Central Eastern Europe Dusseldorf Dusseldorf has become one of the top telecommunications centres in Germany. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) is a country at the intersection of Central and Western Europe. It is situated between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south. It borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west Dusseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and center of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region. Dusseldorf lies in the middle of the lower Rhine basin on the delta of the Düssel River where it flows into the Rhine. The city is on the east side of the Rhine. It is often said that there is a kind of hostility between Cologne and Dusseldorf. Today, it finds its expression mainly in a humorous form (especially during the Rhineland Karneval) and in sports. A market square sprang up on the banks of the Rhine and the square was protected by city walls in all four directions. Dusseldorf is well-known for its Altbier, a hoppy beer which translates as old beer, a reference to the pre-lager brewing method of using a warm top-fermenting yeast like British pale ales. Dusseldorf's most famous contribution to the culture of modern popular music is beyond doubt the avant-garde electronic music band Kraftwerk. Dusseldorf is not only widely known as a centre of German advertising and fashion industries: in the last few years the city on the Rhine has become one of the top telecommunications centres in Germany. The Hafen district, Dusseldorf. The Hafen district itself contains some spectacular post-modern architecture, most famously three twisted constructions by Frank Gehry. The Rheinhafen centre of arts and the media by Frank O. Gehry (USA) consists of three contrasting building complexes and appears like a gigantic sculpture. The outer material of the central building reflects the buildings on its northern and southern side, thus creating a link between the three. The different materials chosen give each complex its own identity. The Gehry buildings are considered Dusseldorf’s new landmark. Dusseldorf-Hafen means the harbour of Dusseldorf. More than that, Hafen is the name of the Dusseldorf district in which the habour is located. Mainly third sector businesses were attracted to move to the Hafen: media companies, but also fashion and design offices. One of the first new residents to the so-called Media Harbour was Westdeutscher Rundfunk with its current affairs TV and radio studios. Designed by Petzinka, Pink & Partners, the Stadttor stands guard over the city’s sunken main artery. The interior glassfaçade features double-pane, low-E glazed doors operable at every other bay and high-reflectance Venetian blinds. At each story, a climate buffer corridor circulates fresh air between facades allowing natural ventilation for 60% of the year. ART WALL. Dusseldorf september 2010. The Stahlhof of 1906, the administrative centre of Germany's steel economy until 1945.