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2. Unique Selling Points
Business: Düsseldorf is one of Germany’s leading centres of commerce. There are numerous German companies with head offices in Düsseldorf that operate worldwide in the area of finance, fashion, commerce and research that have their headquarters in this business destination. 5,000 of these companies are foreign. The MediaHarbour is home to numerous newspaper publishing houses, advertising agencies, public relations consultancies and architect firms, while the city also has over 170 banks and 45 insurance companies. More than 40 international trade fairs take place at Messe Düsseldorf. A stimulating factor for the city is the Trade Fair & Congress centre, which is ideally located between the airport and the city centre. “Trade fairs, conferences, and big events made in Düsseldorf” are a synonym for quality worldwide.

Fashion, shopping and lifestyle: Düsseldorf ranks among the world’s best fashion locations alongside Milan, Paris and Florence. Every year more than 230,000 visitors gather information here on the latest international creations and trends in women’s and men’s fashion, wedding and evening fashion, lingerie, sourcing, shoes and leather goods as well as cosmetics and hair care. Current collections are presented at approximately 700 Düsseldorf showrooms with over 3,000 brands doing business here.

Düsseldorf, the fashion city, is also one of the most elegant shopping destinations worldwide. Magnificent Königsallee (“Kö”) with its exclusive shops and malls is one of the world’s dream-boulevards, in a league with 5th Avenue, Ginza and Champs-Élysées. The world’s most exquisite flagship and mega stores rub shoulders here: Armani, Burberry, Chanel, Cucci, Féraud, Jil Sander, Joop!... “shop, ’til you drop”- this principle not only applies to the “Kö” but also to Schadowstraße, the Old Town or the areas Derendorf, Flingern, Oberkassel and Unterbilk: The city is “studded” with fashion oases. Be it the “star-studded” hip store “Jades”, the design compilation “Optimist - made in Düsseldorf” in the Old Town, the trendy “Mousseshop” or Germany’s most stylish outlet centre “Couture & Trends” in the city centre.

Life in Düsseldorf is in large parts influenced by the river Rhine, which contributes to the quality and charm of life. The promenade along the Old Town is one of Düsseldorf’s favourite meeting places and runs right to the MediaHarbour; a conversion of old industrial harbour into a unique combination of historic monuments and exciting modern architecture, designed by internationally known architects such as Frank O. Gehry. It has become a major location for the media- and advertising industry as well as for trendy restaurants and clubs.

Narrow lanes, century-old houses, old churches, quaint breweries and pubs, hip bars and clubs, exquisite food: this is Düsseldorf's Old Town. It is known for being “the longest bar in the world”. More than 300 bars and restaurants contribute to this nick-name.

Arts: Art in the city, an extraordinary architectural variety – from the Baroque palace to the ultra-modern Gehry buildings – as well as cultural events that are known well beyond the city borders make for a unique cultural atmosphere. Düsseldorf is one of the top addresses for modern and contemporary art in Germany. The “art axis” with its first class museums, the renowned art academy and more than 100 important galleries corroborate this claim. The range of cultural institutes includes the German Opera on the Rhine, the concert hall and numerous theatres and the Capitol musical theatre.

From September 15th 2007 to January 6th 2008 around 120 French and Russian masterpieces from Moscow and St. Petersburg will be presented in a unique exhibition in the museum kunst palast. Under the title Bonjour Russland (Bonjour Russia) pictures from the four largest Russian museums will be united in an exhibition, in which those who crossed paths in the modern age as well as the mutual influences of French and Russian artists are portrayed. Represented are the most important pioneers of the artist movement from 1870 to 1925 with their main works, among which are those of Monet, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky and Chagall.

Sports: The list of sporting events in Düsseldorf is a long one. On one of the most beautiful tennis courts, the world’s best tennis players compete for the men’s team world championship in the ARAG World Team Cup.
10 000 runners start every spring in the METRO Group Marathon. And when the FIS cross country skiing World Cup starts into the season on the banks of the Rhine, snow conditions are always safe.