Two years ago, I wrote a blog entry about the 23 street libraries set up within the city limits of Düsseldorf. I embarked on a quest to visit them all, but didn't quite make it to Knittkuhl, which is not only remote but gloriously unconnected to the tram system. So that's 22 visited (marked in bold below).
This month, I checked the official website and discovered a whole bunch of new ones, including some in faraway parts of the city, so that will be another struggle.
If I have got my ducks in a row, there are new ones in Flingern, Garath, Heerdt, Lohausen, Oberbilk, and Rath, so that should make 29 overall. I did a small cycle trip to the new ones in Oberbilk and Flingern (Dorotheenplatz) already, bringing me to 24/29), but the others will need some strategic planning. This way, I will get to know all parts of the city, eventually!
- Mannesmannufer, next to KIT (Kunst im Tunnel), photo below
- Kö-Bogen
Angermund (way out north, behind the airport!):
- Kreuzung Angermunder Straße, In den Blamüsen und Kirchweg
Benrath:
- Marktplatz
Bilk:
- Friedensplätzchen - this one is my local and the one that got me hooked. Both the range of offerings and the turnover rate are amazing. Without exaggeration, it's worth visiting every day.
Derendorf and Pempelfort (north of the city centre) - these five are lined up very neatly:
- Frankenplatz
- Roßstraße, intersection with Klever Straße/Jülicher Straße
- Maria-und-Josef-Otten-Platz (Marschallstraße/Blücherstraße)
- Rochusmarkt
- Berty-Albrecht-Park (near the centre of this lovely park which stretches a long way, more than 1 km)
Flingern:
- Hermannsplatz near S-Bahn Flingern
- Dorotheenplatz (not far from Hermmansplatz, actually, but I'm not complaining. I'm sure the posh neighbourhoods of Flingern have lots of nice books to give away)
Friedrichstadt:
- Fürstenplatz
Garath (a suburb newly built in the 1960s, deep in the south, beyond Benrath even):
- Matthias-Erzberger-Straße/Carl-Severin-Straße
Gerresheim:
- Apostelplatz
- Gerricusplatz (historic centre of the town, worth visiting)
- „Roter Platz“ on the corner Hatzfeld- and Heyestraße, near S-Bahn station
Grafenberg:
- Staufenplatz near eponymous tram station
Heerdt (out west, on the wrong side of the river, beyond Oberkassel):
- Nikolaus-Knopp-Platz
Kaiserswerth:
- Markt
Knittkuhl (way out east, not served by the otherwise perfect tram system!):
- In der Flieth
Lohausen:
- Alte Flughafenstraße/Niederrheinstraße (between the airport and the river, so not on the side from which one would normally approach the airport with the S11 or regional express trains)
Oberbilk:
- Oberbilker Markt (I knew the address as a horrid intersection of two major roads, but now discovered there is also a nice little square in one of the corners, which is where the street library is).
Oberkassel:
- Werner-Pfingst-Platz
Rath:
- Rather Kirchplatz (not on my map, but must be near one of the two churches at Rath, both of which are near the S Bahn station)
Volmerswerth:
- Volmerswerther Straße (next to the loop where the tram turns around)
Wersten:
- Liebfrauenstraße
- Ickerswarder Straße Ecke Kölner Landstraße
Zooviertel:
- Brehmplatz
City Centre:
Here is a recent photo I took of oldest of them all, on the river promenade near KIT (Kunst im Tunnel), showing that these are really popular. There are shelves on three sides, and it can happen that all three are occupied by people browsing:
Note that you can find books in all sorts of languages as well. On my first visit to the one at Oberbilk, I spotted at least five books in a language I really struggled to identify. After a while I spotted in one the section which gave the original title and the equivalent of translated to "language in question" and it said Shqip, so based on the "Skipetaren" in the title of a novel I read as a child, I guessed Albanian.
Street libraries elsewhere:
No comments:
Post a Comment