2,937
| 4.8
| 1.0
| 3
| 1
|-
| bgcolor=|
| align=left| The Left (Die Linke)
| 2,092
| 3.4
| 0.4
| 2
| ±0
|-
|
| align=left| Citizens' Forum Green Leverkusen – Climate List (Büfo)
| 909
| 1.5
| New
| 1
| New
|-
|
| align=left| Awakening Leverkusen (AUF)
| 876
| 1.4
| New
| 1
| New
|-
! colspan=2| Valid votes
! 60,661
! 98.6
!
!
!
|-
! colspan=2| Invalid votes
! 866
! 1.4
!
!
!
|-
! colspan=2| Total
! 61,527
! 100.0
!
! 52
! ±0
|-
! colspan=2| Electorate/voter turnout
! 126,846
! 48.5
! 2.3
!
!
|-
| colspan=7| Source: State Returning Officer
|}
The Ostermann-Arena, previously known as Wilhelm Dopatka Halle and Smidt-Arena, was one of the host arenas for the FIBA EuroBasket 1985 (the official European Basketball Championship).
Demographics
Population development since 1832:
Politics
Mayor
The current mayor of Leverkusen is Uwe Richrath of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows:
City council
The Leverkusen city council governs the city alongside the mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows:
Coat of arms
The coat of arms consists of the two-tailed rampant red lion of the Bergisches Land with a blue crown on a silver background and an embattled line in front.
Main sights and places of interest
+Largest groups of foreign residents 3,776 2,382 2,159 1,956 1,254 1,015 12,096
Sports
The city is home of the football team Bayer Leverkusen, who won its first Bundesliga title in the 2023–24 season. It is also home of the basketball team Bayer Giants Leverkusen, which is the German record holder of national basketball championships. As of 2019, the team plays in the German ProA league and plays its home games in the Ostermann-Arena.
Twin towns – sister cities
Leverkusen is Sister city with:
Notable people
Sources
External links
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