The Ruhr area (German: Ruhrgebiet ) is a region of state North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.

Contents 1 Cities 2 Understand 3 Talk 4 Get in 4.1 By Plane 4.2 By Train 5 Get around 6 See 6.1 Industrial Heritage 6.2 Palaces and Castles 6.3 Art 6.4 Zoos, Gardens and Parks 7 Do 7.1 Theatre, Musicals 7.2 Festivals 7.3 Sport 8 Buy 8.1 Shopping 8.2 Souvenirs 9 Eat 9.1 Restaurants 9.2 Dishes of the season 9.3 Fast Food 9.4 Cafes 10 Drink 11 Stay Safe

[edit] Cities

The region consists of the main cities

• Dortmund
• Essen
• Duisburg
• Bochum
• Gelsenkirchen

the peripheral and smaller cities

• Herne
• Hamm
• Hagen
• Mülheim an der Ruhr
• Bottrop
• Oberhausen

the subdistricts

• Recklinghausen
• Wesel
• Unna
• Ennepe-Ruhr

A common representative of the communities is 'Regionalverband Ruhr'
The city of Düsseldorf, state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, is located very close to the Ruhr Area, but not part of it.

[edit] Understand

From outside the region is often called simply 'The Ruhr'. Do not confuse it with the river Ruhr, from which the region got its name.

A rural region, which was the Ruhr area till 1850, became within 50 years the heart of heavy industry of Germany. Population increases in this time by 50. They came from everywhere in Europe, but most came from East-Prussia. Today the Ruhr area is still a densely populated part of Germany with around 5.3 million people. In the last decades of the 20th century a structural transformation began. Most mines and steel mills were closed down, the remaining updated to the current state of the art. New key technologies are IT, research, solar energy, logistic and medicine engineering althrough about 30% of the european streel production still comes from the Ruhr. Pollution of air and water has come to an end and the region has more parks, leasure grounds and rural districts than most visitors expect.

But the people's identity is still strongly derived from the formerly prevailing heavy industry. They are proud of their industrial heritage. Often former industrial buildings are re-used as stages, theatres, museums or exebition halls. They offer a extraordinary atmosphere. Some pithead towers have become the landmark of technolity grounds. So the skyline of some districts look like before although mining has nearly came to an end.

To characterize the region in a few keywords: diversity and structural transformation

The Ruhr Area offers a wide rage of cultural events and needs not to fear the comparison with any other European Metropolis.
In 2010 the Ruhr Area, represented by the city of Essen, will obtain the title European Capital of Culture 2010.

[edit] Talk

In Germany they talk german. Do not expect that everyone understands english, althrough most guys had english lesson at school. So you will have less problems if you are able to communicate in german. But communication in english is possible. Other languages are not very common.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By Plane

Düsseldorf international (DUS)
DUS has excellent highway connections. By car you will be in about 15 minutes inside the Ruhr Area. Or take the train. DUS has 2 stations. From DUS Terminal take the S-Bahn to Düsseldorf main station and from there the Regional-Express towards Duisburg. Or use the overhead railway 'Skytrain' to get to DUS Fernbahnhof (about 5 Minutes) and from there the Regional-Express towards Duisburg.

Airport Dortmund (DTM) Shuttlebus to Dortmund main station

Airport Weeze-Niederrhein (NRN) public transport bus towards Duisburg and Essen.

[edit] By Train

The main railway route leads direct from Duisburg to Dortmund via Essen and Bochum. So you can reach this cities directly from most german and european cities by ICE or Europ-Express. The north route is served by Regional-Express and S-Bahn.

[edit] Get around

Since most cities have their separate transport association the coordination is not always the best. For travelling from one city to another it is best to use the train. Regionaltrain, S-Bahn and local transport associations are linked together by Verkehrsverbund Rhein Ruhr (VRR). Look for tarifs and timetables there. Within a city use bus, tram or underground. They all have the same pricing system so that the tickets are valid for all vehicles including S-Bahn and Regional-Express within the borderlines of the VRR. Do not forget to stamp you ticket before you enter a vehicle.

Going by Taxi is quite expansive. Calculate a price of about 2 Euros per kilometer.

[edit] See

Refer to the sites of the cities also for local highlights. Here are links to the common sites of the Ruhr Area.

[edit] Industrial Heritage

Colliery Zollverein is world heritage site and has become a symbol of the structural transformation. See that fuctional architecture can also be beautiful. There is also an information office for the Ruhr Area and the Industrial Heritage Trail.

Mine Zollern in Dortmund is a large old coal mine in the art nouveau style.

German Mining Museum in Bochum. One of the largest of its kind.

German Railway Museum in Bochum's suburb Dahlhausen.

Museum of heavy industry in Oberhausen.

Deutsche Arbeitsschutz Ausstellung (DASA) in Dortmund.

Open air museum of craftmanship in Hagen.

The Muttental near Witten (Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis) shows equipments from the beginning of mining.

[edit] Palaces and Castles

The former House of the industrial family Krupp "Villa Hügel" (in english: "Villa Hill") is situated in a pitoresque park on a hill.

[edit] Art

Worth seeing are the changing exhibitions in the Folkwang Museum in Essen.

Visit the 'Museum am Ostwall' with its large range of modern art.

[edit] Zoos, Gardens and Parks

A special kind of zoo is Zoom Erlebniswelt in Gelsenkirchen - an adventure zoo.

The Chinese Garden in Bochum is the only one in south chinese style.

Worth seeing are Westfalenpark in Dortmung, Gruga in Essen and Nordsternpark in Gelsenkirchen.

[edit] Do

[edit] Theatre, Musicals

The municipal Theatre in Bochum has an excellet repution.

A lot of private Theatres in all cities offer excellent shows.

Musical Starlight Express in Bochum is amoung the most successful musicals worldwide.

Visit Colosseum Theatre in Essen. It is a former production hall with an wonderful industrial ambiente.

The play and concert festival 'Ruhr Triennale' offers a wide range of events spread all over the region.

Another example for the re-use of a former industrial building is the Jahrhunderhalle (Hall of the Century) in Bochum - one of the most extraordinary stages worldwide.

[edit] Festivals

Every year at the first weekend of summer schoolout starts 'Bochum Total'. For 4 days the city turns into a stage for rock music.

In 2009 Bochum will host the Love Parade, Duisburg will follow in 2010 and Gelsenkirchen in 2011.

[edit] Sport

In May the Ruhr Marathon takes place with about 20.000 athletes and 100.000 visitors. You must have seen it.

Dortmund and Schalke (suburb of Gesenkirchen) have excellent football teams. Watch a game.

Excellent conditions for cycling offer the Ruhrtalradweg with a length of about 230 kilometers through rural regions, the Emscher Radweg leads 225 kilometers beside river Emscher and Rhein-Herne-Canal through regions with heavy industry.

[edit] Buy

[edit] Shopping

The city centers of Duisburg, Essen, Bochum und Dortmund offer excellent shopping conditions.

Shopping centers are Centro at Oberhausen, Rhein-Ruhr-Zentrum at Mülheim and Ruhr Park Bochum.

[edit] Souvenirs

Buy a pit lamp.

[edit] Eat

[edit] Restaurants

The traditional Ruhr cuisine has died out. Today it is mainly an international cuisine with influences from Westphalia and Rhineland as well as from the mediterranian cuisine. Since a high percentage of the population has a migration background and germans like to taste foreign food you will find a lot of foreign restaurants. Most of all Italian, Greek or Chineses restaurants, but also Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Arabic, Mongolian, Russian, Indian and Japonese restaurants. All those who like pancake should visit a 'Pfannkuchenhaus'. There is a wide variation of covering, you can get them sweet or with bacon, meat or vegetables.

[edit] Dishes of the season

During all months ending with letter 'r' (in german January and February also) blue mussels are offered.

During May fresh asparagus (white or green)is available.

[edit] Fast Food

The most common fast food is Pizza and Döner.

The typical German 'Currywurst', a fried sausage with ketchup and curry powder is available everywhere. But insiders say the best one you will get in Bochum made by 'Dönninghaus'.

[edit] Cafes

Cafes and ice cream palours are very common. On warm days many of them offer some tables at the pavement where you can see and watch and beeing watched.

[edit] Drink

The traditional drink is Pils, simply called beer. Not so long ago the region had the highest density of brewing houses in Germany. The decline of heavy industry followed a decline of breweries. Local breweries are still Fiege from Bochum und König Pilsener from Duisburg (slightly bitter). An excellent beer from a smaller brewing house with smooth taste is 'Borbecker Dampfbier', but it is not available everywhere.

[edit] Stay Safe

The cities within the Ruhr area are amoung the safest in Germany. Since the Ruhr is till now not a tourist region, it is not in the focus of pickpockets. But it is a good idea to take the usual precautions. Don't leave you camera unattended, don't flash arround a fat wallet. Since many citizens have a migration background the acceptance of strangers is high and the possibility of encountering racism or other prejudices is low.