One of Germany’s largest urban agglomeration, the Ruhr Region, is located in North Rhine-Westphalia. The area covers about 4,450 sq meter and inhabits over 5 million people, the Metro Region more than 12 million. The Ruhrpott is a real melting pot, not just because of its variety of its residents but also due to its structure.

The Ruhr Region is polycentric and a vast industrial landscape: during the industrial revolution coal mines and steel factories rose, a broad network of waterways and railway systems were installed and neighbouring districts grew together into one large complex. The Region was a focus of the country’s economic miracle of the 1950s and 60s until its decline in the 1970s. Due to the economic and structural crisis of that time, mines were shut down, steel became expensive and unemployment hit its numbers.

During the 1990s many industrial facilities were abandoned and run-down. A structural change set in. Still visible in the landscape, those mines and iron works created a unique image and culture in that region. Nowadays many of those areas have been regenerated into garden and recreational parks. Factories are turned into cultural centers and museums for art and design. The Ruhr Region hit its cultural high point in 2010 when the Region and the city of Essen as its capital became the European Capital of Culture. This gave the area the opportunity to show its unique heritage.

Links: Zollverein / The Ruhr