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Once known for its belching steelworks and filthy coal mines, the Ruhrgebiet – a sprawling post-industrial region of 53 cities and 5.1 million people – has worked hard in recent decades to reboot for a high-tech future.
Rather than eschew their lowbrow heritage, the people of the Ruhrgebiet have embraced it by recasting dormant furnaces, steelworks, coking plants and other vestiges of the Industrial Age in creative ways. For travellers, the Ruhrgebiet delivers a trainload of surprises and unique sights, locations and experiences. You can see cutting-edge art in a huge converted gas tank, free-climb around a blast furnace or hear classical music in a gas power station. You can also feast your eyes on old masters, majestic churches and great architecture ranging from Gothic to Bauhaus to postmodern.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout The Ruhrgebiet.
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The former coal-wash plant at the Unesco-listed Zeche Zollverein provides a suitably atmospheric setting for accessible and engaging exhibits on the history, nature and culture of the Ruhr Region. Just as the coal was transported on conveyor belts, a long escalator whisks you up to the foyer from where you descend into the dark bowels of the building.
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A key site along the Ruhr area's Industrial Heritage Trail, the former Zollverein coal mine was a marvel of efficiency while in operation from 1932 until 1986. In 2001, Unesco declared the Bauhaus-style complex a World Heritage Site. Since closing, the sprawling site has since been rebooted as a cultural centre with museums, performance spaces, artists' studios, cafes and some unusual playgrounds. A major focus is the excellent Ruhr Museum in the old coal-wash plant.
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A grand dame among Germany’s art repositories, the Museum Folkwang has sparkling digs designed by top British architect David Chipperfield. Galleries radiate out from inner courtyards and gardens of the glass-fronted building, providing a progressive setting for the works of 19th-century German and French masters. You'll find barely a big name missing from the permanent collection, which has artwork from brooding landscapes by German Romantics such as Caspar David Friedrich to boldly hued impressionist works by Monet and Van Gogh.
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Molten iron used to flow 24/7 from the fiery furnaces of this decommissioned ironworks that is now an urban oasis, performance space and all-ages adventure playground. You can free-climb its ore bunkers, dive in the former gas tank and climb to the top of the blast furnace. Visit at dusk from Friday to Sunday to witness the stunning light show created by British artist Jonathan Park. The visitors centre by the park entrance has maps and organises tours.
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The Tetraeder is one of the most striking stops on the Ruhr Valley's Industrial Heritage Trail. The airy 60m-high installation by Wolfgang Christ is a triangular pyramid made from steel pipes atop a massive slag-heap-turned-landscape-park. You can climb the Tetraeder via 'floating' staircases suspended from steel cables, which lead to viewing platforms. Views of the surprisingly green, yet undeniably industrial, surrounds are impressive rather than conventionally beautiful. At night, the illuminated Tetraeder glows from afar.
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This vast shrine to the nation's passion and obsession is a place of pilgrimage not only for German football fans. Inside a futuristic building next to the Hauptbahnhof is an emotional multimedia and sometimes interactive tribute to the game and Germany's role in shaping its history. Learn about stars such as Franz Beckenbauer, relive historic matches or fancy yourself a commentator.
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You can see it from afar – the golden ‘U’ atop the tower once used for beer storage by the now defunct Union Brauerei. Once one of Dortmund’s largest and most famous breweries, the protected landmark has been reborn as a progressive centre for art and creativity in the digital age. Tenants include the prestigious art museum Museum am Ostwall and the Hartware Medienkunstverein (adult/concession €5/2.50), an organisation dedicated to promoting an appreciation for Brutalist architecture.
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Fans of historical trains have plenty to admire at this vast museum, which displays around 120 steam locomotives (many puffing away), coaches and wagons dating back as far as 1853. A highlight is the meticulously restored Salonwagen (parlour car) from 1937, which transported everyone from Nazi politicians and American generals to Queen Elizabeth II and the Shah of Iran.
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Part of the Zeche Zollverein colliery-turned-cultural centre, this museum showcases the best in contemporary design in the former stoker's hall, creatively adapted by British architect Norman Foster. In a perfect marriage of space and function, this four-storey maze incorporates many of the original fixtures: bathtubs balance on grated walkways, bike helmets dangle from snake-like heating ducts, and beds perch atop a large oven. All objects are winners of the Red Dot award, the Oscar of the design world.