Duisburg
[key], city, North Rhine–Westphalia, W Germany, at the confluence
of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers. Located in the Ruhr district, it is the largest inland
port in the world and a center for iron and steel production. Other
manufactures include shipbuilding, brewing, heavy machinery, textiles,
chemicals, and metal and wood products. The city is home to one of the
world's longest span truss bridges, the Duisburg-Neuenkamp Bridge, which
stretches 1,148 feet (350 m) across the Rhine. Duisburg was a port in Roman
times. It passed to the duchy of Cleves in 1290, and in 1614 was acquired,
with Cleves, by Brandenburg. Its growth as an industrial center dates from
c.1850. As a center of the German armaments industry, the city was heavily
bombed during World War II. The Gothic Salvator Church is the burial place
of the geographer and cartographer G. Mercator. Wilhelm Lehmbruck, the sculptor, was born in
Duisburg, and his works are displayed there in a museum. The annexation in
1975 of four surrounding cities greatly enlarged Duisburg.
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