Must see attractions in The Ruhrgebiet

The former coal-wash plant at the Unesco-listed Zeche Zollverein provides a suitably atmospheric setting for accessible and engaging exhibits on the…

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…

A grand dame among Germany’s art repositories, the Museum Folkwang has sparkling digs designed by top British architect David Chipperfield. Galleries…

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…

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 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…

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…

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…

Fans of historical trains have plenty to admire at this vast museum, which displays around 120 steam locomotives (many puffing away), coaches and wagons…

Part of the Zeche Zollverein colliery-turned-cultural centre, this museum showcases the best in contemporary design in the former stoker's hall,…

Bottrop-born Josef Albers (1888–1976) was a painter of abstract works that combine bold use of colour with geometric forms. A member of the Bauhaus school…

This museum is famous for its vast collection of modern international sculpture by artists including Archipenko, Giacometti, Kollwitz, Ernst and Chillida…

Essen’s medieval Dom is an island of quiet engulfed by the commercialism of pedestrianised Kettwiger Strasse, the main shopping strip. It has a priceless…

One of the biggest collections of German art created after 1945 is on display at this humongous historical mill and grain storage silo in the Inner…

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…

This barrel-shaped tower – spectacularly lit at night – stored gas to power blast furnaces from the 1920s until 1988. Six years later, the Gasometer…

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…

This hugely popular museum will remain closed until 2020 while getting a much needed refurb and completely updated permanent exhibition. It's still worth…

Werden’s main sight is the solid stone St Ludgerus (1175), a beautiful late-Romanesque church named for the Frisian missionary buried here. It has an…

The 14th-century Petrikirche's showstopper is the massive Antwerp altar (1520), featuring 633 individually carved and gilded figurines in scenes depicting…