Towing Service Düsseldorf

Ten unnamed boroughs

Unlike other big cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf's ten boroughs have no names of their own, just numbers 1 to 10. Together they cover 50 districts. Borough 3, for example, includes Bilk, Flehe, Friedrichstadt, Hafen, Hamm, Oberbilk, Unterbilk and Volmerswerth. Hardly anyone can place a borough number, so tell us the district, the street, and which side of the Rhine, left or right bank.

The "bridge family" on the Rhine

Düsseldorf's "bridge family" is a collective name for three central cable-stayed bridges: the Theodor-Heuss-Brücke, the Oberkasseler Brücke, and the Rheinkniebrücke. The Theodor-Heuss-Brücke connects Golzheim and Niederkassel; the Oberkasseler Brücke links the city centre with Oberkassel. In a breakdown on a bridge: crossing the Rhine can't be rerouted arbitrarily, so tell us the bridge, your direction of travel, and which bank you're on, so a driver can choose the right route.

The riverside tunnel

The Rheinufertunnel carries road traffic underground past the old town, with the Rhine promenade running above ground along the water. If you break down in the tunnel: hazard lights on, move well to the side, use the emergency equipment, more in our guide Breakdown in a tunnel. Tell us the tunnel's name and your direction of travel.

Motorways and the city motorway

The A44 passes Düsseldorf Airport, with the airport exit partly running through a tunnel, and meets the A52 at the Düsseldorf-Nord interchange. It forms the northern part of Düsseldorf's motorway ring. The A46 crosses the Rhine near Neuss on the Flehe bridge, runs through two tunnels in the south of the city, under the university campus and in the Wersten district, and reaches the Düsseldorf-Süd triangle. Between Meerbusch-Büderich and Düsseldorf-Rath, the A52 isn't built as a continuous motorway: the B7 and B1 close the gap as a city motorway. It crosses the Rhine on the Theodor-Heuss-Brücke. At the Heerdt triangle, also called the Rheinkniebrücke junction, the B7 forks in Heerdt at the border with Oberkassel. In such cases, the name of the junction and your direction matter most.

Waiting safely in Düsseldorf

On a Rhine bridge: hazard lights on, move well to the side if you can, since bridges often have no wide hard shoulder, set up a warning triangle if it's safe to do so. In the riverside tunnel or a motorway tunnel: don't turn around or reverse, drive to the next emergency bay if you can, otherwise hazard lights on and raise the alarm via the emergency equipment or 112.

Where it often happens in Düsseldorf

On the Rhine bridges, lane changes at the bridgeheads often cause heavy traffic. At the Düsseldorf-Nord interchange, where the A44 and A52 meet, traffic is denser because of the airport nearby. In the riverside tunnel, traffic frequently brakes before the entrances and exits near the old town.

How to describe your location in Düsseldorf

• District and street, plus which side of the Rhine (left or right bank).
• On bridges: name, direction of travel, whether you're before or past it.
• On motorways: A44, A46, A52, direction, exit, interchange or triangle.
• At the airport: terminal, car park, level, access road.

Other large cities: Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart. All cities: Towing service in your city (German). General advice: Breaking down on the motorway.