Podcast Tour Leverkusen: Bayer's Factory City

Walk Leverkusen's contradictions: from company paternalism to environmental reckoning

A self-guided podcast tour of Leverkusen covering 8.2 km across seven stops, narrated by experts and locals, that traces how Bayer AG shaped the city's infrastructure, culture and identity, from the BayArena stadium to the Japanese garden to the remediated toxic site of Neuland Park. The audio guide, available in English and German, includes navigation and an interactive app to answer questions about the city's history and surroundings.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Leverkusen's industrial heritage

• Visit Bayer 04 Leverkusen stadium
• See historic Bayer-financed church
• Explore Bayer cultural center
• Walk through modern toxic dump park
• Tour workers' settlement with gardens
• Visit private Japanese garden estate
• View Bayer's modern communications center

The experience

Leverkusen exists because Bayer built it. This tour follows that relationship across seven stations over roughly three hours, moving through the physical evidence of how a chemical giant shaped a city's layout, its workers' lives, and its contradictions. You navigate on your own using the app, which provides turn-by-turn directions between stops and lets you pause, rewind or skip ahead as you move through the city.

The route opens at the BayArena, the massive stadium that represents the company's investment in local sports and identity, then moves to a historic church financed by Bayer to attract workers to the growing industrial center. You'll see the 1908 cultural center built to bring theater and art to chemical workers, walk through the workers' settlement with its distinctive architecture designed to promote loyalty, and stand in the Japanese garden, once the private estate of a Bayer general director, now a public space that illustrates the extreme wealth inequality of the factory town. The tour includes Neuland Park, a modern landscape built directly atop a highly toxic former chemical dump, where environmental remediation meets the city's buried past. It ends at Bayer's current communications center, which represents the company's transparent face against the backdrop of the closed chemical plant.

The audio is excitingly told by experts and locals, not read flatly. The app also functions as an interactive guide: you can ask questions about the history and surroundings of each stop and get verified answers woven into the story. Navigation is point-to-point between stations, so you know exactly where to go next.

What’s included

• Podcast-style audio narration by experts and locals.
• interactive app guide with navigation between seven stops.
• verified historical facts woven into the story.
• point-to-point directions.
• audio available in English and German.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery day

AgesAdult (13 and older) · Under 13: can't be booked

Audio guideEnglish and German

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends at a different place from where it starts.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 15 days ago

Good to know

Low physical effortPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by Red Thread

Is this one for you?The tour starts in central Leverkusen and uses the app for navigation, so you don't need a car or prior knowledge of the city layout: ideal if you're staying elsewhere in the Rhine region or relying on public transit to reach the BayArena starting point.

Top questions

What is the BayArena and why does the tour start there?

The BayArena is the stadium of Bayer 04 Leverkusen, and the tour opens there because it represents the company's profound investments in local sports and urban identity: a visible symbol of how Bayer shaped the city's public life.

How long does the podcast tour take to walk?

The tour covers 8.2 km across seven stops over roughly three hours, though you control the pace using the app and can pause or linger at any station.

What is Neuland Park and why is it included?

Neuland Park is a modern landscape built directly on a highly toxic former chemical dump, and the tour includes it as an example of environmental remediation: a physical reminder of the city's buried industrial heritage alongside its current green space.

Can I ask questions about the history while I'm walking?

Yes. The app includes an interactive guide that lets you ask questions about the history and surroundings of each stop, and you receive verified answers incorporated into the story.

Is this tour available in English?

The audio guide is available in both English and German, so you can choose your language when you start the tour via the app.

What does the Japanese garden represent in the context of this tour?

The Japanese garden was once the private estate of a Bayer general director and now illustrates the extreme wealth inequality of the factory town: a beautiful space that embodies the contradictions between the company's paternalism and the workers' lives.