Leverkusen is a city in western Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia, situated on the eastern bank of the Rhine between Cologne and Düsseldorf, with about 163,000 residents, and is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region. The city is globally known for the pharmaceutical company Bayer and its football club Bayer Leverkusen, but its origins trace back to 1861 when chemist Carl Leverkus built a dye factory in the village of Wiesdorf, which Bayer took over in 1891, leading to the official founding of the city in 1930. During World War II, the chemical plants were heavily bombed by Allied forces in 1943, and more recently, a tragic explosion at the Chempark site in July 2021 killed seven people. Today, Leverkusen features notable attractions such as the BayArena stadium, the massive illuminated Bayer Cross, the Baroque moated castle Schloss Morsbroich, and the Neuland Park along the Rhine. The city's modern identity blends industrial heritage with cultural offerings, and it is currently led by Mayor Stefan Hebbel of the CDU since November 2025.