Tag Archives: Dusseldorf

Destination Overview, Dusseldorf, Germany

Rainy Day Dusseldorf, Germany

A Shot in the Rain:  Dusseldorf, Germany

A rainy day in the Neander Valley near the Neanderthal Museum

Dusseldorf is not the first city most Americans think of when planning a trip to Germany unless your interests are in the German fashion industry or you’re traveling to one of the many international trade shows held there each year. You might find yourself in Dusseldorf as a departure city for a Rhine cruise or as a gateway to nearby Belgium or Holland. But if you just passed through without stopping to take a look, you’d be missing some truly unique sights that the city has to offer.

The city is pretty compact and easy to negotiate with public transportation once you get your bearings. I would have appreciated a tourist information office inside the train station to help me figure out whether I needed a subway or streetcar line to get to my hotel. Fortunately, someone directed me to the streetcar office across the street from the station, where a nice gentleman sold me a ticket and told me the 709 tram across the street would drop me off a few feet from the Sorat Hotel.

I explored Dusseldorf from the Old Town along the Rhine Promenade to the funky modern architecture of the Media Harbor. I discovered the city’s commitment to contemporary art in some of its many art museums. I enjoyed a taste of nightlife at Roncalli’s Apollo Varieté, and I seriously investigated the traditional German custom of afternoon Kaffee und Kuchen (coffee and cake). I also paid a visit to the Dusseldorf Film Museum, and took a rainy side trip to the nearby Neander Valley, discovery site of the Neanderthal man and home of the Neanderthal Museum.

story and photos by Kayte Deioma

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Destination Features, Dusseldorf, Germany

Stage Magic: Roncalli’s Apollo Varieté

story and photos by Kayte Deioma

In 1976 – six years before the first Cirque du Soleil production – Circus Roncalli was born. It was the brain child of Bernhard Paul, an Austrian who left his job as Art Director at an international advertising agency to follow his dream of starting a circus. His new spectacle was dense with theworld’s finest physical circus acts. For over 30 years Circus Roncalli has toured Europe, becoming a much-loved tradition.

The original Apollo Theater on Dusseldorf’s Graf Adolf Platz provided variety shows including singers, dancers, comedians, acrobats and later film components from 1899 into the 1950s. It was torn down in the 1960s to make way for an office tower.The New Apollo is a glass-enclosed dinner theater tucked under the Rheinknie Bridge, overlooking the Rhine River.

In1997, Paul combined his successful Roncalli circus acts with Dusseldorf’s long history of vaudeville-style variety entertainment to open Roncalli’s Apollo Varieté in the New Apollo Theater. Once again, acts from around the world come to astound and amaze visitors with their feats of human strength, agility and dexterity, as well as musical and vocal prowess.

The many faces of Chris in "Mondkuss" at Roncalli's Apollo Varieté in DusseldorfThe shows change every couple months, with new performers taking the stage. The spectacle that I attended was called Mondkuss (Moon Kiss). Our MC was the multi-talented Chris, a quick-change artist in drag, who converted from little old lady to sequined mermaid and from singer to tap dancer to trapezeRola Rola with Dany Danielartist in the blink of an eye.

Chris was accompanied on stage by a tightrope walker, juggler, trapeze artist, hand-stand acrobat, vertical rope performer, and a balancing act. Ernest PalchikovSoprano Elizabeth Haumann added vocal contrast, singing sometimes solo and also in duets with Chris. Songs were in both German and English, with at least one other language thrown in for good measure.

In June and July 2007, Circus-Theater BINGO will take the stage with their production of Cult, including eighteen performers from the Ukraine and Moldavia. Among the acrobatics, it will contain more dance elements, pantomime and the multi-genre music quartet, Bryats Band.

Marco NouryThe amount of any language used in a production varies by show, but there’s always plenty to enjoy for those who don’t speak German. Most shows are family friendly, but some include adult content, so check with the theater before booking tickets for children.

Apollo TheaterDinner is available either upstairs before the show in the glass-enclosed dining room overlooking the Rhine, or in the theater itself before and during the show. Only beverages are available in the balcony seats. Show tickets can be purchased without dinner. You can also dine Upstairs dining room at the Apollo Theater overlooking the Rhine Promenadein the upstairs restaurant without seeing the show. Smoking is allowed in the theater except during the smoke-free Sunday matinee, but I didn’t notice is being overly smoky.

Occasionally, special one or two-night productions will interrupt the run of a longer show. For those planning a corporate meeting or conference in Dusseldorf, Roncalli’s Apollo Varieté also provides an opportunity to work your program or product into a special performance by their artists.

MC Chris at Roncalli's Apollo VarietéRoncalli’s Apollo Varieté
Apollo Platz 1
40213 Dusseldorf
49 (0) 211-828-9090
www.apollo-variete.com
info@apollo-variete.com

Destination Features, Dusseldorf, Germany

Let Them Eat Cake: Kaffee und Kuchen in Dusseldorf

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story and photos by Kayte Deioma

Cheesecake and strawberry cake at Bazzar Caffé, DusseldorfLike afternoon tea in England, Kaffee und Kuchen or coffee and cake is a time-honored ritual in Germany. Rather than serving dessert after a meal as we do in the U.S., sweets get their own dedicated meal mid-afternoon. Restaurants may hold strictly to their Coffee Table hours of 2:30 or 3 pm until 5, then re-open for dinner at 6:30 or 7 pm, but cafes are more flexible, and will serve you coffee and cake until they run out of cake.

When it comes to coffee, German varieties tend to be on the mild side. Kaffee Hag is the only brand of decaffeinated coffee widely available in Germany, but most cafes carry only caffeinated coffee. They may have herbal teas or hot chocolate as a decaffeinated alternative. Some cafes also serve alcohol.

ApflekuchenAs for cake, the Germans go all out with elegant layer cakes, streusel cakes with different kinds of fruit such as cherry or plum, apple cakes similar to a deep dish pie, fancy fruit tortes and gooey cream cakes. Then there are the cheese cakes, flat or tall, made with different kinds of cheese depending on the baker’s preferences, and sometimes combined with other ingredients like fruit or chocolate.

Here are some favorite places in Dusseldorf to stop for your Kaffee und Kuchen, depending on where you find yourself on a rainy afternoon.

Café Heinemann

Cakes in the front window at Cafe Heinemann, DusseldorfCafé Heinemann ( www.cafe-heinemann.de ) is a “destination café.” If you’re only going to stop at one cafe in Dusseldorf, this combination bakery, chocolate shop, cafe and restaurant has something for every sweet tooth and regular food besides. People come from far and wide to buy their chocolates and try their cakes. If you’re going to be shopping on the famed Königsallee, a high end shopping street with a tree-lined moat down the center, that’s a good time to stop at one of the three locations there. There are two at the north end of the boulevard; one at Königsallee 1 and across the street in the Vereinsbank Passage which goes through from Königsallee to Blumenstrasse.

Hawaiian Torte, Mozart Cake and Dutch Cherry Cream Cake at Cafe Heinemann, DusseldorfAt the south end of Königsallee, signs will direct you around the corner to Bahnstrasse 16. If the tantalizing cake selection in the window doesn’t draw you in, the fanciful chocolates will. In May, the selection included chocolate May beetles filled with champagne truffle and white chocolate asparagus spears in honor of asparagus season. Although the café/bakery is in the Viennese tradition, cakes range from the traditional Mozart torte with layers of chocolate, hazelnut cream and marzipan to the original Hawaii cake with at least seven kinds of fruit. For ease of ordering from the dozen or so varieties available, you select your cake from the display case up front before you sit down and order coffee.

Rondo Café and Bar

Yummy apple cake at Rondo Cafe in the Kö Galerie, DusseldorfIf you’re inside the maze of shopping passages along the east side of Königsallee, make your way to the top of the rotunda in the Kö Galerie to the Rondo Café & Bar. The tables all have a view down into the many levels of exclusive shops below, and if you can’t afford the Cartier shop next to the café, coffee and cake is no more expensive than anywhere else in town. The cakes are made by the same baker who supplies the café at the Benrath Palace. You won’t find the 25 varieties available at Benrath, but the half a dozen on offer each day are sure to be excellent. I recommend the Apfelkuchen (apple cake). Rondo Café, Königsallee 60 in the Kö Galerie.

Café Schwan

Awesome cheesecake at Cafe Schwan, DusseldorfIf you’re in the Altstadt ( Old Town), a nice place for an afternoon break isCafé Schwan, right on the square across from the old Schlossturm ( Castle Tower). If the weather is nice, there’s plenty of outdoor seating, but there’s lots of room inside too. The cake selection may not be very large, but you can pretty much depend on finding a great piece of cheesecake. Proprietor Kerstin Schwan, who also owns several other Dusseldorf restaurants, offers a full menu of German and international cuisine at the cafe. It’s especially popular for breakfast or brunch. Mühlenstraße 2 on the Burgplatz

Café Curtiz im KIT

Cherry cake at Café CurtizIf your exploring Kunst im Tunnel (Art in the Tunnel), plan your visit to coincide with a coffee break at the Café Curtiz im KIT. It’s also a full restaurant with a nice view of the Rhine River and the Rheinkniebrueke (literally, Rhine knee bridge, for the bend in the river where it crosses). The Café can also provide an inexpensive dinner if you’re planning a visit to the Apollo Theater next door and didn’t buy the dinner tickets there.

Bazzar Caffé
Coffee makers at Bazzar Caffé, Dusseldorf
If you care more about the coffee than the cake, Bazzar Caffé(www.bazzar.de) at Heinrich-Heine-Allee 53 in the Wilhelm Marx building is an homage to the dark brew. Floor to ceiling shelves display just about every kind of coffee making gadget ever invented. They have coffee specialties with and without alcohol – or alcohol with and without coffee if you prefer. They also serve sandwiches, salads and a full breakfast menu. Cake selections vary.

Top 180 at the Rheinturm

Top 180 with a rotating view of the city from the Rheinturm, DusseldorfThe rotating Top 180 (www.rheinturm-restaurants-duesseldorf.de) restaurant atop the Rheinturm ( Rhine Tower) serves Kaffee und Kuchen from 2:30 to 5 pm. You have to pay the entrance fee to the tower to go up to the restaurant, but if you’re going up anyway, you might as well stop for cake, right? Alas, I missed the official cake hours and was too early for dinner, so I could just look longingly at the leftovers and enjoy the view.

Neanderthal Café

Plum cake with a view of the Neander Valley at the Neanderthal MuseumIf you make the trip out to the Neanderthal Museum near Mettman, you’ll be surrounded by café/restaurants if you want to get out of the museum for a break. But you don’t have to leave the building to find a delicious piece of cake. Several varieties are served daily along with a tranquil view of the woods from the upstairs Café inside the museum.