Scolarship, Culture and Leisure : Germany

North Rhine-Westphalia’s 2 higher education institutions and trade and technical schools prepare well over 510,000 students for Professional careers. A network of technology centers and transfer sites - including nine institutes operated by the Max Planck Society, five run by the Fraunhofer Society, and ZENIT, a center for innovation and technology in Mulheim an der Ruhr - ensures that small and medium-sized businesses are also able to profit from higher education know-how.

Well over twelve million people visit the state’s 570 museums every year, for example Bonn’s Museum Mile, the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum and Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Dusseldorf State Art Collection and the Folkwang Museum in Essen. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia contributes to the maintenance of more than 70,000 architectural monuments. Prominent representatives of the modern fine arts pursue their work at the academies of art in Dusseldorf and Cologne.

100 public theaters and 15 opera houses ensure cultural diversity and international renown, as do the Ruhr Festival, the NRW Theater Encounter and the Oberhausen Days of Short Films. Pina Bausch and her dance theater are just as well known in New York and Tokyo as they are in their native city of Wuppertal. Given this wealth of cultural offerings it is no wonder that nearly 13 million people (booking 36 million overnight stays) visit North Rhine-Westphalia every year, many of whom are likewise attracted by the unspoiled scenery of the Munsterland with its charming moated castles or by recreational opportunities such as skiing in the Sauerland or windsurfing on one of the state’s many artificial lakes.