|
The Ruhr - the region of unexpected opportunity, short distances and straight talking
Coal, steel and smoking chimneys, football and allotments - images people associate with the Ruhr to this day. The clichés cling on stubbornly, even though they have been obsolete for a long time. Hardly any other region in central Europe has undergone as big a transformation in recent decades as the Ruhr. The coal mines have been closed, the blast furnaces taken out of service. Hi-tech, retail and services are the economic sectors of the future.
In recent years the process of structural transformation has had a very noticeable effect on the
region. This transformation, which just two decades ago was causing people so much worry, has
become a positive symbol for the Ruhr and its inhabitants. Although many industrial buildings had
to give way, a number of these old "cathedrals of work" have been preserved and imbued with new
life. The passion and imagination of the people who live here, people who don't readily let things
get them down, is apparent at these landmarks of industrial culture. The world's largest gasometer (117.5 metres high and 68 metres in diameter) in Oberhausen, for instance, has been turned into an exhibition centre that lends the events it hosts a unique ambience. A visit to the viewing platform on the gasometer roof affords incredible views far across the green Ruhr. Popular exhibitions, such as "The Wall", a work comprising 13,000 colourful oil barrels by the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, have been staged here since 1994. Football has also been represented by an exhibition that marked the centenary of the German Football Association. As part of the RUHRtriennale arts festival, the Gasometer is currently hosting the artwork, "Five Angels of the Millennium", by the renowned video artist Bill Viola.
The listed Zollverein Colliery in Essen was elevated to the status of a UNESCO world heritage site in December 2001. Its headstock is often dubbed the Ruhr's Eiffel Tower. The former colliery is now a venue for some major events, such as the world music expo, WOMEX, in 2002. Work on converting the site is set to continue until 2005, with a design and commercial trade park and a school of design currently under construction.
Another piece of industrial culture and structural transformation worth seeing is the North
Duisburg Country Park, an amalgamation of industrial history, ecology, recreation, leisure and culture. The focal point is the former Meiderich ironworks, which closed in 1985. Numerous attractions, such as the climbing park in what used to be ore bunkers, have been created on the 200 hectare site. And you can even go diving in an old gasometer. Visitors can climb up a blast furnace or take part in various guided tours. At nights the park is lit up by a spectacular light show designed by the British artist Jonathan Park.
Essen's Villa Hügel shows us another face of industry. With its 269 rooms it is the most impressive example of the wealth built up by the colliery-owners of the Ruhr. From 1873 until 1945 Villa Hügel was used by the Krupp family of industrialists as a home and for representative purposes. The house was formerly the family's main residence and now houses the Ruhr Arts Trust. There are also exhibitions on the history of the family and their company. The representative park grounds are ideal for walking or simply relaxing.
Yet these remnants of industrial history are not alone in shaping the scene in the Ruhr and the lives of the people. Numerous vaudeville theatres, cinemas and museums offer a varied programme. Altogether the Ruhr cultural landscape includes six conventional theatres, four multipurpose facilities, two music theatres, three musical theatres, four vaudeville theatres and 23 independent theatre companies. The spectrum ranges from experimental works and classical productions to award-winning shows. Cinemas are as numerous as they are varied. Besides ultra-modern multiplex cinemas the Ruhr still boasts the odd historic, old-style cinema. This unique cultural landscape also includes a 100 or so museums of cultural history that outline the development of the region. Especially worth a visit is the German Mining Museum in Bochum, which whisks visitors away into the working environment of the coal miner.
 The Ruhr's most important festivals are the Ruhrtriennale arts festival, the "Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen", an annual festival of performing arts, the Ruhr Piano Festival (the world's biggest piano festival with more than 60 concerts) and the "Extraschicht", where for a day and a night a special programme of events is put on at all of the region's landmarks of industrial culture. The Ruhr also hosts numerous major indoor and open-air events.
The diversity of the Ruhr is due to the great efforts of its people, who have refused to bow down to the dictates of central planning. No other region in the world boasts such an intense and concentrated range of attractions and programme offerings. The people of the Ruhr appreciate this treasure. They say what they think and they say it in direct terms that may initially lead to irritation among outsiders. But they are always very sincere and amiable, with the result that the hospitality that accompanies their directness develops a charm all of its own.
|
