A sailing boat sits on top of the Stahlhof’s green, pointed tower in Düsseldorf. The German Steel Association commissioned the building in 1906, and the steel barons spared no expense because they wanted to show how important German steel was.

Architects Theo Westbrock and J. Radke gave it arcades, ornaments, pilasters and a portal about 60 metres high. It was finished in 1908. Today it is Düsseldorf’s administrative court, but the name Stahlhof, roughly “steel court”, has stuck. It is protected as an important industrial landmark.

VoiceMap’s Düsseldorf tour stops across the street for the best view. At the next corner, the tour remembers the Old Synagogue, destroyed on 9 November 1938, and explains why Düsseldorf has such a large Japanese community.