A big problem with these industrial cities in Germany is that most of them have been bombed to shreds in WWII and have been rebuilt in the 50s and 60s. The architecture back then was heavily influenced by the so called "Brutalist architecture" (many examples in Ludwigshafen and Mannheim), which is super ugly in todays standards. They also had to build cheap and fast to accommodate refugees from the lost territories in the East (now Poland). My grandparents came to Mannheim because if this exact reason in the late 1940s. So I am born and raised in this area and call myself a proud "Monnemer" , which is the local dialect for Mannheimer. ;-) By the way: look at some of those cities (also in the Ruhr area) before WWII. 200% nicer. :-/
@@holger_p As a german I know this style but didn't know it's name. Reading wikipedia on "Brutalismus" now. Big thx to all of you for making me smarter! :)
Sure, but Ludwigshafen was a quite boring city before the war. Also, most of those brutalist buildings and Plattenbauten were built long after the war. A rich city like Ludwigshafen could build some nicer architecture nowadays.
Mannheim?? Die Stadt ist immer in den Top 5 der häßlichsten Städte vertreten. Keine Ahnung wie Ludwigshafen aussieht, aber Mannheim ist def. eine abgrundtief häßliche Stadt.
@@jimmixed777 Das klingt jetzt nicht so als würdest du in Mannheim leben, habe ich recht? :) Ich wohne dort und würde nicht sagen, dass die Stadt hässlich ist. Zum einen hat Mannheim (im Gegensatz zu Ludwigshafen und sehr vielen weiteren Städten) einen historischen Teil, siehe Wasserturm und Umgebung, die vielen Kirchen, das Mannheimer Schloss etc. Und auch wenn die Innenstadt natürlich sehr viele blockartige Häuser und an manchen Stellen auch eher dreckige Straßen besitzt, kann man doch glaube ich sagen, dass die Stadt als Ganzes sehr viel schöner ist als Ludwigshafen, die verschiedenen Wohngebiete von Berlin o.ä... außerdem habe ich jetzt keine Statistik gefunden, die Mannheim unter den hässlichsten Städten verordnet. Wenn man mal nur die Neckarstadt-West betrachtet, dann würde ich dir aber recht geben... jede Stadt hat auch eine schlechte Seite, aber in Mannheim muss man m. M. n. noch etwas länger danach suchen als anderswo.
@@profieimer42 Nein wohne nicht in Mannheim, finde die Stadt aber auch absolut hä´ßlich. Vielleicht war Ich auch in den falschen Ecken, schön ist jedenfalls anders. Berlin ist ne super interessante Stadt, und hat auch schöne Ecken, ist aber insgesamt auch ne häßliche Stadt. Hamburg oder München sind zb. schöne Städte.
@@jimmixed777 Sicherlich hat da jeder auch eine individuelle Wahrnehmung und Mannheim ist bestimmt keine Stadt, die man als Tourist unbedingt gesehen haben muss oder die besonders schön ist. Ich fand es nur etwas merkwürdig, sie gleich als eine der hässlichsten Städte DEs abzustempeln. Hamburg und München sind für mich auch die schönsten größeren Städte. :)
I live in Mannheim and was on the embankment of the Rhine with a neighbour a few years back. She said "Doesn't the BASF look like a big city skyline in the night?" And I'm sittin here thinkin like "lady have you ever been to a big city on the waterfront? This looks like a chemical plant in the dark"
The industrial cities in the west of Germany got the worst destruction during WWII and some of them where rebuild in the 50' and 60' in a very embarrassing way - seen from today's viewpoint. Back then, people thought this is the future.
There was this slogan "Beton es kommt darauf an, was man daraus macht" - cement, it's what you're making out of it. And boy they sinned a lot. Ludwigshafen is Rheinland-Pfalz, so you crossed Bundesland borders from Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. A bit like Ulm and Neu-Ulm, the latter gifted with a nice view over the Danube river to lovely Ulmer Münster.
The autobahn is indeed beautiful - yet. Driving with 200km/h gives you that feeling of freedom. But next month, we'll have elections. And after that, the Greens and the social democrats will introduce a speed limit of 130km/h. Then, the autobahn will no longer be special. A more beautiful way to leave Ludwigshafen would be with the SÜWEX train. Beautiful (and fast) regional express trains that connect large parts of southwest Germany. Maybe the best regional trains you can find in whole Germany.
Most of the industrial cities in Germany have this in common with Ludwigshafen. Beside the industrial sites and plants one reason for them looking that ugly is that they all were bombed to the ground during World War II. And after the war these cities were just built up again to function and serve their purpose, industrial production, and not to look pretty. Most of the larger cities in the Ruhr Region, the industrial heart of Germany, look the same.
Similar story for example also in Kiel. It was not good to be one of the main shipyards in WWII. Basically nothing was left standing by the bombings. Luckily places like Schwäbisch-Hall probably didn't see a single Bomb...
I am fine with that but Ludwigshafen is special. The whole architecture and infrastructure is just wild compared to other industrial cities in Germany. It also has that American influence and in terms of looks it didn't do the city any good.
At 02:16, BASF stands for Badische Anilin und Sodafabrik. [German for ''Baden (Bath) Aniline and Soda Factory.''] It isn't a true acronym so don't try to make a word of it; simply say its initials. Many of its products and chemicals are sold in the U.S. under the BASF label.
@@CastaneaMa I was looking for that comment not to do another one, but I'd like to add that we catched up quite well, and that it's usually much cleaner here. But when I saw those pictures in the video it reminded me a lot of Kiel in the 80s/90s.
Dear Nalf, so you finally came to the city I grew up, and it is not as bad as everybody wants you to believe it is. For historical context: Ludwigshafen is a really young city for German relations. Founded in the middle of the 19th century it is younger than most American cities. But it incorporated several very old villages and a medieval town (with remnants of the old town wall and a palace/pilgrimage-church). The city itself was a very beautiful city (as old photos document) with many townhouses in the architectural styles of Gründerzeit (late 19th c.) and Art Nouveau. But in WW2 it was bombed to the ground with many of the inner city's streets having no more houses from this time left. It always seemed to me like the American pilots couldn't find the BASF (or as we call it the [big] factory) and dropped the bombs everywhere but there. So after WW2 there was little left of the old inner city and it was rebuilt in the 50ies and 60ies without any regard for architecture, buildings' ensembles, and the like. It's in fact at hotchpotch of all post-war styles. But the city has lots of parks and greenery with one of the highest amounts in Germany when you compare the total area with the area of parks. It has a Gartenstadt (model urban project from the 1920ies) and many affordable apartments in buildings belonging to (former) model projects. Housing is very affordable in Ludwigshafen, life is a lot cheaper in Rheinland-Pfalz than in Baden-Württemberg. And lots of jobs, too. The old building you showed in 4:15 is Stadthaus Nord, which used to be the town hall until the 1970ies when they constructed the highrise on the other side of the street, but it still houses the social department of the city of Ludwigshafen. The empty basins belong to the actual, currently defunct, town hall and used to be filled with water, which was a pretty sight, ducks and swans included. But they have leeks and the city currently doesn't want to spend the money to repair them. Besides, they must decide whether they want to refurbish the town hall tower (big problems with fire protection) or rather demolish it and build a new one. Then there are problems with the elevated passageways as the northern one is just crumbling away and was scheduled to be demolished and replaced by a normal level city street. But this had to be postponed as the southern one all of a sudden showed cracks and to be demolished right away in a kind of emergency scenario. To replace them is very, very expensive (in the 3 figure millions) and the city has to beg for money from state and federal authorities because though both roads are Bundesstraßen (federal highways) the structures themselves are in the ownership of the city. For the re-modeling of the inner city after tearing down the northern elevated passageway parts of the town hall center including the empty basins have to go anyway. The inner city, esp. the part north of town hall center has indeed a garbage problem. You read at least once a week in the local newspaper about it. Pros of Ludwigshafen are a steadily expanded net of bike lanes and superb public transportation. It is part of Germany's largest tramway (streetcar) net and is therefore connected to Bad Dürkheim in the west, Mannheim on the other side of the Rhein, Weinheim, and Heidelberg in the east. You can hop on a streetcar in Bad Dürkheim, change lines in Mannheim, and travel to Heidelberg in less than 90 minutes for a distance of more than 60 kms. At 7:00-7:03 I caught a glimpse of my alma mater. Shout out to Carl-Bosch-Gymnasium, the school of Nobel laureate Stephan Heil. I'm a bit disappointed to didn't walk far enough south (just about 500 m) to at least get a glimpse of the humongous Miro-wall (southern facade of the Hack-Museum). At least you got decent drone shots of BASF area and the Pegeluhr at Luitpoldhafen. And yes, you pronounce it B A S F. Btw: The three identical-looking highrises are in Mannheim not in Ludwigshafen. CU twinmama PS: I don't hate anybody who says Ludwigshafen is ugly, everybody is entitled to their opinion, but I know it's a very liveable city with lots of greens (in between some ugly concrete buildings).
Super interessanter Post von dir und danke dafür, aber das ändert nix am Dreck und den Straßen. Die Stadt sollte sich das mal ansehen hier. Wobei ich mich als echtes Pälzer Mädel ja schon fremdschämen muss 🙈
@@Hansmeiser2008 eh, you can pick nearly anything in the Ruhrgebiet. But hey, at least it keeps the stupid Tourists away. The tend to flock to the South. The other Tourists that come here nonetheless are ok. They want the pain. I appreciate that mindest.
The 147 bombings of Ludwigshafen in WW2 by US and British bombers destroyed the city center up to 80%. About 140.000 fire bombs and 1.200 explosive bombs fell on the city. Ludwigshafen was one of the most bombed cities of the Third Reich because of its chemical industry which was important for the German war effort, obviously. After the war, the focus was solely to rebuild living room fast and cheap. Immediately after the war lots of Germans were basically homeless or cramped together. And what you see today is the result. Concerning the garbage, as all the bins were in the street, it must have been garbage collection day. But fact remains: It's not one of the most beautiful cities. ;-)
As for what some are calling garbage in the streets...I think with the correct perspective people would realize that these are box lunches left out for convenient pick up.
Being bombed into oblivion in WW2 is certainly one of the most common things shared by ugly German cities. Second most common thing would be being ruled by the SPD fro a long time.
There is another aspect: 11 of the 20 poorest cities in Germany are located in rhineland-palatinate. LU, Kaiserslautern, Pirmasens etc. Over here in KL, the garbage collections were reduced to every 4 weeks to reduce the costs. As a result, most of the houses got quite a few big trash cans. Since they are too heavy to pull them out of the basement, many people let them in front of their house, which doesn't look that great... :-(
I nearly pissed my pants... When I read the title I thought immediately whatever you are coming up with I know a city far worse... Ludwigshafen! And it turned out to be Ludwigshafen! 😂😂😂
@@marqsuckerboerg4638 But Wuppertal has the beautiful placement between the hills and the Schwebebahn, that couldn't really be the ugliest... Plus you can usually only see a part of the city at a time, that really helps 😉 Hagen, though...
I commuted through zwickau train station for three years. the whole time, there was a rubble pile of what had formerly been apparently the other half of the station. it didn't look fresh when I first saw it, either.
@@all_in_for_JESUS and Frankfurt is the greenest city in Germany. Offenbach is a brilliant place for artists and artisans. Te town is trying very hard to make the best out of difficult circumstances.
Fun (?) fact: Ludwigshafen was originally intended to be the target of "Little Boy", German capitulation came too early. After the US Army had taken Ludwisghafen on March 23rd, they had to find another target ...
there are so many German cities which have this story. I haven't found a source for these stories so far and you would need at least a dozen of "Little Boys".
The invasion of the island nation of Japan by one country (the US) would have been much more problematic and costly. That's why Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened. I doubt they would have ever used it on Germany with three nations bearing down on it from all sides. They didn't feel they needed to.
Could be worse. I visited Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave at the Baltic Sea a while ago. The city was called Koenigsberg before the war and had a largely German population. A British air raid in the summer of 1944 destroyed the town almost completely. The inhabitants fled and were - like 12 million other ethnic Germans from Eastern territories - never able to return. In Kaliningrad only the cathedral and former stock exchange survived, the rest has been replaced by ugly Soviet era prefab buildings. Eastern Germany is full of them too, but at least there they have been renovated. As you can imagine these two topics - the air raids and the expulsion of 12 million Germans from former Soviet bloc countries - are touchy subjects, even to this day. Right-wingers of all nationalities love to harp on about them out of context, and left-wingers go out of their way to avoid to talk about them at all. I don't know which is worse.
It makes me sad seeing what happened to Königsberg, since my great-grandma had to flee from there. She lost her home and the Russians didn't even try to reconstruct her home city.
To be fair, it looks as though you hit the trash pick-up day. The BASF capital is just destined to have been bombed to hell in WWII, then rebuilt for modern practicality and around the chemical works.
Living in a similar dirty city I can tell you: Big NOPE. Trash will be picked up and half a day later it looks like that until the trash will be picked up again 4 weeks later...
Chains like Starbucks are the reason for inner cities becoming more and more interchangeable. Yes, empty store rows aren’t great, but if all city centers look the same because of always the same chains (that also displace local shops), that’s not so desirable, either.
@@holger_p It’s also politics who decides what if huge companies get tax advantages, and what kind of businesses are wanted in the city centers. “Market demand regulates everything for the better” is a hollow phrase. :)
@@3.k No, it's most often the companies who decide it, and the cities cannot do anything about it. And it's the landlords who decide whom they rent out a shop. Do the city has control about the installed business ? I don't think so. They define maybe "merchant area", so you cannot open a body shop there.
@@holger_p I’m not sure either, but I believe that the city development people have a word to say about what kind of shops they allow. But there’s also the business side, there are franchise companies that work with methods like subcontracting, and they suck every penny out of their contractors. Local shop owners may not want to go that route, or they can’t, and there are a lot of screws that politics can set.
Having lived for 26 years near there (Born in Mannheim lived there as little kid, then Frankenthal later on) all i can say is.. yeah. being bombed to shreds in WW2 and then rebuild by people who had no idea about visual aesthetics. Its no wonder it looks like this. To me Ludwigshafen was always only "a stop on the way to mannheim" But my knowledge is also 15 years out of date. Since i moved away from the region in 2006. Still recognize it though.
sie hatten keine ideen? das war sicher nicht das problem. sie hatten keine zeit und MUSSTEN so schnell (und günstig, weil ALLES am arsch war) es geht funktionale betonklötze hochziehen. millionen über millionen deutsche waren obdachlos und hatten keine funktionierenden städte. die hatten nicht den luxus, architektonisch und finanziell einen schönheitswettbewerb zu veranstalten.
I studied German in Mannheim summer before COVID, and I never got to see Ludwigshafen. Doesn’t seem too bad, maybe a lick of paint and a little love. But yes Mannheim and Heidelberg are definitely the rich 2 in that relationship. For example, Ludwigshafen has an abandoned underground tram line cause they couldn’t afford to keep it going, very unfortunate.
That's not entirely correct. Ludwigshafen still has two routes with underground stations (Hauptbahnhof and Rathauscenter). The route connecting both stations with Mundenheim / Südweststadion was closed because passenger numbers were not sustainable for keeping the route active. But it is still there and, as far as I know, could be reinstated with short or no notice. And as I've stated in my original comment, Ludwigshafen is one of the greenest (in the sense of parks, recreational areas, trees along streets) cities in Germany.
With this introduction, I realley expected that you visit Pforzheim. Big parts of Pforzheim was destroyed in WW2. Because of this the ciiy center are mainly 70 year old concrete houses. But Ludwigshafen seems to be similar. If you plan to repeat this you can go to Pforzheim and Karlsruhe at the same day. Karlsruhe is very nice.
And even in the ungliest cities of Germany you can ask any random guy where Japan or Australia is located on the globus and they will show you the right place.
As someone who spent her undergrad in Mannheim and had a lot of friends comment on how ugly it is and how I could live there I always responded "Well the ugliest thing in Mannheim is the view over to Ludwigshafen" :D
That might not be what you were asking for but if you're interested in a beautiful city that is totally different from the ones in Baden-Württemberg, check out the historical center of Dresden. Once you're there you might also go for a hike in Saxony Switzerland. It's kind of a hidden gemstone of Germany ☺️
@@DenzelPF31 True, but I lived in Baden Württemberg for about ten years and met quite a few people who haven't heard about this place yet. So I thought it should be mentioned 😅
Unfortunately Dresden was pretty well bombed to s*** also and firebombed. A few pieces of the old city were left after the war, but I would say 85 to 90% was destroyed and rebuilt. Fun fact; the Alstadt is newer than the Neustadt which was not destroyed.
I remember a guy came straight from Agypt to Ludwigshafen , told me the station and surrounding area of Berliner Platz just looks exactly like Gaza strip .
I used to live there about 12 years ago, for around 2 years, Ludwigshafen is so ugly. The Hochstrasse ( the high street over Ludwigshafen ) is nasty and falls apart. The central station ( Hauptbahnhof ) and the thing around are terrible. and everywere these pidgeons. But Mannheim is not a bit less ugly.
Central Station was the most modern Trainstation in Germany. When it was finished, they decided to take Mannheim for most of the long distance and fast trains. it´s just on the other side of the rhine.... In 2021 there´s only one long distance train which stops in Ludwigshafen.
@@kevinblankenburg4816 lmao didn't know that there is so much waste... could be Berlin but just the worst areas
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I didn't. But then, I'm not familiar with LU, I'm more (but still not very) familiar with MA, even though I have relatives (from my dear mom's side) in LU.
Nalfie, I use your videos in my High School German classes. My students appreciate what you say, especially since you’re much younger than I am. Have you given up on speaking German? You were doing extremely well. I am very careful with my compliments. So yeah, you were coming along extremely well. I teach Spanish and French also. I never grade on accent but I coach a lot. Just shorten your vowels. Don’t stretch out your words like we do in the USA. Speak your syllables more staccato. Schwäbisch Hall! PLEASE PRONOUNCE THE W LIKE A V!!! The ä is very short. Just shorten your vowels and you will sound like a German pretty much. Don’t give up
The absence of the glottal stop gives it away, too. When I speak English I try to suppress my trained glottal stop, but it is really hard. So when an American speaks German, add the glottal stop and it will already make a big difference. But this is just if you want to be really all stealthy. I appreciate everyone who learns German, I'd think that it is much harder to learn than English.
Actually A LOT of places in Germany are like that. In most big cities you have a least parts that are like that. And most industrial centers are like that. In some cities you have just some beautiful remainders or rebuilt places that are beautiful. Ludwigshafen just has none...
A childhood memory from back in the 60ies and 70ies driving on the Autobahn, we always knew when we were getting close to Ludwigshafen because of the chemical smell in the air. We couldn't get past Ludwigshafen fast enough, and held our noses as long as possible. Once we passed it, we rolled down our windows, to gulp in fresh air that didn't stink. Don't know what it's like now but back then, it was pretty bad.
There is no comparison to a time more than 50 years ago. Today environmental laws are extremly strict compared to the first decades after the war. Even when driving along Raschig it doesn't smell after Phenol anymore. The water in the Rhein is very clean now, you can go swimming without any problems. This was VERY different 50 years ago....
I heard that from my grandfather (who worked as a chemist at BASF). But nowadays, there's no more chemical smell. I live close to Ludwigshafen garbage incinerator - and the air is very clean here. Flue gas filtering does the job. You should see that incinerator at night, when the chimney is illuminated in all sorts of colors. Looks pretty nice.
@@martinahaary6676 In all honesty, I live in Germany and have driven past MA-LU on Autobahn 6 from 1978- present day. Sometimes, you can still get a scent of chemicals when crossing the Rhine at LU, but it's nothing like back in the 70s when you actually did have to close windows or stop the AC in the car from the smell coming through.
Ludwigshafen was for the most part bombed by the Americans in the second world war, because a very important industrial part, the BASF, was supposed to be destroyed back then. When rebuilding the city, attention was paid to functionality and not to appearance. They needed Living space and that very quickly. That's why the city center looks extremely bad and ugly. The Americans even considered throwing the first atomic bomb on Ludwigshafen and not on Hiroshima. (The reason for this is of course BASF, which already played an important role in global game back then)
USA is big and if you take other countries of EU you will see real ghetto. USA is way better than Europe. This guys are in Germany the best economy country in Europe.
@@albanianorthodox8659 lmao we got slums in america u neva bin here... europe issa example of 1st world countries... certain parts of US look like 3rd world, europe takes care of dey citizens america doesn't give a fuck why we have lots of homeless. Dis not no comparing who's worse its bout da reality... america has murder rates higher or comparable to 3rd world countries n america suppose 2 b 1st world country no country in europe can ever compare.
Im not from Ludwigshafen, but as far as i know, its part of a 3 City-Collectiv. Heidelberg (here live the rich ones, very beautiful), Mannheim (the "normal" people live here, its nice but not stunning) and Ludwigshafen (the industrial part of the complex, for the people that earn lesser money). But as i said, im not sure about it, i have heared it. so maybe that is not true, but may it is....
Ja schon irgendwo wahr aber wir sind in Mannheim anscheinend keine Fans von Heidelberg und Ludwigshafen, die Heidelberger sind zu abgehoben weil sie in ner teuren stadt wohnen dabei ist Heidelberg ne Katastrophe zum beispiel zum autofahren, alles unübersichtlich und eng und die Irren Radfahrer, und Ludwigshafen ist halt Ludwigshafen. Es ist der verächtliche Blick von der Ebertbrücke rheinabwärts zur BASF der alleine schon zeigt wie viel wir von LU halten, und ganz nebenbei: HD, HP, LU: steig aus und schlag zu. Gude!
People come from surrounding regions (I'm in Heidelberg) to do their shopping in Mannheim, because it offers a larger variety of stores catering to a larger variety of people (e.g., my shoe size is US 13-14, and in Germany 46-48, but none of these is available in Heidelberg). But hundreds of thousands of people come to Heidelberg every year to look at its ruined castle, while only very few come to Mannheim to visit its beautiful Schloss. As for Ludwigshafen, meh, I drove by it many times and saw the giant chemical plumes out of BASF, and even made business connections there, but "ugly" is an apt description.
Hi Nalf as you move from Goerdelerplatz (Lu-Friesenheim) towards the Rathaus-Center you cross the Hemshof district. This district has a share of foreigners of almost 90% so it looks like the foreigners from their countries of origin are used to. Hence the garbage and dirt everywhere. Turks, Bulgarians and Arabs have the largest share. I may now be accused of racism, that's not the case because my statements are fact.
Ugliest city I've been in in Germany is Schweinfurt, but Ludwigshafen is up there. Baden-Württembergian vibes in Rheinland-Pfalz? By crossing the rhine you went to another state
So funny, unorthodox & keeping it real to visit an ugly city in DE. A nice twist on all the typical (American/Ausländer)UA-camrs gushing over the many historical tourist fairytale towns in DE. At least you spared your precious drone from having to fly over the gritty & perhaps a tad grotty urban landscape of Ludwigshafen. Also congrats on new Unicorn Tez‘s debut appearance on the Nalf vlog.
I called it at the one minute mark :D To be fair to Ludwigshafen (as a citizen of fancy nearby Heidelberg): 1) It seems it was indeed garbage day, that contributed to the trash on the street. 2) Ludwigshafen never was a quaint little medieval town with a town centre, market square etc. It actually used to be part of the fortifications of the Palatinate residence of Mannheim on the other bank of the river. They got separated when after Napoleon, the Ludwigshafen side came to Bavaria (yep, weird) in 1816. The settlement that developed then is named after Ludwig I, the grandfather of the Bavarian king who built Neuschwanstein Castle. Long story short, it's got no old town core. 3) It was an industrial town from the very beginning, so BASF is pretty much the town, with tons of worker's barracks around. You can actually take bus tours through the BASF compound, it has its own train stations, fire department, daycare and port. It also means to this day, it is mostly a working class city with a lot of economically poorer immigrants (Mannheim actually is a bit similar too, birthplace of the car and stuff, but also attracts banks, insurance companies, software developers and millionaires). 4) It did get blasted into oblivion by Allied bombers. You might have seen the square that's basically behind the facade of a church - it's all that left of the building you would be standing in, a bit like Coventry in the UK oder Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche in Berlin. You will also see some flak towers still standing around Hauptbahnhof because it was an important industrial and railway hub. 5) The rebuilding happened in a time when everyone believed in the car. Ludwigshafen is one of the very few German cities where you can see a US type raised freeway smashing through downtown like no one cares. Anyways, it's always nice to see Rhineland-Palatinate get some love on the expat UA-cam, it's so much more than Ramstein and the Army bases.
Definitely not. Bielefeld is so much prettier than Ludwigshafen compared to from what I saw in this video. Bielefeld has the Sparrenburg Castle and some really nice parks and the Forrest (Teutoburger Wald) as part of the city, which makes 80% green area within the city. Bielefeld has twice as much residents than Ludwigshafen. But the university is really ugly from its looks and has the nickname “UFO”. It just doesn’t fit the green city even after 50 years 🛸 I wouldn’t say that Bielefeld is one of the prettiest cities, but it is really not that bad. And most Bielefelder really hate this joke about the city doesn’t exist. Today there is a “gravestone” for the official ending of the “Bielefeld Verschwörung”, but I think this will never end 😅
I spent five days in Ludwigshafen a couple of years ago and yea it's pretty basic especially when compared to many local places like Heidelberg.Koblenz etc but it was fine.The people were great and yes,it was gloriously sunny.My judgement of the place may have been different had the weather been terrible.However it did help that i found a little bar by where i was staying that sold bottles of Becks for two euros...
A the state with the beautiful name that is impossible for the Man-Child to pronounce (self-admitted - become a Patron and you can hear for yourself, knot it the tongue is an understatement): Rhineland-Palatinate. Phenomenal people. Delicious food. Sigh. After we were taught how to pronounce Nevada correctly from an alledgedly "American's" point of view (Nevjeidahh - the weird facial acrobatics trying to squeeze that past ones lips, comes as a goodie on top) I thought I'd help you out for once. It's "rain-luhnd puh-la-tuh-neit" (with a curtsey and a dreamy sigh). You're welcome.
@@sallyanderson2983 Of course you did. They have the best fans, the best atmosphere (sue me!) and even though they do quite bad in the league, they're my favourites. You saw them in Scotland once too, right?
Nice you have been near my home town Bad Dürkheim, hoem of the largest wine barrel in the world and in September hoem of the largest wine festival in the world. However, totally agree with your statement about Ludwigshafen.
2:47 "We have to find some uglier looking things..." transition to a Domino's Pizza delivery hidden behind a row of trash containers. Now THAT'S what I'm talking about. 😂
Near Schwäbisch Hall, you'll find Heilbronn and Pforzheim which used to be nice cities but got rebuild ugly after WWII. Still, Ludwigshafen is far worse tbh...
If you want to experience more trash on the street everyday then go to Gröpelingen, a part of Bremen. A bit ugly but really trashy! And if you want to see something ugly then visit Tenever, a part of Bremen too. But at least every german city got an ugly and a nice side. Depends how you look at the city. :)
First thing that is wrong, Ludwigshafen is not in Baden-Württemberg. Second thing, many of those opening shots were not in Ludwigshafen but in Mannheim.
I live in Mannheim for over 10 years now and often visit Ludwigshafen for meeting friends or doing sports. Yes I'm very lucky living in Mannheim instead of Ludwigshafen but to be honest the look of these two cities is veeery similar. Mannheim is more beloved because of its music and art scene and its international flair. But to sum it up: that region might not be the pittoresc heart of old germany but it is one of the places in germany where you can live a free, modern, exciting, diversified life without the narrow-mindedness of Swabia and Bavaria.
When I read the title I knew you would end up in Luwigshafen. You should have driven on a couple of kilometers to the nicer part of the Pfalz area. People are much friendlier there than in Baden-Württemberg. Sorry you fled back to BaWü after seeing Ludwigshafen. It is not typical of the area further west. Greetings from a Pfälzer Mädel living in BaWü 👋
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Dem's fighting words! People in about that area of Baden-Württemberg are very nice. Well, for Germans. ;-) Because from about there up to about Bruchsal is the old Kurpfalz. My home region (born in Heidelberg). And we are *SO NICE*! ;-) But LU is ugly, full stop (except for the house my great-grandparents lived in, and my grandma grew up in, but that's mostly nostalgia anyway).
Hey, if I had known you would be so near, (I'm an American living in Mannheim) I could have shown you some of the nicer parts of Ludwigshafen (Parkinsel, Oggersheim). At least glad you came to the good side of the river. Did you not go to Five Guys? Do hope you come back to Mannheim (Square city) again!
Im from Weinheim, a smaller City north of Heidelberg and know Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and all the larger cities in the area, and i think you portrayed Ludwigshafen pretty good and also in an awesome quality. Keep up the great work 👍🏻
I always loved that funny stench that came streaming out of the ventilation shafts on the streets when a subway train was passing by underneath your feet 😄.
Ich brech weg! Und dann noch nach Hemshof, der schlimmste Stadtteil von LU. Zumindest kann man den Maffenbaier empfehlen (ihr seid daran vorbei gelaufen). Sehr gutes Essen 👍 Traditionslokal 😉
Lustigerweise war ich wohl gerade im Maffenbeier als NALF da draußen gefilmt hat. Hahaha... habe mein Auto entdeckt. Ist deshalb lustig, weil ich das erste Mal seit vielen Jahren wieder dort war! Grüße :)
Did a cycling tour along the Rhine a few year back. Since there was a big thunderstorm incoming, we wanted to stop for a night in Ludwigshafen, not knowing much about the city. After getting into the city, we immediately decided to continue cycling to Mannheim (which was surprisingly cool). Don't know if its really is the ugliest city in Germany, but it definitely isnt pretty.
Another sad thing probably is... they have a light rail tunnel, with most sections sitting abandoned since 2008. And that in times of public transport getting more and more important. Instead trams almost completely run overground in traffic.
I mean you live very close to Heilbronn, and im sure youve been there already. Also often a good top 10 candidate on these lists. Make sure to note that for the BundesGARTENschau, they cut down a ton of trees on the "Alle" (wihch is the name for a boulevard with lots of trees). And generally, similar vibes as Ludwigshafen. Industry, workers home units, industry, traffic jam, industry, construction sites, industry, "modern architecture", industry, parking lots but just ont enough for the needs, industry, the big sight of the city: The Coal Power Plant, seen from 20km away, and of course: industry.
The trick with parking lots: there are always just not enough to fill the needs, no matter how many you build. Plaster the whole town with parking lots, and people will be unable to walk where they need to go, so all the lots will be filled with cars.
Damn Nalf lol. Ludwigshafen is a bit like the hood but the nicer parts are closer to the Hauptbahnhof. I studied abroad in Mannheim and it has a hood part but nice part as well. There’s a thriving media arts culture in Mannheim as well.
BASF means Badische Anilin- und Soda Fabrik. Badisch because the founders wanted to built the factory in Mannheim. But Mannheim hadn't enough space, so they built on the other side of the river Rhine. As others still wrote, a lot of cities in Germany have such ugly areas, because they had been destroyed during WW II and rebuilt very fast and cheap because the peoples needed houses.
Heh, I live right outside Ludwigshafen. Would have loved to meet up. Aside from the fact, as someone mentioned, that some of your initial shots were from Mannheim, given half of Ludwigshafen is composed of the world's largest chemical plant, it's easy to be ugly.
I'd say that 90% of the German cities have that "quickly rebuilt" feeling with functional buildings built after the war and some older buildings which remained undestroyed. Only the few cities that were spared by the bombings or the cities which were replicated have an ancient feeling. So you can only tell which bombed city is uglier than the other.
I nominate Frankfort. Graffiti. Bombs flat in WWII. Nice work on the rebuilding of the town around the wonderful Church and the Rein. Oh! You mean one of those New places. Barely older than the Pilgrim settlement if that!
Many major industrial cities were hit hard during WWII. And the way they rebuilt them with rather functional that asthetically pleasing architecture during the 1950's and 60's didn't exactly help either. Take my hometown for example. 100 years ago it was so beautiful that it rivaled even Dresden, then almost 80% were destroyed, then it was rebuilt. Since then it looks rather "meh". The really beautiful cities in Germany are the ones with much of the old pre-WWII architecture intact and some with the few actually beautiful modern buildings.
Every city has its ugly sides, for example cologne: you have beautiful villes at the Rhine and modern, clean new built houses. And on the other side you have parts of the city full of graffities and closed and haunted houses and streets
What? You clearly haven't seen a lot of ugly cities then... Karlsruhe would be high up the list if the title was "I went to Germany's most-void-of-female-students city".
My partner worked in a metal smelting factory there as a Bausoldat in the GDR. Horrendous working conditions. No idea how he still has lungs that function tbh.
Wenn ihr eine Stadt besucht und mit euren Handys durch die Gegend lauft, erkundigt euch das nächste Mal vorher😂 Hätte auch Viertel gegeben in denen ihr vielleicht um einiges ärmer geworden wärt😉 Habt euch Gott sei dank nur für diesen Teil der Stadt entschieden, da kommt man recht häufig ohne blaues Auge davon, solange man nicht bestimmte Gruppen antrifft.
I visited a lot of ugly citys in Germany and Ludwigshafen is defently the worst i've seen yet. Not realy in terms of it's architecture. I've seen worse looking citys in NRW. It is more the debressing atmosphere in the hole city. The dowtown is nearly compeatly abandoned and everthing is crumbling appart. Also a reason for its bad reputation might be, that Ludwigshafen is surroundet by a lot of very nice citys and places (eg.:"Bergstraße" and "Weinstraße"). So people living nearby Ludwigshafen are realy fastidious with their hometowns.
I have a super nice idea for a video i want to see with you guys. Please spend a nice day in the Frankfurter Bahnhofsviertel! That should give your channel a massive boost!!
A big problem with these industrial cities in Germany is that most of them have been bombed to shreds in WWII and have been rebuilt in the 50s and 60s. The architecture back then was heavily influenced by the so called "Brutalist architecture" (many examples in Ludwigshafen and Mannheim), which is super ugly in todays standards. They also had to build cheap and fast to accommodate refugees from the lost territories in the East (now Poland). My grandparents came to Mannheim because if this exact reason in the late 1940s. So I am born and raised in this area and call myself a proud "Monnemer" , which is the local dialect for Mannheimer. ;-) By the way: look at some of those cities (also in the Ruhr area) before WWII. 200% nicer. :-/
As a note: "brutalism" means "with raw (visible) concrete". Still used today, but combined with glas and steal structures, it looks better.
@@holger_p As a german I know this style but didn't know it's name. Reading wikipedia on "Brutalismus" now. Big thx to all of you for making me smarter! :)
Scheiß SVW
Sure, but Ludwigshafen was a quite boring city before the war. Also, most of those brutalist buildings and Plattenbauten were built long after the war. A rich city like Ludwigshafen could build some nicer architecture nowadays.
Everything was better before wwII
People say the most beautiful thing in Ludwigshafen is the bridge to Mannheim.
Mannheim?? Die Stadt ist immer in den Top 5 der häßlichsten Städte vertreten. Keine Ahnung wie Ludwigshafen aussieht, aber Mannheim ist def. eine abgrundtief häßliche Stadt.
@@jimmixed777 Das klingt jetzt nicht so als würdest du in Mannheim leben, habe ich recht? :) Ich wohne dort und würde nicht sagen, dass die Stadt hässlich ist. Zum einen hat Mannheim (im Gegensatz zu Ludwigshafen und sehr vielen weiteren Städten) einen historischen Teil, siehe Wasserturm und Umgebung, die vielen Kirchen, das Mannheimer Schloss etc. Und auch wenn die Innenstadt natürlich sehr viele blockartige Häuser und an manchen Stellen auch eher dreckige Straßen besitzt, kann man doch glaube ich sagen, dass die Stadt als Ganzes sehr viel schöner ist als Ludwigshafen, die verschiedenen Wohngebiete von Berlin o.ä... außerdem habe ich jetzt keine Statistik gefunden, die Mannheim unter den hässlichsten Städten verordnet. Wenn man mal nur die Neckarstadt-West betrachtet, dann würde ich dir aber recht geben... jede Stadt hat auch eine schlechte Seite, aber in Mannheim muss man m. M. n. noch etwas länger danach suchen als anderswo.
@@profieimer42 Nein wohne nicht in Mannheim, finde die Stadt aber auch absolut hä´ßlich. Vielleicht war Ich auch in den falschen Ecken, schön ist jedenfalls anders. Berlin ist ne super interessante Stadt, und hat auch schöne Ecken, ist aber insgesamt auch ne häßliche Stadt. Hamburg oder München sind zb. schöne Städte.
@@jimmixed777 Sicherlich hat da jeder auch eine individuelle Wahrnehmung und Mannheim ist bestimmt keine Stadt, die man als Tourist unbedingt gesehen haben muss oder die besonders schön ist. Ich fand es nur etwas merkwürdig, sie gleich als eine der hässlichsten Städte DEs abzustempeln. Hamburg und München sind für mich auch die schönsten größeren Städte. :)
@@profieimer42 Dresden ist auch sehr schön. Stuttgart zb. mega häßlich.
"Ludwigshafen...smells like New York" could also be a good tourist slogan :D
Except for New Yorkers :)
Ludwigshafen ? What ? ...
it's the backyard of Mannheim ! That's it's german ranking. So better compare it with Cleveland or something similar.
I live in Mannheim and was on the embankment of the Rhine with a neighbour a few years back. She said "Doesn't the BASF look like a big city skyline in the night?" And I'm sittin here thinkin like "lady have you ever been to a big city on the waterfront? This looks like a chemical plant in the dark"
@nathaniel 🤣🤣🤣
Ich war noch niemal in Ludwigshafen ich war noch niemal auf Hawaii, doesn't really have the same ring to it. :D
The industrial cities in the west of Germany got the worst destruction during WWII and some of them where rebuild in the 50' and 60' in a very embarrassing way - seen from today's viewpoint. Back then, people thought this is the future.
And people just needed housing
Yes same for Pforzheim. I really expected that they will visit Pforzheim.
Nah, back this time there were a lot of People who hated the new style of architecture.
@@nachnamevorname_the_original For every new thing, there are people who hate it.
There was this slogan "Beton es kommt darauf an, was man daraus macht" - cement, it's what you're making out of it. And boy they sinned a lot. Ludwigshafen is Rheinland-Pfalz, so you crossed Bundesland borders from Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. A bit like Ulm and Neu-Ulm, the latter gifted with a nice view over the Danube river to lovely Ulmer Münster.
the most beautiful building in Ludwigshafen is the autobahn that leads out of Ludwigshafen
I really like the B9 leading up to Koblenz along the river rhine. It is really great to ride with a motocycle...
The autobahn is indeed beautiful - yet. Driving with 200km/h gives you that feeling of freedom.
But next month, we'll have elections. And after that, the Greens and the social democrats will introduce a speed limit of 130km/h. Then, the autobahn will no longer be special.
A more beautiful way to leave Ludwigshafen would be with the SÜWEX train. Beautiful (and fast) regional express trains that connect large parts of southwest Germany. Maybe the best regional trains you can find in whole Germany.
Duisburg has to be pretty high up there too
nope. I show you some beauthyful places if needed.
Yeah duisburg has some nice looking places sure, but as someone who grew up there, I have to say it’s a good Place to leave
Duisburg hochfeld... Dortmund...
@@vinylrichiejr.2416 I also grew up in Duisburg and i can fully agree
Marxloh
"Not really providing any vibes" is probably the harshest criticism in your lexicon
Most of the industrial cities in Germany have this in common with Ludwigshafen. Beside the industrial sites and plants one reason for them looking that ugly is that they all were bombed to the ground during World War II. And after the war these cities were just built up again to function and serve their purpose, industrial production, and not to look pretty. Most of the larger cities in the Ruhr Region, the industrial heart of Germany, look the same.
Similar story for example also in Kiel. It was not good to be one of the main shipyards in WWII. Basically nothing was left standing by the bombings. Luckily places like Schwäbisch-Hall probably didn't see a single Bomb...
I am fine with that but Ludwigshafen is special. The whole architecture and infrastructure is just wild compared to other industrial cities in Germany. It also has that American influence and in terms of looks it didn't do the city any good.
At 02:16, BASF stands for Badische Anilin und Sodafabrik. [German for ''Baden (Bath) Aniline and Soda Factory.''] It isn't a true acronym so don't try to make a word of it; simply say its initials. Many of its products and chemicals are sold in the U.S. under the BASF label.
@@wallacem41atgmail Badisch just comes from the (former) state of Baden where the company was founded
@@CastaneaMa I was looking for that comment not to do another one, but I'd like to add that we catched up quite well, and that it's usually much cleaner here. But when I saw those pictures in the video it reminded me a lot of Kiel in the 80s/90s.
Dear Nalf,
so you finally came to the city I grew up, and it is not as bad as everybody wants you to believe it is.
For historical context: Ludwigshafen is a really young city for German relations. Founded in the middle of the 19th century it is younger than most American cities. But it incorporated several very old villages and a medieval town (with remnants of the old town wall and a palace/pilgrimage-church). The city itself was a very beautiful city (as old photos document) with many townhouses in the architectural styles of Gründerzeit (late 19th c.) and Art Nouveau. But in WW2 it was bombed to the ground with many of the inner city's streets having no more houses from this time left. It always seemed to me like the American pilots couldn't find the BASF (or as we call it the [big] factory) and dropped the bombs everywhere but there.
So after WW2 there was little left of the old inner city and it was rebuilt in the 50ies and 60ies without any regard for architecture, buildings' ensembles, and the like. It's in fact at hotchpotch of all post-war styles. But the city has lots of parks and greenery with one of the highest amounts in Germany when you compare the total area with the area of parks. It has a Gartenstadt (model urban project from the 1920ies) and many affordable apartments in buildings belonging to (former) model projects. Housing is very affordable in Ludwigshafen, life is a lot cheaper in Rheinland-Pfalz than in Baden-Württemberg. And lots of jobs, too.
The old building you showed in 4:15 is Stadthaus Nord, which used to be the town hall until the 1970ies when they constructed the highrise on the other side of the street, but it still houses the social department of the city of Ludwigshafen. The empty basins belong to the actual, currently defunct, town hall and used to be filled with water, which was a pretty sight, ducks and swans included. But they have leeks and the city currently doesn't want to spend the money to repair them. Besides, they must decide whether they want to refurbish the town hall tower (big problems with fire protection) or rather demolish it and build a new one. Then there are problems with the elevated passageways as the northern one is just crumbling away and was scheduled to be demolished and replaced by a normal level city street. But this had to be postponed as the southern one all of a sudden showed cracks and to be demolished right away in a kind of emergency scenario. To replace them is very, very expensive (in the 3 figure millions) and the city has to beg for money from state and federal authorities because though both roads are Bundesstraßen (federal highways) the structures themselves are in the ownership of the city. For the re-modeling of the inner city after tearing down the northern elevated passageway parts of the town hall center including the empty basins have to go anyway.
The inner city, esp. the part north of town hall center has indeed a garbage problem. You read at least once a week in the local newspaper about it.
Pros of Ludwigshafen are a steadily expanded net of bike lanes and superb public transportation. It is part of Germany's largest tramway (streetcar) net and is therefore connected to Bad Dürkheim in the west, Mannheim on the other side of the Rhein, Weinheim, and Heidelberg in the east. You can hop on a streetcar in Bad Dürkheim, change lines in Mannheim, and travel to Heidelberg in less than 90 minutes for a distance of more than 60 kms.
At 7:00-7:03 I caught a glimpse of my alma mater. Shout out to Carl-Bosch-Gymnasium, the school of Nobel laureate Stephan Heil.
I'm a bit disappointed to didn't walk far enough south (just about 500 m) to at least get a glimpse of the humongous Miro-wall (southern facade of the Hack-Museum). At least you got decent drone shots of BASF area and the Pegeluhr at Luitpoldhafen. And yes, you pronounce it B A S F.
Btw: The three identical-looking highrises are in Mannheim not in Ludwigshafen.
CU twinmama
PS: I don't hate anybody who says Ludwigshafen is ugly, everybody is entitled to their opinion, but I know it's a very liveable city with lots of greens (in between some ugly concrete buildings).
Danke für den super interessanten Post! Und ein schönes Wochenende!
@@sisuguillam5109 Danke, ebenfalls!
tzdm die hässlichste Stadt Deutschlands rede es nicht schön :D
Super interessanter Post von dir und danke dafür, aber das ändert nix am Dreck und den Straßen. Die Stadt sollte sich das mal ansehen hier. Wobei ich mich als echtes Pälzer Mädel ja schon fremdschämen muss 🙈
@@twinmama42 😁
Germany's ugliest city is still 10 times nicer than the ugliest city's in the US
Come on!
@@starseed8087 OK, except for Gelsenkirchen
@@Hansmeiser2008 eh, you can pick nearly anything in the Ruhrgebiet. But hey, at least it keeps the stupid Tourists away. The tend to flock to the South. The other Tourists that come here nonetheless are ok. They want the pain. I appreciate that mindest.
no lol
@@Hansmeiser2008 Well, Gelsenkirchen has Schalke....
The 147 bombings of Ludwigshafen in WW2 by US and British bombers destroyed the city center up to 80%. About 140.000 fire bombs and 1.200 explosive bombs fell on the city. Ludwigshafen was one of the most bombed cities of the Third Reich because of its chemical industry which was important for the German war effort, obviously.
After the war, the focus was solely to rebuild living room fast and cheap. Immediately after the war lots of Germans were basically homeless or cramped together. And what you see today is the result.
Concerning the garbage, as all the bins were in the street, it must have been garbage collection day. But fact remains: It's not one of the most beautiful cities. ;-)
As for what some are calling garbage in the streets...I think with the correct perspective people would realize that these are box lunches left out for convenient pick up.
Being bombed into oblivion in WW2 is certainly one of the most common things shared by ugly German cities. Second most common thing would be being ruled by the SPD fro a long time.
There is another aspect: 11 of the 20 poorest cities in Germany are located in rhineland-palatinate. LU, Kaiserslautern, Pirmasens etc. Over here in KL, the garbage collections were reduced to every 4 weeks to reduce the costs. As a result, most of the houses got quite a few big trash cans. Since they are too heavy to pull them out of the basement, many people let them in front of their house, which doesn't look that great... :-(
And a lot of people living there, that don't have the same attitude to cleanliness and order. Like in most big german cities...
@@Frosty1979 lmao so true
You got to put Gelsenkirchen on that list
Don't forget Salzgitter and Wolfsburg, steel plans and car plants
I only came for that comment
And Berlin ;-)
I agree. Consider Hagen. That is really awful. Or Leverkusen…
Add Krefeld...
Now imagine being there in November/December when it's dark and cold. It's so depressing.
I nearly pissed my pants... When I read the title I thought immediately whatever you are coming up with I know a city far worse... Ludwigshafen! And it turned out to be Ludwigshafen! 😂😂😂
Read the title and thought: "Oh, they're going to Hagen!" (near Dortmund). Most wrecked down train station besides Duisburg.
i thought wuppertal
@@marqsuckerboerg4638 But Wuppertal has the beautiful placement between the hills and the Schwebebahn, that couldn't really be the ugliest... Plus you can usually only see a part of the city at a time, that really helps 😉 Hagen, though...
And I thought Gelsenkirchen😅
I commuted through zwickau train station for three years. the whole time, there was a rubble pile of what had formerly been apparently the other half of the station. it didn't look fresh when I first saw it, either.
Rheydt Hbf schafft es tatsächlich, noch einen drauf zu legen.
Mayor of Ludwigshafen: "If you want to experience New York City, visit Ludwigshafen! At least you get the smell."
:-)
I was so expecting Offenbach.
No way! The Bembelboot elevates OF to a whole nother level! 😆🍎
you spelled Frankfurt wrong ;)
OF and F have changed alot in the past 20 years. They're not as ugly as they used to be.
Was ist mit Gelsenkirchen, Hanau und Duisburg?
@@all_in_for_JESUS and Frankfurt is the greenest city in Germany. Offenbach is a brilliant place for artists and artisans. Te town is trying very hard to make the best out of difficult circumstances.
Fun (?) fact: Ludwigshafen was originally intended to be the target of "Little Boy", German capitulation came too early. After the US Army had taken Ludwisghafen on March 23rd, they had to find another target ...
Oh, I didn't know that. Guess we somehow had been lucky after all.
there are so many German cities which have this story. I haven't found a source for these stories so far and you would need at least a dozen of "Little Boys".
@@henningbartels6245 "there so many German cities which have this story" Nope, there are not.
@@henningbartels6245 So steht es zumindest im Wiekipedia- Eintrag zu Ludwigshafen
The invasion of the island nation of Japan by one country (the US) would have been much more problematic and costly. That's why Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened. I doubt they would have ever used it on Germany with three nations bearing down on it from all sides. They didn't feel they needed to.
Could be worse. I visited Kaliningrad, the Russian enclave at the Baltic Sea a while ago. The city was called Koenigsberg before the war and had a largely German population. A British air raid in the summer of 1944 destroyed the town almost completely. The inhabitants fled and were - like 12 million other ethnic Germans from Eastern territories - never able to return. In Kaliningrad only the cathedral and former stock exchange survived, the rest has been replaced by ugly Soviet era prefab buildings. Eastern Germany is full of them too, but at least there they have been renovated. As you can imagine these two topics - the air raids and the expulsion of 12 million Germans from former Soviet bloc countries - are touchy subjects, even to this day. Right-wingers of all nationalities love to harp on about them out of context, and left-wingers go out of their way to avoid to talk about them at all. I don't know which is worse.
It makes me sad seeing what happened to Königsberg, since my great-grandma had to flee from there. She lost her home and the Russians didn't even try to reconstruct her home city.
Congratulations to 69k Subscribers Nick. I Love your Videos and your whole Attitute. Have a great friday + weekend.
To be fair, it looks as though you hit the trash pick-up day. The BASF capital is just destined to have been bombed to hell in WWII, then rebuilt for modern practicality and around the chemical works.
Living in a similar dirty city I can tell you: Big NOPE. Trash will be picked up and half a day later it looks like that until the trash will be picked up again 4 weeks later...
@@eily_b what?!
That is in Germany?
Is it because of migrants?
Chains like Starbucks are the reason for inner cities becoming more and more interchangeable. Yes, empty store rows aren’t great, but if all city centers look the same because of always the same chains (that also displace local shops), that’s not so desirable, either.
IT's the customers, who decide to either go in a local shop or in a chain.
@@holger_p
It’s also politics who decides what if huge companies get tax advantages, and what kind of businesses are wanted in the city centers.
“Market demand regulates everything for the better” is a hollow phrase. :)
@@3.k No, it's most often the companies who decide it, and the cities cannot do anything about it.
And it's the landlords who decide whom they rent out a shop. Do the city has control about the installed business ?
I don't think so.
They define maybe "merchant area", so you cannot open a body shop there.
@@holger_p
I’m not sure either, but I believe that the city development people have a word to say about what kind of shops they allow.
But there’s also the business side, there are franchise companies that work with methods like subcontracting, and they suck every penny out of their contractors.
Local shop owners may not want to go that route, or they can’t, and there are a lot of screws that politics can set.
Having lived for 26 years near there (Born in Mannheim lived there as little kid, then Frankenthal later on) all i can say is.. yeah. being bombed to shreds in WW2 and then rebuild by people who had no idea about visual aesthetics. Its no wonder it looks like this. To me Ludwigshafen was always only "a stop on the way to mannheim" But my knowledge is also 15 years out of date. Since i moved away from the region in 2006. Still recognize it though.
sie hatten keine ideen? das war sicher nicht das problem. sie hatten keine zeit und MUSSTEN so schnell (und günstig, weil ALLES am arsch war) es geht funktionale betonklötze hochziehen. millionen über millionen deutsche waren obdachlos und hatten keine funktionierenden städte. die hatten nicht den luxus, architektonisch und finanziell einen schönheitswettbewerb zu veranstalten.
@@Vokuhilagott Kiel hatte das selbe Problem und das sieht man leider auch. Hier stand auch fast kein Stein mehr auf dem anderen.
I studied German in Mannheim summer before COVID, and I never got to see Ludwigshafen. Doesn’t seem too bad, maybe a lick of paint and a little love. But yes Mannheim and Heidelberg are definitely the rich 2 in that relationship. For example, Ludwigshafen has an abandoned underground tram line cause they couldn’t afford to keep it going, very unfortunate.
That's not entirely correct. Ludwigshafen still has two routes with underground stations (Hauptbahnhof and Rathauscenter). The route connecting both stations with Mundenheim / Südweststadion was closed because passenger numbers were not sustainable for keeping the route active. But it is still there and, as far as I know, could be reinstated with short or no notice.
And as I've stated in my original comment, Ludwigshafen is one of the greenest (in the sense of parks, recreational areas, trees along streets) cities in Germany.
NALF in Ludwigshafen: Feels like home.
No, Seattle and even Portland are very pretty.
With this introduction, I realley expected that you visit Pforzheim. Big parts of Pforzheim was destroyed in WW2. Because of this the ciiy center are mainly 70 year old concrete houses.
But Ludwigshafen seems to be similar.
If you plan to repeat this you can go to Pforzheim and Karlsruhe at the same day. Karlsruhe is very nice.
Pforzheim is really a shithole
And even in the ungliest cities of Germany you can ask any random guy where Japan or Australia is located on the globus and they will show you the right place.
Yes, if he is a native german.
@@okko16 Being good at Geography isn't exactly an exclusively-German trait
@@leDespicable That for sure, but we have many invaders from african and arabic countries here. That is, what I ment.
As someone who spent her undergrad in Mannheim and had a lot of friends comment on how ugly it is and how I could live there I always responded "Well the ugliest thing in Mannheim is the view over to Ludwigshafen" :D
It's like someone from Cleveland claiming: "At least our city is not as ugly and rundown as nearby Detroit!!!1!" 🤪
That might not be what you were asking for but if you're interested in a beautiful city that is totally different from the ones in Baden-Württemberg, check out the historical center of Dresden. Once you're there you might also go for a hike in Saxony Switzerland. It's kind of a hidden gemstone of Germany ☺️
Hidden gem stone?
It's totally overcrowded 😅
But definitely very beautiful and worth a visit.
@@DenzelPF31 True, but I lived in Baden Württemberg for about ten years and met quite a few people who haven't heard about this place yet. So I thought it should be mentioned 😅
Unfortunately Dresden was pretty well bombed to s*** also and firebombed. A few pieces of the old city were left after the war, but I would say 85 to 90% was destroyed and rebuilt. Fun fact; the Alstadt is newer than the Neustadt which was not destroyed.
Nah, Leipzig is way prettier than Dresden. Pffffft Tal der Ahnungslosen.... pffffffffffft 😛 😛 😁
@@lydiaf3896 Dresden's OLD TOWN is very nice and beautifully renovated, but for the rest of the city - a big NO.
Watched this video out of the BASF in my Lunchbreak 🤣
Wie ist es dort zu arbeiten? Was machst du dort?
@@nova290r Tätig im Handwerk, im Großen und Ganzen sehr okay 😃
I remember a guy came straight from Agypt to Ludwigshafen , told me the station and surrounding area of Berliner Platz just looks exactly like Gaza strip .
Duisburg, and especially areas like Bruckhausen and Marxloh. Good luck beating that ...
Nice I went to school there. My hometown Speyer is just 20mins car drive away from LU. Would be cool to see you one day in Speyer
I used to live there about 12 years ago, for around 2 years, Ludwigshafen is so ugly. The Hochstrasse ( the high street over Ludwigshafen ) is nasty and falls apart. The central station ( Hauptbahnhof ) and the thing around are terrible. and everywere these pidgeons. But Mannheim is not a bit less ugly.
Central Station was the most modern Trainstation in Germany. When it was finished, they decided to take Mannheim for most of the long distance and fast trains. it´s just on the other side of the rhine.... In 2021 there´s only one long distance train which stops in Ludwigshafen.
I knew you were talking about Ludwigshafen when I saw the title :D
It is not only ugly... It is a real sh**thole. I lived there for a year.
@@kevinblankenburg4816 lmao didn't know that there is so much waste... could be Berlin but just the worst areas
I didn't. But then, I'm not familiar with LU, I'm more (but still not very) familiar with MA, even though I have relatives (from my dear mom's side) in LU.
Nalfie, I use your videos in my High School German classes. My students appreciate what you say, especially since you’re much younger than I am. Have you given up on speaking German? You were doing extremely well. I am very careful with my compliments. So yeah, you were coming along extremely well. I teach Spanish and French also. I never grade on accent but I coach a lot. Just shorten your vowels. Don’t stretch out your words like we do in the USA. Speak your syllables more staccato. Schwäbisch Hall! PLEASE PRONOUNCE THE W LIKE A V!!! The ä is very short. Just shorten your vowels and you will sound like a German pretty much. Don’t give up
Just a fyi, The pronunciation of a W like a V is not true for the South.
The absence of the glottal stop gives it away, too. When I speak English I try to suppress my trained glottal stop, but it is really hard. So when an American speaks German, add the glottal stop and it will already make a big difference. But this is just if you want to be really all stealthy. I appreciate everyone who learns German, I'd think that it is much harder to learn than English.
It was practically impossible to take a bad picture of Tuebingen. The back of the train station was still good by any standard. Cheers
Oh, I used to live there. I can show you some dingy quarters there ;-)
Thank goodness, you brought us back around with Starbucks to end. never knew any place in Germany was like that.
Actually A LOT of places in Germany are like that. In most big cities you have a least parts that are like that. And most industrial centers are like that. In some cities you have just some beautiful remainders or rebuilt places that are beautiful. Ludwigshafen just has none...
A childhood memory from back in the 60ies and 70ies driving on the Autobahn, we always knew when we were getting close to Ludwigshafen because of the chemical smell in the air. We couldn't get past Ludwigshafen fast enough, and held our noses as long as possible. Once we passed it, we rolled down our windows, to gulp in fresh air that didn't stink. Don't know what it's like now but back then, it was pretty bad.
There is no comparison to a time more than 50 years ago. Today environmental laws are extremly strict compared to the first decades after the war. Even when driving along Raschig it doesn't smell after Phenol anymore. The water in the Rhein is very clean now, you can go swimming without any problems. This was VERY different 50 years ago....
I heard that from my grandfather (who worked as a chemist at BASF). But nowadays, there's no more chemical smell.
I live close to Ludwigshafen garbage incinerator - and the air is very clean here. Flue gas filtering does the job.
You should see that incinerator at night, when the chimney is illuminated in all sorts of colors. Looks pretty nice.
@@martinahaary6676 In all honesty, I live in Germany and have driven past MA-LU on Autobahn 6 from 1978- present day. Sometimes, you can still get a scent of chemicals when crossing the Rhine at LU, but it's nothing like back in the 70s when you actually did have to close windows or stop the AC in the car from the smell coming through.
Ludwigshafen was for the most part bombed by the Americans in the second world war, because a very important industrial part, the BASF, was supposed to be destroyed back then. When rebuilding the city, attention was paid to functionality and not to appearance. They needed Living space and that very quickly.
That's why the city center looks extremely bad and ugly.
The Americans even considered throwing the first atomic bomb on Ludwigshafen and not on Hiroshima.
(The reason for this is of course BASF, which already played an important role in global game back then)
But this doesn't explain the garbage everywhere.
So next time, come and visit the whole „Ruhrgebiet“ (Pott), its very green and ugly at the same time. But more green ;) And then, go to Garzweiler…
NALF should definitely come and chek out the Tagebau! As someone from a Rheinbraun/RWE family in the 3rd generation, this oughta be interesting 😉
Garzweiler - An ugly hole in Germany.
Hagen und Bochum sind auch immer einen Besuch wert😍
@@Toni-ze6no Bochum ist wirklich ziemlich schön im Vergleich zu vielen Städten in der Gegend! ☺️
Marl 🤪
the new slogan for Ludwigshafen: "Smells like New York City".
Based. It’s still pretty bad, but better than a lot of the US hahaha.
USA is big and if you take other countries of EU you will see real ghetto. USA is way better than Europe. This guys are in Germany the best economy country in Europe.
Germany doesnt have any real ghettos, it's pretty tame here. France and Britian has some. The suburbs of Paris and London can be very rough.
@@albanianorthodox8659 lmao we got slums in america u neva bin here... europe issa example of 1st world countries... certain parts of US look like 3rd world, europe takes care of dey citizens america doesn't give a fuck why we have lots of homeless. Dis not no comparing who's worse its bout da reality... america has murder rates higher or comparable to 3rd world countries n america suppose 2 b 1st world country no country in europe can ever compare.
@@albanianorthodox8659 Have you ever been to Detroit?
Im not from Ludwigshafen, but as far as i know, its part of a 3 City-Collectiv. Heidelberg (here live the rich ones, very beautiful), Mannheim (the "normal" people live here, its nice but not stunning) and Ludwigshafen (the industrial part of the complex, for the people that earn lesser money).
But as i said, im not sure about it, i have heared it. so maybe that is not true, but may it is....
Ja schon irgendwo wahr aber wir sind in Mannheim anscheinend keine Fans von Heidelberg und Ludwigshafen, die Heidelberger sind zu abgehoben weil sie in ner teuren stadt wohnen dabei ist Heidelberg ne Katastrophe zum beispiel zum autofahren, alles unübersichtlich und eng und die Irren Radfahrer, und Ludwigshafen ist halt Ludwigshafen. Es ist der verächtliche Blick von der Ebertbrücke rheinabwärts zur BASF der alleine schon zeigt wie viel wir von LU halten, und ganz nebenbei: HD, HP, LU: steig aus und schlag zu.
Gude!
People come from surrounding regions (I'm in Heidelberg) to do their shopping in Mannheim, because it offers a larger variety of stores catering to a larger variety of people (e.g., my shoe size is US 13-14, and in Germany 46-48, but none of these is available in Heidelberg).
But hundreds of thousands of people come to Heidelberg every year to look at its ruined castle, while only very few come to Mannheim to visit its beautiful Schloss.
As for Ludwigshafen, meh, I drove by it many times and saw the giant chemical plumes out of BASF, and even made business connections there, but "ugly" is an apt description.
It looks lovely compared to a lot of places in the UK.
Hi Nalf as you move from Goerdelerplatz (Lu-Friesenheim) towards the Rathaus-Center you cross the Hemshof district. This district has a share of foreigners of almost 90% so it looks like the foreigners from their countries of origin are used to. Hence the garbage and dirt everywhere. Turks, Bulgarians and Arabs have the largest share. I may now be accused of racism, that's not the case because my statements are fact.
@ beyonder prime..so true....
Oder es war Mülltag... 🤷♀️ Da wird auch mal schnell alles vors Haus gestellt. 🚮♻️
So very true and not racism at all.
So you're saying the local councils don't clean the streets in immigrant areas also?
@@greenknitter ...........No, but street cleaning cannot act as quickly as littering the streets
Ugliest city I've been in in Germany is Schweinfurt, but Ludwigshafen is up there.
Baden-Württembergian vibes in Rheinland-Pfalz? By crossing the rhine you went to another state
Yes. The Air Force had their "fun" with Schweinfurt and all the Ball Bearing Factorys there.
It is because you can not build anything without ballbearings. Not a single tank, u-boat are even any machinerie making these machines.
@@matthiasschmitt2311 it is known
This place is like a German version of Slough
Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough! It isn't fit for humans now...
My son moved from Mannheim to Ludwigshafen and what a surprise to me. There are nice sections in LU, at least where he lives.
Where lives he?
So funny, unorthodox & keeping it real to visit an ugly city in DE. A nice twist on all the typical (American/Ausländer)UA-camrs gushing over the many historical tourist fairytale towns in DE. At least you spared your precious drone from having to fly over the gritty & perhaps a tad grotty urban landscape of Ludwigshafen.
Also congrats on new Unicorn Tez‘s debut appearance on the Nalf vlog.
I called it at the one minute mark :D
To be fair to Ludwigshafen (as a citizen of fancy nearby Heidelberg):
1) It seems it was indeed garbage day, that contributed to the trash on the street.
2) Ludwigshafen never was a quaint little medieval town with a town centre, market square etc. It actually used to be part of the fortifications of the Palatinate residence of Mannheim on the other bank of the river. They got separated when after Napoleon, the Ludwigshafen side came to Bavaria (yep, weird) in 1816. The settlement that developed then is named after Ludwig I, the grandfather of the Bavarian king who built Neuschwanstein Castle. Long story short, it's got no old town core.
3) It was an industrial town from the very beginning, so BASF is pretty much the town, with tons of worker's barracks around. You can actually take bus tours through the BASF compound, it has its own train stations, fire department, daycare and port. It also means to this day, it is mostly a working class city with a lot of economically poorer immigrants (Mannheim actually is a bit similar too, birthplace of the car and stuff, but also attracts banks, insurance companies, software developers and millionaires).
4) It did get blasted into oblivion by Allied bombers. You might have seen the square that's basically behind the facade of a church - it's all that left of the building you would be standing in, a bit like Coventry in the UK oder Kaiser Wilhelm Gedächtniskirche in Berlin. You will also see some flak towers still standing around Hauptbahnhof because it was an important industrial and railway hub.
5) The rebuilding happened in a time when everyone believed in the car. Ludwigshafen is one of the very few German cities where you can see a US type raised freeway smashing through downtown like no one cares.
Anyways, it's always nice to see Rhineland-Palatinate get some love on the expat UA-cam, it's so much more than Ramstein and the Army bases.
Bielefeld is said to be uglier, but no one really knows.
Where is Bielefeld?
Bielefeld doesn't exist.
There is no Bielefeld! Even we Austrians know that.
Somebody I know (who was born there) compared Bielefels to a meadow full of cow dung with only an occasional dandelion here and theee
Definitely not. Bielefeld is so much prettier than Ludwigshafen compared to from what I saw in this video. Bielefeld has the Sparrenburg Castle and some really nice parks and the Forrest (Teutoburger Wald) as part of the city, which makes 80% green area within the city. Bielefeld has twice as much residents than Ludwigshafen.
But the university is really ugly from its looks and has the nickname “UFO”. It just doesn’t fit the green city even after 50 years 🛸
I wouldn’t say that Bielefeld is one of the prettiest cities, but it is really not that bad. And most Bielefelder really hate this joke about the city doesn’t exist. Today there is a “gravestone” for the official ending of the “Bielefeld Verschwörung”, but I think this will never end 😅
That's some chill as music you have in this one. Nice.
I thought you mean Mannheim first, but Ludwigshafen is definitely worse from Mannheim view! 😃
"69K subscribers" NICE! 😂
Ich auch lul
mannheim ist beautiful✌
@@splittface28 Mannheim in Ontario Kanada maybe.
I spent five days in Ludwigshafen a couple of years ago and yea it's pretty basic especially when compared to many local places like Heidelberg.Koblenz etc but it was fine.The people were great and yes,it was gloriously sunny.My judgement of the place may have been different had the weather been terrible.However it did help that i found a little bar by where i was staying that sold bottles of Becks for two euros...
A the state with the beautiful name that is impossible for the Man-Child to pronounce (self-admitted - become a Patron and you can hear for yourself, knot it the tongue is an understatement): Rhineland-Palatinate. Phenomenal people. Delicious food. Sigh.
After we were taught how to pronounce Nevada correctly from an alledgedly "American's" point of view (Nevjeidahh - the weird facial acrobatics trying to squeeze that past ones lips, comes as a goodie on top) I thought I'd help you out for once.
It's "rain-luhnd puh-la-tuh-neit" (with a curtsey and a dreamy sigh).
You're welcome.
And...CALFIERI? Again?
Someone told me “Bruce Willis Town” is even worse, but the nature surrounding it must be pretty incredible. Can you confirm that, Mills?
I loved Kaiserslautern. But because of the incredible atmosphere in the stadium and the friendly people welcoming us like we were one of their own.
@@connorbailey9262 It's not that bad. But the nature part - yeah, pretty great.
@@sallyanderson2983 Of course you did. They have the best fans, the best atmosphere (sue me!) and even though they do quite bad in the league, they're my favourites. You saw them in Scotland once too, right?
Nice you have been near my home town Bad Dürkheim, hoem of the largest wine barrel in the world and in September hoem of the largest wine festival in the world. However, totally agree with your statement about Ludwigshafen.
Knew where he was going from the title. That tells you everything you need to know about Ludwigshafens reputation 😅
2:47 "We have to find some uglier looking things..." transition to a Domino's Pizza delivery hidden behind a row of trash containers.
Now THAT'S what I'm talking about. 😂
I saw the title and thought about Heilbronn. Greetings from Michelfeld. ;-)
Rumor has it, that not every commuter from Ludwighafen returns after work.
Finally some balancing content on this channel after all these years of hyping germany.
Well said :)
Nice nickname 😸☕
Near Schwäbisch Hall, you'll find Heilbronn and Pforzheim which used to be nice cities but got rebuild ugly after WWII. Still, Ludwigshafen is far worse tbh...
If you want to experience more trash on the street everyday then go to Gröpelingen, a part of Bremen. A bit ugly but really trashy! And if you want to see something ugly then visit Tenever, a part of Bremen too.
But at least every german city got an ugly and a nice side. Depends how you look at the city. :)
First thing that is wrong, Ludwigshafen is not in Baden-Württemberg. Second thing, many of those opening shots were not in Ludwigshafen but in Mannheim.
My boyfriend to me : “Sooo, you’ve been missing Germany so much that we’re actually watching a video about… German street garbage …?"
Me: 😩😅
2:40 Look at the Sparkasse! Now we're talking!
I would have said Kassel, but Beuys made it much nicer with his oak trees.. Also try Berlin Marzahn :)
No Kassel has its ugly sides but there are so many really outstanding beautiful areas.
I live in Mannheim for over 10 years now and often visit Ludwigshafen for meeting friends or doing sports. Yes I'm very lucky living in Mannheim instead of Ludwigshafen but to be honest the look of these two cities is veeery similar. Mannheim is more beloved because of its music and art scene and its international flair. But to sum it up: that region might not be the pittoresc heart of old germany but it is one of the places in germany where you can live a free, modern, exciting, diversified life without the narrow-mindedness of Swabia and Bavaria.
Not all of Swabia or Bavaria is narrow-minded…you are kind of perpetuating a stereotype;) keep that in mind and have a lovely day!
When I read the title I knew you would end up in Luwigshafen. You should have driven on a couple of kilometers to the nicer part of the Pfalz area. People are much friendlier there than in Baden-Württemberg. Sorry you fled back to BaWü after seeing Ludwigshafen. It is not typical of the area further west.
Greetings from a Pfälzer Mädel living in BaWü 👋
Dem's fighting words!
People in about that area of Baden-Württemberg are very nice. Well, for Germans. ;-) Because from about there up to about Bruchsal is the old Kurpfalz. My home region (born in Heidelberg). And we are *SO NICE*! ;-)
But LU is ugly, full stop (except for the house my great-grandparents lived in, and my grandma grew up in, but that's mostly nostalgia anyway).
Hey, if I had known you would be so near, (I'm an American living in Mannheim) I could have shown you some of the nicer parts of Ludwigshafen (Parkinsel, Oggersheim). At least glad you came to the good side of the river. Did you not go to Five Guys? Do hope you come back to Mannheim (Square city) again!
Was thinking exactly the same as you, except to try and help find the ugliest spots! Peace out from Monnem!
Im from Weinheim, a smaller City north of Heidelberg and know Mannheim, Ludwigshafen and all the larger cities in the area, and i think you portrayed Ludwigshafen pretty good and also in an awesome quality. Keep up the great work 👍🏻
Germany is no fairytale country. It is a industrial plant, logistics center and tree plantation.
Beides some old buildings indeed, esp from the gilded age and many brick buildings from the 1920ies.
I had to subscribe... For the music... Damn... Genius...
😁 my first trip to the US was to NYC, I was amazed how even the streets smelled like fast food, until I realised why. All places have their flaws.
I always loved that funny stench that came streaming out of the ventilation shafts on the streets when a subway train was passing by underneath your feet 😄.
I'm from near Ludwigshafen. Since I can think, people discouraged me to go there. This place is the worst.
You Need Go See BASF at Night - you‘ll think you are in Blade Runner.
The Blade Runner Intro i guess?
@@derauditor5748 exactly
Ich brech weg! Und dann noch nach Hemshof, der schlimmste Stadtteil von LU. Zumindest kann man den Maffenbaier empfehlen (ihr seid daran vorbei gelaufen). Sehr gutes Essen 👍 Traditionslokal 😉
Vor einigen Jahren sind wir noch gern im Hemshof weggegangen.. gab schöne Kneipen.. irgendwie geht's mit LU nur abwärts..
Lustigerweise war ich wohl gerade im Maffenbeier als NALF da draußen gefilmt hat. Hahaha... habe mein Auto entdeckt.
Ist deshalb lustig, weil ich das erste Mal seit vielen Jahren wieder dort war!
Grüße :)
Did a cycling tour along the Rhine a few year back. Since there was a big thunderstorm incoming, we wanted to stop for a night in Ludwigshafen, not knowing much about the city. After getting into the city, we immediately decided to continue cycling to Mannheim (which was surprisingly cool). Don't know if its really is the ugliest city in Germany, but it definitely isnt pretty.
Duisburg and Gelsenkirchen would be candidates for the ugliest city too.
Another sad thing probably is... they have a light rail tunnel, with most sections sitting abandoned since 2008. And that in times of public transport getting more and more important. Instead trams almost completely run overground in traffic.
When you are a chemical engineer and are like 😍😍😍
I mean you live very close to Heilbronn, and im sure youve been there already. Also often a good top 10 candidate on these lists. Make sure to note that for the BundesGARTENschau, they cut down a ton of trees on the "Alle" (wihch is the name for a boulevard with lots of trees). And generally, similar vibes as Ludwigshafen. Industry, workers home units, industry, traffic jam, industry, construction sites, industry, "modern architecture", industry, parking lots but just ont enough for the needs, industry, the big sight of the city: The Coal Power Plant, seen from 20km away, and of course: industry.
The trick with parking lots: there are always just not enough to fill the needs, no matter how many you build. Plaster the whole town with parking lots, and people will be unable to walk where they need to go, so all the lots will be filled with cars.
@@stefanb6539 Yep. Thats pretty much the issue. Too much parking space not to use it, so too many people wanna use it.
Thought of Heilbronn, too. Drove through it one time, because there was Stau on the Autobahn, and the city just seemed like a big industrial area.
Industrial areas all look the same everywhere, and even worse in the US.
Damn Nalf lol. Ludwigshafen is a bit like the hood but the nicer parts are closer to the Hauptbahnhof. I studied abroad in Mannheim and it has a hood part but nice part as well. There’s a thriving media arts culture in Mannheim as well.
BASF means Badische Anilin- und Soda Fabrik.
Badisch because the founders wanted to built the factory in Mannheim. But Mannheim hadn't enough space, so they built on the other side of the river Rhine.
As others still wrote, a lot of cities in Germany have such ugly areas, because they had been destroyed during WW II and rebuilt very fast and cheap because the peoples needed houses.
Aaaah yes. Mannheim and Ludwigshafen. I lived there for three years. Good old times.
My condolences!
Heh, I live right outside Ludwigshafen. Would have loved to meet up.
Aside from the fact, as someone mentioned, that some of your initial shots were from Mannheim, given half of Ludwigshafen is composed of the world's largest chemical plant, it's easy to be ugly.
Read the title , watched beginning , saw Autobahn signage and knew right away🤣
I'd say that 90% of the German cities have that "quickly rebuilt" feeling with functional buildings built after the war and some older buildings which remained undestroyed. Only the few cities that were spared by the bombings or the cities which were replicated have an ancient feeling. So you can only tell which bombed city is uglier than the other.
I nominate Frankfort. Graffiti. Bombs flat in WWII. Nice work on the rebuilding of the town around the wonderful Church and the Rein. Oh! You mean one of those New places. Barely older than the Pilgrim settlement if that!
Many major industrial cities were hit hard during WWII. And the way they rebuilt them with rather functional that asthetically pleasing architecture during the 1950's and 60's didn't exactly help either.
Take my hometown for example. 100 years ago it was so beautiful that it rivaled even Dresden, then almost 80% were destroyed, then it was rebuilt. Since then it looks rather "meh".
The really beautiful cities in Germany are the ones with much of the old pre-WWII architecture intact and some with the few actually beautiful modern buildings.
@@leowagner1366
Nordhausen
Every city has its ugly sides, for example cologne: you have beautiful villes at the Rhine and modern, clean new built houses. And on the other side you have parts of the city full of graffities and closed and haunted houses and streets
I immediately thought of Karlsruhe 😂👌
What? You clearly haven't seen a lot of ugly cities then... Karlsruhe would be high up the list if the title was "I went to Germany's most-void-of-female-students city".
Fun fact: Ludwigshafen-Oggersheim is the birthplace of German chancellor Helmut Kohl. And I think that explains quite everything.
Some call it "Lumpenhafen" 🤣
*cries in Wilhelmshaven*
you should see Bitterfeld-Wolfen, East Germany chemical center, once the place with the least life expectancy in Germany.
My partner worked in a metal smelting factory there as a Bausoldat in the GDR. Horrendous working conditions. No idea how he still has lungs that function tbh.
Wenn ihr eine Stadt besucht und mit euren Handys durch die Gegend lauft, erkundigt euch das nächste Mal vorher😂 Hätte auch Viertel gegeben in denen ihr vielleicht um einiges ärmer geworden wärt😉 Habt euch Gott sei dank nur für diesen Teil der Stadt entschieden, da kommt man recht häufig ohne blaues Auge davon, solange man nicht bestimmte Gruppen antrifft.
I didn't even know about Ludwigshafens reputation of being that ugly (as a german). I think there are much more ugly places all over.
I visited a lot of ugly citys in Germany and Ludwigshafen is defently the worst i've seen yet. Not realy in terms of it's architecture. I've seen worse looking citys in NRW.
It is more the debressing atmosphere in the hole city. The dowtown is nearly compeatly abandoned and everthing is crumbling appart.
Also a reason for its bad reputation might be, that Ludwigshafen is surroundet by a lot of very nice citys and places (eg.:"Bergstraße" and "Weinstraße"). So people living nearby Ludwigshafen are realy fastidious with their hometowns.
I have a super nice idea for a video i want to see with you guys. Please spend a nice day in the Frankfurter Bahnhofsviertel! That should give your channel a massive boost!!