Wender·Vista
Wuppertal
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileGermany
in the Bergisches Land, on the river Wupper

Wuppertal

— the city where the train rides under the sky.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“A city in the Bergisches Land of North Rhine-Westphalia, built along the narrow valley of the river Wupper. Known for the Schwebebahn, the suspension railway that has hung from steel arches above the river since 1901. Birthplace of Friedrich Engels and of the choreographer Pina Bausch. Steep wooded slopes, brick mill buildings, slate roofs darkened by rain. About 355,000 people live in the long valley.

from the studio
Wuppertal
— bring it home

Wuppertal, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Wuppertal

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Wuppertal is a city of about 355,000 in the Bergisches Land of North Rhine-Westphalia, formed in 1929 from the merger of Elberfeld, Barmen, and several smaller towns. It sits along thirteen kilometres of the Wupper valley between Düsseldorf and the Ruhr. The Schwebebahn, opened in March 1901, is the oldest electric elevated suspension railway in the world and still carries about 24 million passengers each year along its 13.3-kilometre route above the river. The city was a centre of the early German textile and chemical industries.

— the visit

The Schwebebahn runs daily from about five in the morning until eleven at night, with a single ticket valid across the VRR transport network. The Von der Heydt Museum in Elberfeld holds significant collections of German Expressionism and French Impressionism. The Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch performs at the Opernhaus in Barmen on a published season schedule; tickets sell out months ahead. The Engels-Haus in Barmen, the family home of Friedrich Engels, reopened in 2020 after restoration and is free to enter.

— informed by Von der Heydt-Museum
— the water

The river Wupper rises in the hills of the Bergisches Land near Marienheide and runs about 116 kilometres west to join the Rhine at Leverkusen. Through the city it is narrow and fast, walled in stone, and crossed by dozens of small bridges. In the nineteenth century the river powered the textile mills and was so polluted by the dye works it ran in changing colours week by week. Since the 1990s the water has cleared, and brown trout have returned to the upper reaches.

— informed by Wikipedia: Wupper
— where
Germany · Wuppertal, North Rhine-Westphalia
— elevation
160 m · 525 ft
— position
51.2562° N · 7.1508° E
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
at the lake
Schwebebahn
suspension railway
4 km E
Engels-Haus
historic house museum
at the lake
Von der Heydt-Museum
art museum
3 km E
Opernhaus Wuppertal
opera and dance house
N
Wuppertal
Schwebebahn
Engels-Haus
Von der Heydt-Museum
Opernhaus Wuppertal
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Wuppertal — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The Schwebebahn is Wuppertal's suspension railway, opened in March 1901. Trains hang from a steel framework above the river Wupper and the city streets, running 13.3 kilometres across the valley between Oberbarmen and Vohwinkel.

The line opened to passengers on 1 March 1901 and is the oldest electric elevated suspension railway in the world. The original steel framework has been progressively rebuilt while keeping the 1901 alignment.

Friedrich Engels was born in Barmen in 1820. The choreographer Pina Bausch led the Tanztheater Wuppertal from 1973 until her death in 2009. The poet Else Lasker-Schüler was born in Elberfeld in 1869.

The Bergisches Land is a hilly, wooded region of western Germany east of the Rhine and south of the Ruhr. The name comes from the medieval Duchy of Berg, not from any single mountain.

In 1950 the elephant Tuffi, on a publicity ride with a travelling circus, broke through the carriage wall and fell into the river Wupper. She survived with minor injuries. The line itself has otherwise been remarkably safe.

— about the piece in your home

It tends to be. Wuppertalers recognise the Schwebebahn line above the river immediately, and the city is rarely depicted in fine art. A Medium framed in dark wood is the most common choice in our shop.

The slate greys, brick reds, and river greens of the piece read well in Industrial-modern, Bauhaus-revival, and warm Maximalist rooms. The palette also sits well above a writing desk panelled in oak.

Yes. The current revival of late-nineteenth-century industrial palettes of exposed brick, blackened steel, and mill timber gives this piece a natural place above a long sideboard or sofa in a converted loft.

A single Large sits above a console well. Above a sofa, a 4-tile Mural carries the Schwebebahn line at scale; for a long wall, a 9-tile Mural runs the valley across the room.

Yes. Order Dura Satin or Matte for bathrooms and kitchens; both are scratch-resistant and humidity-tolerant. The Glossy finish is intended for dry wall display in living rooms, bedrooms, and offices.

Microfibre and water. The colour is infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure and will not lift. Avoid abrasive pads and bleach-based sprays.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is drawn from the studio's own atlas under the eye of Reid Wender. The work is not licensed and is not sold through other shops.

— if this one stayed with you

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