Wupper

Wupper
Wupper
Origin	Sauerland
Mouth	Rhine 51°02′43″N 6°56′27″E / 51.04528°N 6.94083°E / 51.04528; 6.94083Coordinates: 51°02′43″N 6°56′27″E / 51.04528°N 6.94083°E / 51.04528; 6.94083
Basin countries	Germany
Length	113 km
Source elevation	441 m
Avg. discharge	17 m³/s [1]
Basin area	827 km²

The Wupper is a right tributary to the Rhine river in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Rising near Marienheide in western Sauerland it runs through the mountainous area of the Bergisches Land Berg County and enters the Rhine at Leverkussen, south of Düsseldorf. Its upper course is called "Wipper".

On its course of about 113 km the Wupper traverses the city of Wuppertal where the Schwebebahn or floating tramway for 10 kilometers runs over the river. According to a popular local story, on 21 July 1950 a young elephant named Tuffi jumped into the Wupper from the Schwebebahn.

It is crossed by the highest railroad bridge in Germany near Müngsten, between Remscheid and Solingen. A few miles further down, Schloss Burg is located on a hill overlooking the river.

Müngsten Bridge between Remscheid and Solingen

Waterpower

From the 15th century on, the Wupper and its many rivulets and creeks gave birth to hundreds of workshops, mills and factories alongside their streams. First using the water to dye, bleach and wash canvas and cloth,^[2] later using the water to power machines, or to transport waste.

With this the Wupper enabled an industrial expansion of the Wuppertal or Wupper Valley during the 18th, 19th and early 20th century, similar to that of Silicon Valley today. Wupper Valley is one of world's first industrialized regions and empowered a.o. the Ruhrgebiet.

Schwebebahn over the Wupper in Wuppertal

Other

• The Wupper is cited in two German sayings: "Über die Wupper gehen" - "To go over the Wupper" meaning going bankrupt, going into jail or going to die, and "Wir wuppen das" -"We'll whoop that" meaning We'll get that done. ^[3]

• Else Lasker-Schüler wrote the drama Die Wupper.

• It's possible that the 1928 American musical Whoopee and the famous title song Makin' whoopee!, is inspired by the German saying "Wir wuppen das". Texter of the song was Gus Kahn who was born in Koblenz, about 100 kilometers from Wupper Valley. He must have known this saying.^[4]

References

1. ^ Website Wupperverband
2. ^ "Cloth Bleaching alongside Wupper River". Municipality of Wuppertal. http://www.langerfeld.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55&Itemid=68. Retrieved 2011-01. 
3. ^ "German Sayings Wupper". Andre Przybilla. http://www.redensarten.net/Wupper.html. Retrieved 2011-01. 
4. ^ Theory from Dutch journalist J. Vandersteen

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Wupper.

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