Unterbilk is an urban borough in the 3rd District

District 3, Düsseldorf

District 3 is a central city district of Düsseldorf, the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and the city's most populous and one of its most diverse districts....

 of the North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

n state capital Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf

Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

. It is the seat of the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, the tower Rheinturm

Rheinturm Düsseldorf

The Rheinturm is a 240.5 metre high concrete telecommunications tower in Düsseldorf, capital of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Construction commenced in 1979 and finished in 1981. The Rheinturm carries aerials for directional radio, FM and TV transmitters...

 and, together with the Düsseldorf harbour

Düsseldorf-Hafen

Düsseldorf-Hafen means the harbour of Düsseldorf. More than that, Hafen is the name of the Düsseldorf district in which the habour is located.The borough covers 3.85 km2, but there were only 212 inhabitants in the year 2000...

 the centre of the media industry in Düsseldorf.

Geography

Unterbilk has a small area only of 1.63 km². It borders to the urban boroughs Harbour

Düsseldorf-Hafen

Düsseldorf-Hafen means the harbour of Düsseldorf. More than that, Hafen is the name of the Düsseldorf district in which the habour is located.The borough covers 3.85 km2, but there were only 212 inhabitants in the year 2000...

, Bilk

Düsseldorf-Bilk

Bilk, Oberbilk and Unterbilk are parts of Düsseldorf and together with Hamm, Flehe and Volmerswerth they constitute City District 3, which is the most populated district of Düsseldorf with 105,281 inhabitants....

, Friedrichstadt

Düsseldorf-Friedrichstadt

Friedrichstadt is an urban borough of Düsseldorf. It is in the south of the Central District of Düsseldorf, north of Bilk, west of Oberbilk, and east of Unterbilk....

 and Carlstadt

Düsseldorf-Carlstadt

Cartlstadt is a bourough of Düsseldorf and belongs to the central District 1. It is in the south of the Old Town and named after the Duke Carl-Theodor, who founded this borough.Carlstadt has an area of 0.46 km²...

, which belongs to the Central District.

History

Unterbilk was originally a part of Bilk, in 799 AD was first mentioned.
Düsseldorf belonged to the old parish of St. Martin in Bilk until 1206, in 1384 was Bilk turn to Dusseldorf incorporated.
The autonomous district Unterbilk created by the construction of the railway line from Neuss

Neuss

Neuss is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district and owes its prosperity to its location at the crossing of historic and modern trade routes. It is primarily known...

 to Düsseldorf, which cut Bilk into two parts north and south of the railway line.
The old Bilk south of the railway line kept the name Bilk, the northern part became Unterbilk.
In 1976 the first horse racing track of Düsseldorf opened in Unterbilk.
Between 1890 and 1896 the new harbour of Düsseldorf had been built up at the Lausward in Unterbilk.
In the 19th century Unterbilk grew very quickly, because of the Industrial Revolution.
Up from 1980 the third sector economy grew up in Unterbilk.
Today the media industry, the state administration, sales and consultance dominating the economy of Unterbilk.

Well-known buildings and monuments

The old and the new State Parliament

On the border between Frederichstadt and Unterbilk had run fortifications of the city of Duesseldorf since the Napoleonic era. After these fortifications were torn down, it created an area for new gardens like the Schwanenspiegel.

Although, the old Prussian Province Parliament for the Rhine Province

Rhine Province

The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg...

 was located in the Ständehaus (Estates house).
After World War II the State Parliament of the new state North Rhine-Westphalia was located in that building from 1946 to 1988, too.
Today, the historic parliament building is part of the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen

Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen

The Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen is the art collection of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, located in Düsseldorf. United by this institution are three different exhibition venues: the K20 at Grabbeplatz, the K21 in the Ständehaus and the Schmela Haus...

.

The new seat of the State Parliament, with has a rounded architecture, is located in Unterbilk, too. It's near the border line to the harbour area, in the immediate vicinity of the Rheinturm and the Broadcasting House of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk

Westdeutscher Rundfunk

Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...

.

This is followed by the postmodern buildings ensemble of the Neuer Zollhof

Neuer Zollhof

Neuer Zollhof or Der Neue Zollhof , located at Neuer Zollhof 2-6, Unterbilk, is a prominent landmark of Media Harbor, part of the redeveloped port of Düsseldorf, Germany....

 and the Media Harbour, particular constructed by Frank Gehry

Frank Gehry

Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...

.

Another excellent example of postmodern architecture, which won international architecture prizes, is the Stadttor

Stadttor

Stadttor is a tall building in Düsseldorf-Unterbilk, and a prominent landmark in Düsseldorf. The building was designed by Düsseldorf-based architecture firm Petzinka, Overdiek und Partner and completed in 1998...

, which is located in Unterbilk, too. In the Stadttor is the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia accommodated.

Religious buildings

The New Bilk Church, constructed some centuries after Bilk became a part of Düsseldorf, for the erected parish of St. Martin is in Unterbilk, while Old St. Martin belongs still to the borough Bilk. The Bilk Church is situated opposite side of St. Martinus Hospital at the intersection Gladbacher Straße / Volmerswerther Straße.

In addition, sometimes the Church of St. Peter in the church square Unterbilk attributed, as it is located near the border of the borough of Frederichstadt with Unterbilk.

Miscellaneous

A little further south is the flora garden, as a fellow of the idea of a garden city in the planning of the 19th century, which was a leading idea in the development of the city in that era.

The central Police Department was built in the 1920s and is a typical example for the architecture of that time.

Between Bilk and Unterbilk, at the Bilk Station, actually the Düsseldorf Arcaden are growing. It becomes on one hand a huge shopping mall, but on the other hand a communal cultural centre and gets a swimming hall inside of it.

Sources

• Düsseldorf Communal Administration: Statistics Office
• Düsseldorf Communal Administration: District Mayor, Distr. 3

This article is based on a translation from the German Wikipedia.