Wupper
River in Germany
title: "Wupper" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["wupper", "rivers-of-north-rhine-westphalia", "wupper-basin", "rivers-of-germany"] description: "River in Germany" topic_path: "geography/germany" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wupper" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary River in Germany ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox river"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Wupper |
| image | Verlaufskarte Wupper.png |
| image_caption | Wupper |
| source1_location | Sauerland |
| mouth_location | Rhine |
| mouth_coordinates | |
| progression | |
| subdivision_type1 | Country |
| subdivision_name1 | Germany |
| subdivision_type2 | State |
| subdivision_name2 | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| length | 115.8 km |
| source1_elevation | 441 m |
| discharge1_avg | 17 m3/s |
| basin_size | 813 km2 |
| tributaries_left | Dhünn |
| :: |
| name = Wupper | image = Verlaufskarte Wupper.png | image_caption = Wupper | source1_location = Sauerland | mouth_location = Rhine | mouth_coordinates = | progression = | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Germany | subdivision_type2 = State | subdivision_name2 = North Rhine-Westphalia | length = 115.8 km | source1_elevation = 441 m | discharge1_avg = 17 m3/s | basin_size = 813 km2 | tributaries_left = Dhünn | tributaries_right = The Wupper () is a right tributary of the Rhine in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Rising near Marienheide in western Sauerland it runs through the mountainous region of the Bergisches Land in Berg County and enters the Rhine at Leverkusen, south of Düsseldorf. Its upper course is called the Wipper. Both names are related to "weave", and refer to the twisting course.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Brücke_wikipedia.jpg" caption="[[Müngsten Bridge]] between [[Remscheid]] and [[Solingen]]."] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Muengsten.jpg" caption="Müngstener Brücke (Müngsten Bridge)."] ::
On its course of about 116 km, the Wupper passes through the city of Wuppertal where the suspension railway runs for 10 km above the river.
It is crossed by the highest railway bridge in Germany near Müngsten, between Remscheid and Solingen. A few kilometers further down, Burg Castle is located on a hill overlooking the river.
Hydropower
From the 15th century, the Wupper and its numerous streams gave birth to hundreds of workshops, mills and factories on their banks. Originally water was used for dyeing, bleaching and washing canvas and cloth; later it was used to power machines or transport waste.
The Wupper thus facilitated the early industrial expansion of Wuppertal (German for "Wupper Valley") during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. The Wupper Valley was one of the world's first industrialized regions and empowered inter alia the Ruhr valley as a coal-mining region.
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Wuppertal_Schwebebahn_2005.jpg" caption="The [[suspension railway]] over the Wupper in [[Wuppertal]]."] ::
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Wupper_unter_Schwebebahn.jpg" caption="Wupper under suspension railway."] ::
Tributaries
The following rivers are tributaries to the river Wupper (from source to mouth):
- Left: Gaulbach, Brunsbach, Pixwaager Bach, Dörpe, Wilhelmstaler Bach, Hardtbach, Lohbach, Nöllenberger Bach, Stoffelsberger Bach, Hofsiefen, Hengstener Bach, Steinhauser Bach, Lohmühlenbach, Herbringhauser Bach, Marscheider Bach, Eschensiepen, Blombach, Norrenberger Bach, Murmelbach, Fischertaler Bach, Springer Bach, Kothener Bach, Auer Bach, Bendahler Bach, Klusensprung, Holzer Bach, Hatzenbeck, Ossenbeck, Rutenbeck, Glasbach, Burgholzbach, Weilandsiepen, Kaltenbach, Morsbach, Eschbach, Sengbach, Weltersbach, Murbach, Wiembach, Dhünn.
- Right: Kerspe, Hönnige, Neye, Bever, Frohnhauser Bach, Wiebach, Kretzer Bach, Uelfe, Remlingrader Bach, Spreeler Bach, Steinhauserbergbach, Nebenkämper Siefen, Ehrenberger Bach, Steinbruch Siefen, Schmitteborner Bach, Hebbecke, Schwelme, Schwarzbach, Leimbach, Schönebeck, Mirker Bach, Briller Bach, Varresbeck, Lüntenbeck, Rottscheider Bach, Buchenhofener Siepen.
Other
- On July 21, 1950, a young elephant named Tuffi, made to ride on the train by her handler as an advertising stunt, decided she did not like the ride, panicked (and panicked the other, human, passengers), burst out of the car she was riding in, and jumped or fell into the Wupper, only slightly injuring herself. In 1970 Marguerita Eckel and Ernst-Andreas Ziegler published a children's picture book about the incident, Tuffi und die Schwebebahn.
- The Wupper is cited in the German sayings: "Über die Wupper gehen", literally "To go over the Wupper", metaphorically meaning "going bankrupt", "going into jail" or "going to die".
- Else Lasker-Schüler wrote a drama entitled Die Wupper.
- The 1928 American musical Whoopee and the famous title song Makin' whoopee! may have been inspired by the German saying "Wir wuppen das". The writer of the song was Gus Kahn, who was born in Koblenz, about 100 km from the Wupper Valley and might have known this saying. "wuppen" is probably not related to the river. --
References
References
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120313031159/http://www.wupperverband.de/aufgaben/gewaesser/die.wupper.html Die Wupper] // Wupperverband {{in lang. de
- (April 7, 2022). "Wippen".
- "Cloth Bleaching alongside Wupper River". Municipality of Wuppertal.
- Rolf-Bernhard Essig. "Woher kommt "Über die Wupper gehen"?". [[Südwestrundfunk.
- Theory from Dutch journalist J. Vandersteen
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