THE BIGGEST INLAND PORT IN EUROPE

Internationally, Duisburg has long stood for heavy industry and the largest inland port in Europe. In fact, the city has had enormous importance as a hub for long-distance trade since the early Middle Ages. However, the artificial harbor basin between the Rhine and the Ruhr estuary was only created at the beginning of the 19th century. A section of a silted-up Rhine loop was expanded as the first port basin. The result: the inner harbor.

Theme route 1 lists interesting places in the inner harbor and in Ruhrort.

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The content of this themed route is currently being updated and will soon be available online again.

A CITY AND THE STEEL

"Stadt Montan": This catchphrase once formed the core of an advertising slogan for Duisburg. And indeed, it was the steel, the smelting works, collieries and ports that shaped the face of the city on the Ruhr and Rhine - and still influence the development of Duisburg today. At the same time, places such as the Duisburg-Nord landscape park act as impressive witnesses to the successful structural change in the Ruhr area. As part of Theme Route 58, 3 central locations in Duisburg show the importance of steel for the city, region and people.

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BORN FROM COAL

If the Ruhr area was created as an urban landscape by the coal and steel industry, this applies to Oberhausen in an almost ideal-typical way. After the construction of the railroad and the discovery of coal deposits, a new city quickly arose in a previously sparsely populated area. At the same time, the development of Oberhausen is closely linked to a single company: Gutehoffnungshütte (GHH).

Theme route 4 offers the opportunity to trace the industrial history of Oberhausen from the beginnings to the present day.

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WITNESSES TO A CHANGED HISTORY

Krupp is Essen and Essen is Krupp: This central statement symbolizes the close, quite changeable and not always tension-free history that has connected the Krupp company with the city of Essen since it was founded in 1811. Thematic route 5 presents stations in the history of Krupp and Essen, which illustrate the development of the city under the growing and dwindling influence of the coal and steel industry.

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FROM SLOGAN TO LEITMOTIVE

A "triad" was once Dortmund's proud advertising slogan; today it stands as a historical leitmotif over the themed route to Dortmund's industrial history: On the "trails of coal, steel and beer" we encounter not only industrial history but above all the comprehensive change that Dortmund, like the entire Ruhr Metropolis, has been experiencing for some time. The journey through the industrial past is at the same time a journey to the challenges of the present.

The themed route with its 52 locations leads to monuments of industrial and transport history, to highlights of industrial architecture and to settlements typical of their time.

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THE NORTH OF THE METROPOLIS RUHR

The north of the Ruhr Metropolis, this formerly rurally structured area, was not reached by industrialization until the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, the Lippe region has played an important role in the industrial metropolitan area, on the one hand with numerous industrial sectors and, on the other hand, as a supplier of drinking water and a recreational area.

The themed route "Industrial culture on the Lippe" is dedicated to the north of the Ruhr area.

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ONE ROAD – MANY STORIES

The “Regionale Grünzug D”, the middle one of the seven green corridors that divide the core of the Ruhr area from north to south, is the backbone of this themed route. The factual description hides one of the most diverse industrial cultural landscapes in the region. Its heart: the Erzbahn, a factory railway line that was built between 1912 and 1929 and transformed into an adventure trail for cyclists and hikers by the RVR in the late 1980s.

The Erzbahn-Emscherbruch theme route is dedicated to 47 exciting places on and along the Erzbahntrasse.

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BACK TO THE ROOTS

On the south-eastern edge of the Ruhr area, in the south of the former County of Mark, the water wheels were turning to the beat of industrialization before the Ruhr area was even mentioned. Industrial culture on Volme and Ennepe, these are not the spectacular large locations of heavy industry, but rather smaller, therefore no less interesting objects that - embedded in an attractive low mountain range landscape - lead to the industrial roots of the Ruhr area.

The locations of theme route 9 are in the city of Hagen and in the southern Ennepe-Ruhr district.

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INDUSTRIAL CULTURE IN HAMM AND IN THE UNNA DISTRICT

Brine, steam and coal - these were the basis of the economic development of the area on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, which was still largely agricultural. Anyone who explores the district of Unna and the city of Hamm on theme route 10 sets out on their "trail". Did you know, for example, that the first steam engine in the Ruhr area was wheezing at the Saline in Königsborn?

The northern migration of coal mining from the Ruhr Valley towards Münsterland can be traced particularly well on this themed route.

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THE BEGINNING OF INDUSTRY IN THE RUHR AREA

A good 200 years ago, today's Ruhr area offered the image of a largely rural landscape - but by 1800 the region no longer had a homogeneous structure. Rather, it can be divided into five zones at this time, whose industrial development - supported by the construction of railways and technical progress in mining - should progress from south to north. These are the Ruhr, Hellweg, Emscher, Vestische and Lippe zones.

The theme route "Early Industrialization" tells of the beginning of hard coal mining and iron smelting in the Ruhr area.

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FROM THE SOURCE TO THE MOUTH

This river gives its name to an entire region: for a long time, the Ruhr was just as indispensable as a shipping route as it is today as a destination for excursions and recreation. Anyone who goes on a discovery tour from the source of the Ruhr to its mouth not only discovers the wonderful green sides of the area, but also embarks on an exciting journey through time. Their goal: the industrial beginnings of the Ruhr area.

The theme route "History and Present of the Ruhr" presents 103 different locations - dams as well as train stations, collieries or industrial plants.

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FROM “KÖTTEBECKE” TO A SHOWCASE PROJECT

The development of the Ruhr area and the Emscher are inextricably linked. It is true that the Emscher was never a pure idyll - but industrialization ultimately played badly on the river. The conversion of the former “Köttelbecke des Ruhrgebiets” took three decades. Since the beginning of 2022, for the first time in around 170 years, no water requiring treatment has flowed into the Emscher. With the exception of the Berne in Essen, all tributaries have no wastewater. An ecological infrastructure project with exemplary character.

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LIFELINES OF THE RUHR AREA

The heavy industry on the Ruhr also needed a transport system for the gigantic amounts of bulk goods - primarily coal and iron ore, but also salt, wood and grain. In addition to the railways, the waterways became the lifelines of the fast-growing industrial region: the Ruhr was made navigable as early as 1780. The Lippe followed in 1840, although it never achieved the same importance as the Ruhr as a waterway.

The starting points for this themed route are the old Henrichenburg ship lift in Waltrop or the Museum of German Inland Shipping in Duisburg. Connection points are the locks of the canal system, the ports and of course the canals themselves.

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LIFELINES OF THE RUHR AREA

The railway not only played a significant role in the industrial revolution, it also made a significant contribution to changing the city, landscape and environment and has become a myth like hardly any other invention of the industrial age. In the Ruhr area, it arose under the influence of the transformation of a sparsely populated agricultural landscape with only a few small towns into a highly industrialized conurbation.

The themed route "Bahnen im Revier" (Railways in the Revier) of the Route of Industrial Culture aims to bring the attractions and special features of the railways and trams in this region closer to visitors interested in railway history.

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THE CHANGE OF THE REGION

It is above all the former collieries that build the bridge between yesterday and today: technology centres, service companies and cultural institutions have moved into the former open-cast buildings. This route also includes the German Mining Museum in Bochum and the locations of the LWL Industrial Museum, which provide visitors with comprehensive information on the history of mining.

The travelers on this themed route are not only presented with the mining past of the Ruhr area, but they also get a picture of the region's transformation into a lively future.

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CRADLE OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

It was the Rhenish part of the mining area that became the starting point for the industrial development of Ruhr mining with the great pioneering achievements of the 19th century. Today the wheels on the headframes of the mines no longer turn - and if they do, it is for demonstration purposes. But it is precisely the former collieries that build the bridge between yesterday and today: modern technology centers, service companies and cultural institutions have moved into many of the former surface structures.

The individual stages of the 150-year history of mining can be seen in the structure and architecture of the mines. On theme route 17 you can find examples from all eras of mining.

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THE MATERIAL BASIS WAS ALMOST ALWAYS COAL

Coal and steel were and are not everything: the chemical industry and the glass industry, but above all the large power plants, characterize the northern Ruhr area to this day. However, the material basis was almost always coal. The thematic arc of this “interconnected economy” stretches between the Hansa coking plant in Dortmund, the Marl chemical park and the Recklinghausen substation.

With its locations, theme route 18 shows a way to new knowledge about chemistry and energy in the region - and what there is to discover from its history in the area to this day.

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LIFE IN THE COLONY

In the course of its development into an industrial region, the state between the Ruhr and Lippe attracted thousands of workers over decades. In order to recruit them and train a permanent, sedentary workforce, the collieries and industrial companies built residential colonies in the immediate vicinity of their factories. Often carefully and lovingly renovated and adapted to modern living needs, many settlements have been able to retain their unmistakable identity to this day.

Theme route 19 shows the types of buildings and settlements that have shaped the urban landscape of the Ruhr area over the course of almost 100 years.

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PRESENTATIVE LIVING IN THE REVIER

The Villa Hügel in Essen was the residence of the Krupps for decades - and to this day it is one of the most important entrepreneurial villas in the region. The world-famous example usually makes one forget how many other magnificent buildings of other industrialist families contrast with the workers' settlements so typical of the district. The spectrum ranges from the half-timbered house of the Reidemeister from the pre-industrial era to the magnificent villa from the early 20th century.

This themed route offers interesting insights into the private and social life of well-known entrepreneurial families in the Ruhr area.

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EVERYDAY CULTURE IN THE RUHR AREA

The area once stood for coal, steel and a soot-blackened sky - but that was by no means all. Because where many people live and work, you also have to eat - and consequently the food industry is also a factor that should not be underestimated. To this day, there are numerous breweries, mills and grain distilleries in the Ruhr Metropolis that manufacture and sell their own products. Not to forget the museums dedicated to the subject.

This themed route deals with the food and luxury food industry in the Ruhr area and leads to interesting locations for everything to do with mills, distilleries and breweries.

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TYPICAL RUHR AREA?

Coal and steel, settlements and shacks, allotments and dovecote, Borussia and Schalke, slag and soot: clichés that describe the traditional image of the Ruhr area in the minds of many people. All prejudices that are not true? Or have voted? Or maybe a little right? Typical Ruhr area? And what about the new Ruhr area? How has the Ruhr Metropolis changed? This themed route traces the myth of the Ruhr area.

This themed route uses 52 locations in the region to search for traces of the myths of the Ruhr area.

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A REFLECTION OF THE HISTORY OF THE RUHR AREA

Gardens and parks still determine the cityscape and the perception of many former residential cities. What would Paris, Vienna, Berlin be without their park landscapes that tell of the city's history? The Ruhr area is not home to any prominent residential cities within its borders. However, gardens and parks here also reflect the phases of the settlement, social and economic history of the Ruhr area - now supplemented by the phase of profound structural change.

This themed route invites you to a journey through the garden and park landscape of the Ruhr Metropolis over 57 locations, some of which are very different.

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NEW DIVERSITY ON WASTELAND

The term "industrial nature" initially seems to be a contradiction in terms. The fact is: industrialization changed many areas in the Ruhr area from the ground up. Where fields, meadows and fields used to be, collieries, tailings dumps, steelworks and landfills developed over time. But even when the works were still in operation, isolated plants and animals resettled. And after the plants had been shut down, nature reclaimed the areas at breakneck speed.

This themed route combines particularly beautiful and interesting brownfield sites with their unique natural diversity into the “Industrial Nature Route”.

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MARK OF CHANGE

Tailings heaps, headframes, gasometers, blast furnaces and water towers characterize the industrial cultural landscape of the Ruhr area as landmarks that are visible from afar. They are real places of identification of industrial history and at the same time unique landmarks of a comprehensive process of change. And: They are often places of art. Theme route 25 presents the most important of them.

35 landmarks in the Ruhr Metropolis are presented in theme route 25; some of them, as panoramas of industrial culture, belong to the central primary locations of the route.

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PLACES OF FAITH AND DEVOTION

The places of faith and devotion write a largely unknown but important chapter of industrial culture. The cultural landscape of the Ruhr area offers those interested in theology, historians and art historians, locals and tourists a fascinating wealth of sacred buildings from the industrial age - and is by no means limited to the two major Christian denominations.

The Sacred Buildings themed route includes a total of 72 different locations – Christian places of worship as well as mosques or temples.

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OF THE GLOWING OF THE BLAST FURNACES

In addition to mining, no other industry has shaped the Ruhr area as much as iron and steel: from the middle of the 19th century, the sleepy cities of Duisburg, Mülheim, Essen, Bochum and Dortmund grew together to form one of the largest industrial conurbations in Europe, and new industrial cities emerged like Oberhausen and Gelsenkirchen. Coal, iron and steel dominated the region and life until the 1950s.

Theme route 27 "Iron and Steel" crosses the Ruhr area from west to east at 98 locations and documents the eventful history of the iron and steel industry in the region.

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LIFELINE OF INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT

With the rapid industrial development in the 19th century, water supply and disposal gained central importance. Workers and their families, collieries, ironworks and many other commercial enterprises - they all depended on water in sufficient quantity and quality. By the end of the 19th century at the latest, the Ruhr area and in particular the Emscher area were a water management emergency area.

Theme route 28 – water: works, towers and turbines documents the eventful history of water management in the region at 92 locations.

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INDUSTRIAL CULTURE IN THE HEART OF THE REVIER

Coal and steel shaped the city of Bochum - as well as the rest of the Ruhr area - for well over a century. In the 19th century, the mining industry turned a small rural town into a pulsating industrial metropolis. And the transformation process is far from over: the city has been undergoing structural change for around six decades. To this day, numerous Bochum buildings are reminiscent of the industrial age.

Theme route 29 represents a selection of the objects of interest in terms of industrial culture in Bochum and takes significant examples into account.

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A CITY IN TRANSITION

In little more than 100 years, Gelsenkirchen has experienced two profound upheavals: From the 1850s, a sparsely populated rural area was transformed into an industrial conurbation. But as early as the 1960s, the industrial basis was largely lost in a crisis-ridden restructuring process. Although the economic transformation has largely been completed, social upheaval and the consequences of urban development remain major challenges.

Theme route 30 "Gelsenkirchen" follows the traces of change in the city. It leads to the industrial monuments of mining, the iron and steel industry, mineral oil processing, the electricity industry and transport.

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THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF BUILDING

Not all modern architecture is Bauhaus. Nevertheless, modern architecture in the Ruhr area did not emerge independently of the Bauhaus. However, the relationships, including the artistic ones, are complicated. What makes the relationship between the Bauhaus and industrial culture special is the contradiction in terms: idyllic Weimar and Dessau on the one hand, and the highly industrialized region with its multicultural population on the other. There Goethe and Schiller, here Krupp and Thyssen.

The themed route Bauhaus and Industrial Culture leads to three regions of the Ruhr area: to Hagen and Wetter, Essen and Bottrop as well as to Oberhausen and Duisburg. The themed route presents a total of 18 locations that bear witness to the extent to which the Bauhaus movement influenced design in the West as well.

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FIGHT FOR A DECENT WORKING WORLD

Since the emergence of the Ruhr area as an industrial conurbation, people have fought for a better life. Adequate income from work, decent working conditions, equal rights for men and women, equal rights for locals and immigrants as well as democratic rights to have a say in companies were and are the goals of their commitment.

The themed route of co-determination tells the story of co-determination using the example of 20 places of remembrance. It is a story that is of great importance to the present day and points far into the future.

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