Like a tram in the sky
A trip in Wuppertal’s floating tram can be exhilarating and terrifying at the same time, especially when raining,
After jostling for space in a typical Indian city, a walk through the sparsely populated town of Wuppertal in the erstwhile Federal Republic of Germany is refreshing. The city’s claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of the tablet Asprin. In 1897, the German pharmaceutical company Bayer produced its brand of acetylsalicylic acid, drawn from the bark of the local willow plant, and sold it across the world with its trademark. It lost the trademark in the next century — one of those casualties of the Great War — but by then, Wuppertal had established itself firmly on the industrial map.
Perhaps the city’s once flourishing industry helped shape revolutionary thoughts in one of its most famous sons, Friedrich Engels, who supported and co-authored The Communist Manifesto with fellow German Karl Marx. Engels’ ideas were unpalatable to his parents, leading to a rift that probably led him to settle down in Britain in the years to come.
A trip in the tram
It was raining on the day we decided to take the city’s famous floating tram and get a bird’s eye view of the magnificent city. The Wuppertal Schewebebahn (Floating Tram) began its life in the skies in 1901. Back then, its designer Eugen Langen had dreamt of it floating above the streets of Berlin, but had to finally settle for Wuppertal. While most modern western cities opted to burrow into the underground for its mass transportation systems, Wuppertal aimed for the sky. Hanging from intricate metal beams, the tram is suspended mid-air as it snakes it way through the city, offering a majestic view of the mountains that surround the city.
Sometime in the 1900s, German emperor William II had participated in the tram’s trial run before it was thrown open to the general public. The only time the tram got closed down was during the Second World War, when allied bombers inflicted extensive damage on its steel beams. But by 1946, German engineers swung into action to restore its floating tram as the country began to emerge from its post-War years.
The tram travels 39ft above river Wupper, traversing a distance of nearly 13kms. Here, an accident can mean a dip in the bone-chilling water in the river below the tram. To those of us who were used to travelling closer to terra-firma, the idea seemed exciting as well as daunting. It helped that there is a metal net below so that an unfortunate slip doesn’t take you straight to the river.
Holding our breath, we climbed into the tram. Large windows opened up a majestic view of the city, which was dotted with trees. The cold waters of the Wupper river was flowing gently below. It took us a bit of time and assurance from co-passengers that there has been only one accident in its 110-year existence, to settle down. The Germans clearly take their engineering feats quite seriously.
The city swished past in a delightful blur, as its buildings and trees merged or separated nearly 35 feet below us.
A ghost town called Olberg
The Olberg district has a population of just about 17,000: Nearly 60,000 of its residents left for larger cities like Cologne and Bonn. The district’s magnificent mansions, called Wilhelminian houses, now lie vacant. Rents have plummeted (from 12 euros to 3 euros per sq mt). A mansion can be bought for as cheap as 1,00,000 euros. Groups here actually work towards bringing back the district’s population to save the crumbling houses that have been un-cared for. In the last couple of years, Wuppertal has begun to attract artists who use corner shops as a studio or gallery.
A trip in Wuppertal’s floating tram can be exhilarating and terrifying at the same time, especially when raining,
After jostling for space in a typical Indian city, a walk through the sparsely populated town of Wuppertal in the erstwhile Federal Republic of Germany is refreshing. The city’s claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of the tablet Asprin. In 1897, the German pharmaceutical company Bayer produced its brand of acetylsalicylic acid, drawn from the bark of the local willow plant, and sold it across the world with its trademark. It lost the trademark in the next century — one of those casualties of the Great War — but by then, Wuppertal had established itself firmly on the industrial map.
Perhaps the city’s once flourishing industry helped shape revolutionary thoughts in one of its most famous sons, Friedrich Engels, who supported and co-authored The Communist Manifesto with fellow German Karl Marx. Engels’ ideas were unpalatable to his parents, leading to a rift that probably led him to settle down in Britain in the years to come.
A trip in the tram
It was raining on the day we decided to take the city’s famous floating tram and get a bird’s eye view of the magnificent city. The Wuppertal Schewebebahn (Floating Tram) began its life in the skies in 1901. Back then, its designer Eugen Langen had dreamt of it floating above the streets of Berlin, but had to finally settle for Wuppertal. While most modern western cities opted to burrow into the underground for its mass transportation systems, Wuppertal aimed for the sky. Hanging from intricate metal beams, the tram is suspended mid-air as it snakes it way through the city, offering a majestic view of the mountains that surround the city.
Sometime in the 1900s, German emperor William II had participated in the tram’s trial run before it was thrown open to the general public. The only time the tram got closed down was during the Second World War, when allied bombers inflicted extensive damage on its steel beams. But by 1946, German engineers swung into action to restore its floating tram as the country began to emerge from its post-War years.
The tram travels 39ft above river Wupper, traversing a distance of nearly 13kms. Here, an accident can mean a dip in the bone-chilling water in the river below the tram. To those of us who were used to travelling closer to terra-firma, the idea seemed exciting as well as daunting. It helped that there is a metal net below so that an unfortunate slip doesn’t take you straight to the river.
Holding our breath, we climbed into the tram. Large windows opened up a majestic view of the city, which was dotted with trees. The cold waters of the Wupper river was flowing gently below. It took us a bit of time and assurance from co-passengers that there has been only one accident in its 110-year existence, to settle down. The Germans clearly take their engineering feats quite seriously.
The city swished past in a delightful blur, as its buildings and trees merged or separated nearly 35 feet below us.
A ghost town called Olberg
The Olberg district has a population of just about 17,000: Nearly 60,000 of its residents left for larger cities like Cologne and Bonn. The district’s magnificent mansions, called Wilhelminian houses, now lie vacant. Rents have plummeted (from 12 euros to 3 euros per sq mt). A mansion can be bought for as cheap as 1,00,000 euros. Groups here actually work towards bringing back the district’s population to save the crumbling houses that have been un-cared for. In the last couple of years, Wuppertal has begun to attract artists who use corner shops as a studio or gallery.
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