Gasometer Oberhausen

Industrial monument, impressive exhibition venue or simply a "culture bin" that we have come to love: the Gasometer Oberhausen, put into operation in 1929 as a gas storage facility for the surrounding steelworks of Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH), is today an outstanding landmark of the Ruhr Metropolis. With a height of 117 meters, Europe's largest disc gas holder is an impressive reminder of the heavy industry that shaped the Ruhr area for more than a century and, thanks to extraordinary exhibitions and art events, has also made a name for itself as a cultural venue far beyond the region.

In 1758, the St. Antony ironworks in Osterfeld was the first ironworks in the region to start production. This was followed by: Neu-Essen in Lirich (1781) and Gute Hoffnung in Sterkrade (1782). All three went into the foundry union Jacobi, Haniel & Huyssen, founded in 1808, later known as Oberhausener Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH). At the end of the 1920s, this closed a large gap in the Group's production process - and commissioned the construction of a 117,5 meter high gasometer for storing blast furnace gas and coke gas directly on the Rhine-Herne Canal. The construction costs for what is still the largest gas storage facility in Europe today, with a usable volume of 347.000 cubic meters - after all, more than one and a half million Reichsmarks - should pay off: Excess top gas from the GHH blast furnaces was stored in the gasometer from 1929 and used to fire the Osterfeld coking plant, which also belonged to the GHH . Their valuable coke oven gas, in turn, went profitably directly to the coal-chemical industry.

War damage and a severe fire in 1946 made it necessary to shut down the gasometer. The tin giant only went into operation again in 1949, then on behalf of Hüttenwerke Oberhausen AG. In 1963, seven blast furnaces and three steelworks were still producing. 16 years later, in 1979, the last blast furnace in Oberhausen was blown out and the processing plants were also shut down. The gasometer still had a good ten years to store coke gas from the Osterfeld coking plant. When the last shift was run there in 1988, the gas storage facility also came to an end: at times it was even threatened with demolition. As part of the International Building Exhibition (IBA) Emscher Park, the gasometer was converted into an exhibition hall in the early 1990s. As a spectacular landmark of the city and an exhibition venue of national renown, today it is both a symbol of heavy industry and of the structural change in the district.

The conversion of the gasometer was as complex as it was spectacular: the gas pressure disc was fixed at a height of 4,20 meters, so that since then an exhibition space of more than 3.000 square meters has opened up above and below it; In addition, a 100 meter high hall offers space for impressive installations. The gas pressure disk itself was equipped with a raised stage and a spectator stand. A glass panoramic elevator provides a unique view of the hall; The roof of the gas storage facility can also be reached via an external elevator or via 592 steps - including a panoramic view. In 1994/1995, the gasometer made its debut as a cultural venue with the exhibition "Fire and Flame - 200 Years of History in the Ruhr Area" and has since recorded visitor records with celebrated exhibitions and spectacular models of the moon, the earth and the Matterhorn. In addition, the wrapping artist Christo used the gigantic industrial building for his "The Wall" and "Big Air Package" campaigns.