SOLINGEN is known internationally as the "blade city". At the same time, the city's name is a registered trademark for sophisticated cutlery such as scissors, blades and flatware of all kinds. Here the tradition of steel processing was founded centuries ago. With its 163.000 inhabitants, the city is located geographically near the Wupper river, within the so-called "Bergisches Land". Culturally it counts itself to the Rhineland belonging to the federal state of Nordrhein-Westfalen.