Industrial action
It’s not the workers but the views that are striking on Germany’s industrial tourism trail, says Andrew Eames
GERMANY’S Ruhr Valley – with Dortmund at its eastern gateway – is an unlikely and unexotic holiday destination. Perhaps this industrial heartland is a dream weekend for the rust family, a good place for slag to go camping, or an adventure break for metal fatigue. But coal mines, blast furnaces and steel mills are not traditional tourist attractions for human beings.
Or at least they weren’t until the Ruhr reinvented them as a kind of industrial safari, a place to see a whole range of near-extinct industrial beasts in their native wilderness. And they’re much bigger and more powerful than anything you’ll see in Africa.
New life for old bricks is a familiar pan-European theme. Paris and Madrid have both created art galleries out of railway stations, Toulouse has done the same with its abattoirs, London’s Tate Modern colonised a former power station, and a salt mine near Krakow is one of Poland’s biggest tourist attractions. Yet we still tend to think of industry as a blot on the horizon, forgetting that power stations and factories are no more alien to the contemporary landscape than are hedges and fields, which were also architected by the hand of man.
And so, as contemporary manufacturing becomes rehoused in shiny humming science parks, it is only fitting that select examples of obsolete industrial architecture should be preserved as cathedrals of grunt and grime. In the Ruhr, this has been happening on a huge scale.
There’s nothing conventionally attractive about Germany’s hairy armpit. Not so long ago this area was home to 140 coal mines and scores of associated heavy industries. The land is flat, the rivers murky, and the big cities of Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg and Gelsenkirchen merge into each other with no visible city boundaries, all being part of one giant mass-transit system.
The city centres look similar, too, being mainly assembled out of large blocks. Some are from the 1920s, but most from the 1950s onwards thanks to "redevelopment" by Britain’s RAF during World War II. And so to come here as a tourist requires opening your eyes and your mind.
That unconventionality begins as soon as you hit the B1/A40, the highway that runs past Dortmund Airport westwards through the spine of the region. In two years’ time this will no longer be just a highway. It will be a cultural experience. The B1_21st project is going to convert this busy arterial route into one of the world’s longest art trails, walling it with installations.
The highway art trail will be part of a year-long celebration of the re-creation of the Ruhr area, the first industrial zone ever to be given the title of European Capital of Culture.
For the Ruhr, the 2010 celebration represents not just the culmination of 20 years’ worth of pouring massive amounts of money into holes in the ground, but also a real turnaround in local attitudes.
This is one of Germany’s most multi-cultural urbanisations, dominated by the Italians, Portuguese and Turks who were recruited to work in the mines, mills and furnaces. Fifteen years ago they were unemployed and ready to leave. Now their children have jobs in high-tech and knowledge-based industries, and the place where they used to work has become a tourist attraction. Where once they felt alienated and depressed, now they feel proud.
Of course you don’t have to wait until 2010 to go see the Ruhr’s big beasts in their natural habitat. Dortmund itself has three of the 25 key attractions on the already well-established industrial safari route, including a colliery where you can still go underground. I’ve included it in my personal Ruhr Big Five (overleaf).
Pigeons, jokes and football
It seems that industrial and mining areas, wherever they are in the world, develop similar cultural characteristics. Traditional hobbies in the Ruhr are pigeon-fancying and giant vegetable growing, just like in northern England. And then there’s stand-up comedy, with the Ruhr’s uniquely dry sense of humour leaving most of Germany scratching its head. But the biggest pastime of all is football, which here amounts to a religion. Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen were both World Cup venues in 2006, and Bochum, Duisburg, Dortmund and Gelsenkirchen all have teams in the top-flight German Bundesliga.
1| Zeche Zollern, Dortmund
One of three key anchor points on the industrial heritage trail, this art nouveau coal mine hosts an industrial museum and even stages a "night shift" tour. It also has information on all the other sections of the trail. Living proof that coal mines can be beautiful too.
2 | The Henrichenburg Ship Lift, Waltrop
Giant steam-powered ship lift opened by Kaiser Wilhelm II back in 1899, and still operating in 1970. In its prime it lifted 600-tonne barges up 14 metres. There’s still a working steam model, plus subsidiary exhibitions on various boats and barges.
3 | Zollverein, Essen
Recognised as a World Heritage site by UNESCO back in 2001, the site includes a stunning brick-built and Bauhaus-inspired colliery stuffed with museums and galleries. A walkway across a wasteland of cinders leads to the Kokerie Zollverein, where coal dust was fire-blasted into industrial carbon (coke) which burns hot enough to melt metal. A big dipper and a swimming pool have been set here among the ovens.
4 | The Gasometer, Oberhausen
Now a giant art gallery whose exhibitions are tailor-made to fit. It seems that artists are queuing up to have a go – Reichstag-wrapper Christo was one of the first – at creating something that makes proper use of such a huge interior space. From the top, 118 metres up, there’s a 360-degree view of Lowry-like spires and smokestacks.
5 | Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord
This former blast furnace is now an adventure park. The gasometer has been filled with water for the local sub aqua club, the massive concrete bunkers are used by local climbers, number one furnace is a cinema, and British lighting designer Jonathan Park has turned the whole tangled mass of metal into a living, looming thing when darkness falls. Further information: www.route-industriekultur.de
Chyba niewielu z nas Zag??bie Ruhry kojarzy si? z wymarzonym miejscem na sp?dzenie wakacji, a kopalnie w?gla, wielkie piece i i huty ?elaza – z tradycyjnymi atrakcjami turystycznymi. Ten przemys?owy region zacz?? jednak zmienia? swój charakter, podj?to si? realizacji projektu zak?adaj?cego stworzenie czego? w rodzaju industrialnego safari. Nie ma tu lwów i tygrysów, ale znacznie od nich wi?ksze i silniejsze industrialne bestie.
Trasa safari obejmuje 25 g?ównych atrakcji. A oto pierwsza pi?tka, zas?uguj?ca na szczególn? uwag?: 1 / Zeche Zollern, Dortmund – kopalnia w?gla, zbudowana w stylu art nouveau. Teraz znajduje si? w niej muzeum przemys?u, organizo-wane s? tu te? wycieczki "nocna zmiana". 2 / D?wig pok?adowy Henrichenburg ,Waltrop – podnosi? 600-tonowe ci??ary na wysoko?? 14 m. 3 / Zollverein, Essen – wspania?a architektura tej wpisanej na List? ?wiatowego Dziedzictwa UNESCO kopalni, insirowana by?a Bauhausem. Teraz mieszcz? si? tu muzea i galerie, a tak?e basen p?ywacki. 4 / Zbiornik Gazowy, Oberhausen – zamieniony na olbrzymi? galeri? sztuki. Jednym z pierwszych wystawiaj?cych tu artystów by? Christo – ten sam, który swego czasu opakowa? Reichstag. 5 / Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord – dawny wielki piec hutniczny, w którym urz?dzono park przygód. Znajduje si? w nim mi?dzy innymi aqua club, ?cianki do wspinaczki i kino. Ogromn? metalow? konstrukcj? obiektu o?wieli? brytyjski artysta, Jonatham Park.
Ca?kowite zako?czenie wszystkich prac przewidziane jest na 2010 r., kiedy to Zag??bie Ruhry, jako pierwsza strefa przemys?owa w historii, zostanie Europejsk? Stolic? Kultury. Na ten czas planowana jest równie? realizacja projektu B1_21, zak?adaj?cego umieszczenie wzd?u? autostrady B1/A40 nowoczesnych instalacji, które zamieni? j? w najd?u?szy na ?wiecie szlak artystyczny.
Zag??bie Ruhry to jedna z najbardziej multikulturowych koncentracji miejskich w Niemczech, zdominowanych przez W?ochów, Portugalczyków i Turków, których zatrudniano tu do pracy w kopalniach i hutach. Teraz ich dzieci pracuj? w przemy?le high-tech i w know-how, a ich dawne miejsca pracy zamieni?y si? w najwi?ksze atrakcje turystyczne regionu.
