[realradicalwash]

The academic 'controversy' aside -which I think is BS, at least as it is presented in the article-, two things truly amaze me:

1) How beautiful of a city Wuppertal was in 1902. I have been to Wuppertal about 5 years ago, and it's ... well, not beautiful. Great people, though! 2) The appetite for engineering, for creating things, and the audacity of the late 19th century, early 20th century. A freaking flying train for a city of less than half a million of people. Contrast this to the changes over the past two decades in my hometown, which is about the same size as Wuppertal. The changes were marginal; a cancelled train route is what pops to mind.