Bilk's history reaches further back than that of the city it now belongs to. The little church of Alt St. Martin makes that easier to grasp than a date alone: its compact body and slender tower mark a village centre that existed before Düsseldorf became a town. Among the surrounding streets, the church leads back to a village long since enclosed by the city. It introduces a Düsseldorf whose history does not begin in the Altstadt.
Bilk appears in a document from 799 and has belonged to Düsseldorf since 1384. At that time, however, the name covered a larger area than today's district. On old maps it leads into a landscape of farms and settlements from which, among other places, Oberbilk and Unterbilk later emerged. Modern boundaries separate places with closely connected histories. The church preserves the memory of Kirchbilk, the historical settlement at the heart of today's Bilk.
Southeast of this early centre, Bilk takes on a different form. Large parts of Heinrich Heine University and the university hospital occupy this side of the district, adding lecture halls, institutes and clinical buildings to its scenery. The setting changes between the district's streets and these extensive grounds. In the older parts of Bilk, individual houses and junctions help to shape a sense of place; on the university grounds, paths between larger buildings and green spaces take their place. The university and hospital make learning, research and medical care part of daily life in a district that existed long before these institutions.
The Botanical Garden, in the south of the campus, shows how tangible science can become outside a lecture theatre. Its plants are arranged not only by geographical origin, but also by their relationships and adaptations to different living conditions. Part of the university, the garden connects its collections with research and teaching. Streets and large buildings give way to beds, shrubs and paths that draw attention to individual leaves and forms of growth. The extensive university grounds become a landscape revealed through small details.
Above this world of plants rises the glass dome of the cool greenhouse. Species from the Mediterranean, South Africa and New Zealand are among those growing inside, extending the garden's reach far beyond Düsseldorf. Many come from regions with warm, dry summers and rainy winters. Between the dome and Alt St. Martin lies a broad sweep through Bilk, from an old village centre to a university that brings distant regions into its garden. The stone church and glass greenhouse stand far apart; together, they make the district's long span of history visible in its buildings.
Sources and data
Information checked and sources accessed: 2026-10-17. Main sources: City of Düsseldorf: history of District 3, parish: Alt St. Martin, HHU Botanical Garden and Visit Düsseldorf: Botanical Garden.