Gas Lanterns
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Photo: greg |
Lamps adorn almost every street in every city throughout the world. And streetlamps have been around for a very long time, in fact, before electricity became widespread. They were run on gas.
Believe it or not, Düsseldorf is, in fact, home to a treasure. The largest urban area covered by gas lamps in the whole world can be found here. Some date back to the 1850s, others being installed fifty or still just thirty years ago.
It seems there are sixteen thousand gas lamps in the city. The light they exude is a beautiful soft glow, highly popular with residents. One of the most intact areas where it is possible to observe their delightful shimmer is Oberkassel, on the west bank of the river.
Fearing the replacement of the filaments with LED technology, many powerful individuals in Düsseldorf have called upon the Lord Mayer to help place a preservation order on the old technology.