Map - Solingen

Solingen (Solich) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located some 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and, with a 2009 population of 161,366, is after Wuppertal the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land. It is a member of the regional authority of the Rhineland.

Solingen is called the "City of Blades", since it has long been renowned for the manufacturing of fine swords, knives, scissors and razors made by famous firms such as WKC, DOVO, Wüsthof, Zwilling J. A. Henckels, Böker, Güde, Hubertus, Diefenthal, Puma, Clauberg, Eickhorn, Linder, Carl Schmidt Sohn, Dreiturm, Herder, Martor Safety Knives, and numerous other manufacturers.

In medieval times, the swordsmiths of Solingen designed the town's coat of arms, which continues to the present. In the latter part of the 17th century, a group of swordsmiths from Solingen broke their guild oaths by taking their sword-making secrets with them to Shotley Bridge, County Durham in England.

Solingen lies southwest of Wuppertal in the Bergisches Land. The city has an area of 89.45 km2, of which roughly 50% is used for agriculture, horticulture, or forestry. The city's border is 62 km long, and the city's dimensions are 15.6 km east to west and 11.7 km north to south. The Wupper river, a right tributary of the Rhine, flows through the city for 26 km. The city's highest point at 276 metres (906 ft) is in the northern borough of Gräfrath at the Light Tower, previously the water tower, and the lowest point at 53 metres (174 ft) is in the southwest.