Nowhere in Germany has more inhabitants, and there is a correspondingly large number of cities: Cologne, with its Gothic cathedral; Bonn, the Federal Republic’s first capital city; Düsseldorf, the fashion-conscious state capital; Aachen, under Charlemagne the capital of Europe; Duisburg, with Europe’s largest inland port; the business centers of Krefeld and Bielefeld; not to mention Essen and Dortmund, the two major cities in the Ruhr region. They bear witness to the changes in Germany’s largest industrial area: Coal mining and steel production area now flanked by bio-chemicals and high-tech. Yet “NRW”, as the state is fondly known, not only has Europe’s most concentrated research network, but according to UNESCO is alongside New York and Paris one of the world’s major cultural regions.