The Ruhr area (German: Ruhrgebiet ) is a region of state North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The region was formed during the 20th century by montan industry (coal and steel) and runs currently through a structural transformation which makes it to one of the most dynamic regions in Europe. Its extension is limited by river Ruhr in the south, river Lippe in the north, river Rhine in the west and the city of Hamm in the east. That makes about 100 kilometers from west to east and about 40 kilometers from north to south. About 5.3 Million people live in the Ruhr Area, which makes it beside London and Paris to the third largest metropolitan region in Middle Europe.

Cities

The region consists of the main cities

the peripheral and smaller cities

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.

Culture and History

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 times. People imigrated from everywhere in Europe, but mainly 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 technology parks. 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.

Talk

Do not expect that everyone understands English, although most people had English lessons at school. You will have fewer problems if you are able to communicate in German. But communication in English is possible if you do not hesistate to ask the next guy if the first one does not nderstand you. At some qarters you will find a lot of people able to talk Turkish and, according to the immigration of the last decade, some guys with Polisch or Russian language. Other languages are not very common.

Most ticket machines at stations, underground and bus stop can be switched to English and ofter to French, Dutch or Turkish.

Travel to Ruhr - Visa Requirements

Flights and airtickets to Ruhr

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 terminal station 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 long-distance station (about 5 Minutes) and from there the Regional-Express towards Duisburg. For early morning departures, a direct RegionalExpress train runs from the Ruhr area to Düsseldorf Flughafen Terminal station.

Airport Dortmund (DTM) Shuttle buses to Dortmund main railway station and Holzwickede railway station. Public transport buses towards Unna and Dortmund-Aplerbeck Stadtbahn station.

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

By Train

The Ruhr is well-connected by several long-distance trains from the East, North and South. From the West, passengers need to change trains at Cologne (from Brussels) or Viersen (from Venlo).

Buses to Ruhr

Direct long-distance buses operate from major European cities. For details see Deutsche Touring.

Tours and Getting around Ruhr

Since most cities have their separate transport association the coordination is not always the best. But they are all linked together including trains like S-Bahn and Regionals-Express by Verkehrsverbund Rhein Ruhr (VRR) and Tarifraum Münsterland/Ruhr-Lippe (VRL) at the eastern limits. Look for tarifs and timetables there. Within a city use bus, tram or underground. For travelling from one city to another it is best to use S-Bahn or Regional-Express. They all have the same pricing system so that the tickets are valid for all vehicles within the borderlines of the VRR on one hand and VRL on the other hand. For change from VRR to VRL and vice versa exists special conditions. Refer to the internet sites or contact one of the information offices of the organisations.

Tickets can be optained at the sales offices of VRR (located most times at main station), ticket machines at stations, at subway- and tram-stops and from bus drivers. Do not forget to stamp you ticket before you enter a vehicle. The orange stamp-boxes are located at the entrance of the platforms.

Going by Taxi is quite expansive. Calculate a price of about 1.6 Euros per kilometer plus a onetine charge from the approach.

Up To Date

Since prices, details, offers change very fast it makes no sense to give such detail informations here. Follow the links at description of the highlights below, ask at the information office of RVR or at the tourist offices of the cities. A link to the sites of the cities is added at the bottom of this article.

Ruhr tourist attractions and sightseeing

Refer also to the travel guide of the cities for a detailed list and description of places to go. Here are descriptions of the highlights of the region only.

  • Zeche Zollverein and Red-Dot-Museum. Colliery Zollverein, World Heritage Site, has become a symbol of the structural transformation. See that functional architecture can also be beautiful. There is also an information office for the Ruhr Area and the Industrial Heritage Trail. Open (Information Office) (April-Oktober) daily 10-19.00, (November-March) daily 10-17.00, fridays till 19.00, Gelsenkirchener Straße 181, 45309 Essen, Tel: 0201 83036 - 36, free entrance, guided tours are charged
  • Mine Zollern in Dortmund is a large old coal mine in the art nouveau style. A mine like a palace. Open Tue-Sun, holidays: 10-18.00, Grubenweg 5, 44388 Dortmund (suburb Bövinghausen), Tel: 0231 6961-111
  • German Mining Museum in Bochum, one of the largest of its kind. Open Tue-Fri: 8.30 - 17.00, Sunday, saturday and holiday: 10.00 - 17.00, Am Bergbaumuseum 28, 44791 Bochum
  • German Railway Museum in Bochum's suburb Dahlhausen. Open from March till mid od November, Tue-Fri and sun- and holydays: 10-17.00, Dr.-C.-Otto-Straße 191, 44879 Bochum
  • The Museum of Heavy Industry in Oberhausen presents an overview of heavy industry at the Ruhr. Open Tue-Sun: 10-17.00, Hansastraße 20, 46049 Oberhausen
  • Deutsche Arbeitsschutz Ausstellung (DASA) in Dortmund. In spite of the name German Occupational Safte and Health Exebition it is a very interesting museum dealing with many branches of work with a lot of hands-on activities. Open Tue-Sat: 9-17.00, Sundays: 10-17.00 charge 3 €, Friedrich-Henkel-Weg 1-25. 44149 Dortmund
  • Open air museum of craftmanship in Hagen. Over 60 crafts and trades of a period from the late 18th century to the end of the 19th century are presented. You can watch working methods in action inside a lot of authentic buildings that strech over a lovely hillside. Open from April till end of October, Tue-Sun: 9-18.00, Mäckingerbachtal, 58091 Hagen
  • The Muttental a nice valley within a forrest near Witten (Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis) presents equipments and galleries from the beginning of mining. Open every time, free entrance

Industrial Heritage

A very good overview of the industrial heritage offers the brochure Industrial Heritage Trail (Route der Industriekultur). You can download the brochure in English/German here.

Palaces and Castles

  • The former house of the industrial family Krupp Villa Hügel (in english: "Hill House") is situated in a pitoresque hillside above lake Baldeney. What Alfred Krupp called a country estate is in fact the "Buckingham Palace of the Ruhr". Open: the park is open daily from 8.00 to 20.00, the estate is open daily apart from Mondays from 10.00 to 18.00, Villa Hügel, 45133 Essen, Phone: + 49 - (0)201 - 61 62 9 - 0

Art

  • Worth seeing are the changing exhibitions in the Folkwang Museum in Essen. Open Tue-Sun: 10-18.00, Kahrstraße 16, 45128 Essen, Phone: +49 (0)201 8845301
  • The Museum am Ostwall in [Dortmund] is dedicated to arts of the 20th and 21st century. OPEN Tue, Wed, Fri, Sun 10-17.00, Thu 10-20.00, Sat 12-17.00, Ostwall 7, 44122 Dortmund

Zoos, Gardens and Parks

  • The Chinese Garden in Bochum is the only one in south chinese style. It is situated inside the botanic garden of the Ruhr University. Open (April–September) 9-18.00, (October-March)9-16.00, Entry is admission free.

Ruhr city tours

Theatre, Musicals

The municipal Theatre in Bochum has an excellet repution.

A lot of private Theatres in all cities offer excellent shows. Ask at the tourist offices of the cities for addresses and 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.

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 2010 Duisburg will host the Love Parade, Gelsenkirchen will follow in 2011.

Sport

In May the Ruhr Marathon takes place with about 20.000 athletes and 100.000 viewers. 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 industrial panorama. For short trips Lake Kemnade and Lake Baldeney (not at the weekend) as well as the Ore-Route (Erzbahntrasse - without any crossing) from Bochum Westpark to river Emscher with connection (from October 2008) to Emscher-Route and Kray-Wanner-Route (5 street-crossings) from Colliery Zollverein towards to the city of Wanne-Eickel with connection to Ore-Route. Both routes offer an excellent view on industry surroundings, settlements and suburbs.

Inline scating you can do very well around Lake Kemnade (9/11 Kilometers) at the southern limits of Bochum and Lake Baldeney (16 kilometers) at the southern limits of Essen. But avoid to visit this locations at the weekend - it will be too crowded.

For jogging the routes above are very suitable but also Nordsternpark at Gelsenkirchen, Gyserberg-Park at Herne and Rombergpark at Dortmund (for all of them entry admission free)

Ruhr souvenirs and shopping

Shopping

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

Popular shopping centers are Centro at Oberhausen, Rhein-Ruhr-Zentrum at Mülheim, Limbecker Platz in Essen and Ruhr Park Bochum.

Souvenirs

Buy a pit lamp.

Ruhr Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

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, Egyptian, 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.

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.

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'.

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.

Ruhr nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

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; the same applies to 'Rüttenscheider' which you will only get in Rüttenscheid (a suburb of Essen).

Stay Safe

The cities within the Ruhr area are amoung the safest in Germany. Since the Ruhr area is until 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 around 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. Owing to unemployment and the demise of the once excellent German social system, beggars and bottle collectors are becoming a rather common problem, but they are usually harmless.

Climate

The main rule about the central European climate is that you cannot predict the weather. Summers can be cold and wet, while April is warm and sunny. But in general the best chance for sun will be from May to August and in October. July and August can become very hot with temperatures up to 35 degrees Celsius. In wintertime, from December to February, the average temperature is about zero. Winter is not generally recommended for travelling to the Ruhr area, but on the other hand in December, Germany's famous Christmas markets take place. The Christmas markets in Dortmund and Münster are definitely worth a visit.

Links

Downloads

This page was last edited by Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. Based on work by Hans-Jürgen Wiese, Philipp Schiwek and Jim Nicholson, Wikitravel user(s) Morph and Cacahuate, Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel and others. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license

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