Ratinger Webcam – Watch Ratingen From Its Church Tower

The Ratinger Webcam sits high in the tower of St. Peter und Paul, the Catholic parish church on the Marktplatz in Ratingen, a town of just under 89,000 people about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) northeast of Dusseldorf. The main camera looks east along Oberstrasse. The church’s own slate spires fill the foreground, the old town’s roofs run out beyond them, and a wooded ridge closes the skyline. Four more cameras from the same operator sit on the player’s tabs. One drops onto the Marktplatz, one looks north toward the Protestant Stadtkirche, one looks back at St. Peter und Paul from the Stadtkirche’s tower, and one shows the bells hanging inside. In late October the trees on the eastern ridge turn copper and gold.

About Ratingen and St. Peter und Paul

Ratingen lies in the Mettmann district of North Rhine-Westphalia, about 50 meters (164 feet) above sea level, and received its town charter on 11 December 1276. Its 88.74 square kilometers (34.3 square miles) take in the old core around the Marktplatz and outer districts such as Lintorf and Breitscheid, which joined the town in 1975.

St. Peter und Paul is one of the earliest hall churches in the Rhineland. A Romanesque church with two towers flanking its choir stood here by the middle of the 12th century, and a four-storey west tower followed in the first half of the 13th. At the end of that century the nave was rebuilt as a three-aisled Gothic hall. Between 1892 and 1894 the architect Heinrich Wiethase added a transept, a six-sided choir and the west tower’s spire. A renovation from 1996 to 1998 saved the east towers when they threatened to collapse. Looking east down the length of the church, the main camera has those two east towers as the slender spires in its foreground, with the pointed choir roof between them.

The Marktplatz tab looks south across the square toward Bechemer Strasse, Steinhausgasse and the lower end of Oberstrasse, the streets the operator names. Shop fronts line the far side, and on market mornings the stalls go up in the middle. The North View runs over treetops and roofs to the brick tower of the Stadtkirche, about 150 meters (490 feet) to the northwest, and on to flat, wooded country. From the Stadtkirche’s own tower, another camera frames the west tower and spire of St. Peter und Paul against the sky, with Knittkuhl on the horizon according to the operator. The bell camera shows three bells hanging in a timber frame. The church’s peal includes three medieval bells, and the Marienglocke, cast in 1498, is counted among the finest Gothic bells in the Rhineland.

Weather and Climate in Ratingen

Ratingen shares the mild, damp climate of neighboring Dusseldorf. Over the 1991 to 2020 normals, January averaged highs of 6°C (43°F) and lows of 0.5°C (33°F). Snow lies at least 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) deep on only about 8 or 9 days a year, so a white Marktplatz is a short-lived sight on the camera. Spring warms steadily, and April highs average 16°C (60°F), with lows of 5°C (41°F).

July is the warmest month, with highs of about 25°C (77°F) and lows of 14°C (57°F). It is also the sunniest, at around 208 hours of sunshine against 57 in January. October still reaches 15°C (59°F) by day and 7.5°C (46°F) at night, and that is when the ridge on the east camera’s skyline changes color. Rain is spread through the year, about 751 millimeters (29.6 inches) in total, so a look at the Marktplatz tab shows quickly whether the paving is wet or dry.

Things to Do Near Ratingen Old Town

Most of what the main and Marktplatz cameras show is a short walk away. The Burgerhaus, the old town hall from around 1300, shares the Marktplatz with St. Peter und Paul. Two towers of the medieval town wall stand north of the square. The Trinsenturm, built in 1474 as an armory, now houses a doll and toy museum. The Dicker Turm, first mentioned in 1464, is about 13 meters (43 feet) high and nearly 12 meters (39 feet) wide, with walls 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) thick. Museum Ratingen, at Peter-Bruning-Platz 1, holds the town’s collection of modern art alongside an exhibition on how Ratingen grew.

A little further out, Textilfabrik Cromford, part of the LVR Industrial Museum, is where Johann Gottfried Brugelmann founded the first factory on the European mainland in 1783. Its cotton mill runs replica spinning machines, among them a working water frame. Haus zum Haus, a moated castle north of the center, was first built around 1276 as the seat of the vom Haus family and has since gained award-winning modern extensions. Dusseldorf Airport lies a few kilometers west of town.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

More views from the Rhineland and other German old towns:

• Cologne Webcam
• Dusseldorf Airport Webcam
• Coburg Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Ratingen located?

Ratingen is in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany, in the Mettmann district, about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) northeast of Dusseldorf. Dusseldorf Airport lies a few kilometers west of the town.

What can you see on the Ratinger Webcam?

Five cameras from one operator. The main one looks east from the tower of St. Peter und Paul along Oberstrasse, over the church’s spires and the old town roofs to a wooded ridge. The tabs add the Marktplatz to the south, a northern view toward the Stadtkirche, St. Peter und Paul seen from the Stadtkirche’s tower, and the bells inside St. Peter und Paul.

Does the Ratinger Webcam show the Marktplatz?

Yes, on the Marktplatz tab, which looks south from the church tower over the square and the shops around it. Under the town’s market rules, stalls fill the square on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, from 7 am to 2 pm.

Is this a webcam of Ratinger Strasse in Dusseldorf?

No. Ratinger Strasse is a street in Dusseldorf, and none of these cameras is there. This webcam is in Ratingen itself, on the church tower above the Marktplatz, about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) northeast of Dusseldorf.

Can you see Dusseldorf Airport from this webcam?

No. The airport lies a few kilometers west of Ratingen, and none of the cameras faces west. They look east, south and north from St. Peter und Paul, and south from the Stadtkirche.

Is there a webcam at the Ratingen swimming pools?

Not on this page. All five cameras are on the two church towers in the old town, and they show the streets, the square and the bells rather than the town’s pools.

What is the weather like in Ratingen?

Mild and damp. In neighboring Dusseldorf, July highs average about 25°C (77°F) and January highs 6°C (43°F), with January nights close to freezing. Rain falls in every month, about 751 millimeters (29.6 inches) a year, and snow lies on only around 8 or 9 days.

Source: Ratinger WebCams