Detours | Wuppertal’s suspended railway  An Engineering Marvel Hanging Over the City

A world-famous landmark necessitated by traffic chaos in a narrow valley: Wuppertal’s suspended railway. How it all began, the Kaiser’s maiden trip and a daring elephant.

It’s sky blue, shiny and suspended eight to twelve metres above the ground. It’s held up by a construction of sea-green steel girders. In 1910, Else Lasker-Schüler wrote: “(...) an iron thread, a steely dragon with stations for heads and sparkling eyes, winds its way above the black-coloured river”. Though its original name was the Single-Rail Hanging Railway, Eugen Langen System, this was never used – being far too long and cumbersome, as its inventor was well aware. In a letter to a friend, Langen wrote: “I’ve decided to christen the thing simply Schwebebahn (floating railway).” And although not technically correct, as it doesn’t of course float but is in fact suspended – the German name is still used to this day. 

In the late nineteenth century, the towns in the narrow valley of the River Wupper merged to form one of the largest industrial centres in the German Reich. The transport network for carriages and pedestrians was no longer sufficient. An underground railway was not an option, as the valley floor is composed of one of the hardest types of rock that exist. For reasons of space, no extensive network of trams could be built, either. A mechanical engineer from Cologne came up with the solution to the region’s traffic problem: Eugen Langen designed a railway that didn’t run on or below the streets – but above them. Construction was still underway when Emperor Wilhelm II and his wife took a maiden trip. Both, the Empress and the Emperor, were very delighted by the ride. 

The railway was a sensation and viewed as a technological marvel when it opened in 1901.  It boasted platforms that were more like balconies, along with curved staircases, elegant supporting girders and ornamental turrets in the Art Nouveau style. Carriages were fitted with either hard wooden seats for the hoi polloi or plush upholstered seats for the upper classes. While smoking was permitted in the cheaper carriages, it was forbidden in first class. Until the 1960s, passengers were not allowed to board with prams or children’s push chairs. By contrast, Tuffi – a young elephant from Althoff Circus – was taken for a ride as part of a publicity stunt, which led to quite a debacle. Tuffi, spooked by the bizarre situation in which she found herself and the swaying of the train, bolted through a side opening and landed in the River Wupper. 

Covering around 13 kilometres, the route is divided into a land section and a water section. The railway floats from east to west and back through Wuppertal city centre, passes the zoo and the Alter Markt, glides past the main railway station and along the river. With 20 stations in all, the entire journey takes half an hour from end to end – and the Deutschlandticket is also valid, meaning holders of the pass travel for free. Tourists from all over the world flock to Wuppertal to admire the ensemble of stations and bridges with its bare girder design. To this day it remains the city’s landmark and one of the world’s best-known means of transport. And just in case any passenger should forget during the ride that the railway is in fact suspended, reminders are displayed in the stations: “Take care while entering and leaving the train! The carriage sways!” 

March 2026