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The Ruhrgebiet

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.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout The Ruhrgebiet.

See
Deutsches Fussball Museum
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. The treasure chamber holds replicas of the four World Cups and three European trophies won by the Mannschaft (Germany's national team). Online tickets are a couple of euro cheaper.
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Museum am Ostwall
The 4th and 5th floors of the Dortmunder U creative complex are home to the Museum am Ostwall, an art-world star thanks to its far-reaching collection of all major 20th- and 21st-century genres, from expressionism to art informel, fluxus to op art and concrete art. This translates into works by Macke, Nolde, Beuys and Paik as well as such living artists as Jochen Gerz, and Anna and Bernhard Blume. Curators draw on the vast collection to present new selections annually. Free audioguide.
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Dortmunder U
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. Cineasts are drawn to the art-house cinema on the ground floor.
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Reinoldikirche
Dating to 1280, the Reinoldi church is named after the city’s patron saint. As the story goes, after Reinold was martyred in Cologne, the carriage containing his coffin rolled all the way to Dortmund, stopping on the site of the church. There’s a statue of him, opposite Charlemagne, at the entrance to the choir. Of outstanding artistic merit is the late-Gothic high altar. There are good views from the bell tower.
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Marienkirche
Marienkirche is the oldest of Dortmund’s churches, and its Romanesque origins are still visible in the round-arched nave. The star exhibit here is the Marienaltar (1420), with a delicate triptych by local son Conrad von Soest. In the northern nave is the equally impressive Berswordt Altar (1385). Both were saved from wartime destruction; the churches all needed massive reconstruction.
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Petrikirche
The 14th-century Petrikirche's showstopper is the massive Antwerp altar (1520), featuring 633 individually carved and gilded figurines in scenes depicting the Easter story. Note that the altar is closed in summer, exposing only the panels’ painted outer side.
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Zeche Zollern
The Zollern II/IV Coal Mine was considered a 'model mine' when operation began in 1902. It boasted state-of-the-art technology and fantastic architecture, including an art nouveau machine hall and a castle-like administration building adorned with gables and onion-domed towers. An innovative exhibit documents the harsh realities of life as a miner, with plenty of interactive and child-oriented programs. Zollern is in the suburb of Bövingshausen, about 10km west of central Dortmund. It's one of eight industrial museums across the region linked under the LWL Industrial Museum banner.
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Brauerei-Museum Dortmund
Dortmund is not only famous for its football team but also has a long tradition of beer-making. This museum is in the machine and production halls of the former Hansa Brewery pay tribute to this legacy and trace the history of commercial brewing. A 1920s bar, a beer truck from 1922 and bottling machines from the 1950s are among the original historical items on display.
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Mahn- und Gedenkstätte Steinwache
This municipal memorial uses the original rooms and cells of a Nazi prison as a backdrop for a grim exhibit about Dortmund during the Third Reich. Over 66,000 people were imprisoned here, many tortured and killed. It's north of the Hauptbahnhof, just beyond the multiplex cinema.