The city of Bochum is at the heart of the Ruhrgebiet metropolitan area (Metropole Ruhr) in Germany. The region encompasses several big cities with over 5 million inhabitants. The Ruhrgebiet extends from the Rhine river near Cologne to the city of Dortmund in the east. At its south side, it reaches the beautiful rolling hills of  Bergisches Land.

The Ruhrgebiet grew in the beginning of the last century with the advent of industrialization, coal mining, and steel industry. The area has mastered the transition from heavy industry to high tech with 3 big universities, a wealth of medium sized companies and numerous cultural attractions. Some of the finest theatres and orchestras in Germany are based in the Ruhrgebiet. The former industrial sites have been restored and transformed into parks and museums, where one can explore impressive steel structures or enjoy cultural events in an unusual setting. Some of these locations have received the status of UNESCO world heritage sites.  Finally, everyone is getting ready to celebrate the Ruhrgebiet being the official EU Cultural Main Capital in 2010.

• Comprehensive Link for the Ruhrgebiet: Metropole Ruhr <>Tourist-Info Bochum: Bochum Tourismus

Below, you find main cultural events and a selected list of sites on the industrial heritage route or the best museums

Piano Festival Ruhr

The Metropole Ruhr is home to internationally outstanding events in performing arts. Among them is the accalimed Klavierfestival Ruhr (Piano Festival Ruhr). It takes place annually during the summer in different concert halls of the region, featuring classical and modern composers interpreted by the world's best pianists and orchestras. Another event of similarly high level is the Ruhr-Triennale, featuring drama, ballet and orchestral music. Bochum is home to the Schauspielhaus Bochum, a first address in Europe for drama (German language).

Zollverein

Zollverein is the central anchor point along the Industrial Heritage Route in the Ruhrgebiet. More than 500,000 visitors come to Zollverein every year to experience this impressive industrial site. The coal mine Zollverein was built in the 1920s by the architects Fritz Schupp and Martin Kremmer in close collaboration with engineers. It was four times as efficient as other pits. A plant based on pure modern aestetics, with clear lines, reduced forms and an impressive symmetry. Even before the colliery was closed down in 1986, Shaft XII had been listed as a protected monument. The Zollverein coking plant, also designed by Fritz Schupp to link up with Shaft XII, went into operation in 1961 and was closed down in 1993. In 2001 UNESCO inscribed the whole colliery and coking plant ensemble, including Zollverein Shaft XII, the original Shaft 1/2/8, and the Zollverein coking plant into it’s list of World Cultural Heritage sites.

Link: Zeche Zollverein

Zollern

The former Zollern II/IV colliery lies west of Dortmund in a suburb called Bövinghausen. In 1981 it was integrated into the Westphalian Industrial Museum. Zollern is considered a "model mine" of the early 20th century. The Zollern II/IV colliery is now a museum for the social and cultural history of coal mining in the 20th century in the Ruhr area and one of the finest and most impressive witness to the industrial past in this region.

Link: Zeche Zollern

Henrichshütte

The Henrichshütte plant was set up in 1854. Ore and coal were mined here, coke, iron and steel produced, cast, rolled, forged and processed - all under a single roof.
Over 10,000 people were employed in the iron and steel works. The rural area around the works was quickly transformed into an urban suburb of workers' settlements. The blast furnace was shut down in 1987 after a long and bitter struggle by the workers who were supported by the whole region. In 1989 blast furnace no. 3, the oldest in the Ruhrgebiet, was incorporated into the Westphalian Industrial Museum.

Link: Henrichshütte

German Mining Museum

The German Mining Museum in Bochum (DBM) is the most important mining museum in the world and a highly acclaimed research institute for the history of mining and metallurgy. It has about 400,000 visitors annually and is one of the most visited museums in Germany.

Exhibits above ground, and a fascinating insight mine underneath the museum grounds, offer the visitor a glimpse into the world of mining. Additionally the viewing platform on top of the headgear offers a fantastic view over Bochum and the Ruhr region.

Link: German Mining Museum

Villa Hügel

The Villa Hügel is situated in the suburb of Bredeney in Essen. It is the former residence of the industrial tycoon, Alfred Krupp and his family. Completed in 1873, the building was used by three generations of the family as a home and for representative purposes for the next seventy years. Since 1955/56 large-scale international art exhibitions have been regularly presented here. When exhibitions are not being presented visitors can view the historical rooms within the main building, an exhibition on the history of Krupp and his firm in the adjacent building, and relax in the spacious grounds adjoining the villa.

Link: Villa Hügel

Duisburg Nord

At the Duisburg-Nord Country Park, where the blast furnace heat was almost unbearable you can now cool down and relax. Young trees and old furnaces overlook a park for everybody and everything - and even more, as you can simply climb to the roof of the Ruhr and enjoy the view, experience top events live in a factory building or track regional history in a world of steel. With 510,000 visitors, the Duisburg-Nord Country Park was the most popular tourist destination for nature and culture in North Rhine-Westphalia in the year 2003.

Link: Park Duisburg Nord

Gasometer Oberhausen

The Gasometer Oberhausen is an outstanding landmark of the Western Ruhr Area and in particular of the town of Oberhausen. It is an impressive example for building history and a spectacular location for events. Since 1994 annually changing exhibitions of impressive magnitude have turned the Gasometer into a successful cultural location within North Rhine-Westphalia. But even without an exhibition or event going on, the Gasometer is still worth a visit. The inside of the Gasometer welcomes guests with an extraordinary atmosphere. The dark and semi-glossy walls, the extraordinary steel structure and the eight-time echo turn the 75-years old building into an "industrial cathedral". From the roof of the Gasometer, accessible by a glass elevator, visitors can enjoy the beautiful panorama of the Western Ruhr Area.

Link: Gasometer

The Train Museum Bochum-Dahlhausen.

The train depot has been built in 1916-18. The steam engines were used for freight trains for coal. 50 steam locomotives and numerous freight coaches were continuously maintained by 522 workers. End of the sixties the coal mining became inefficient and most of the mines were closed. After 1968 the German Society for Train history transformed the area back into its original shape.

Link: Train Museum Bochum-Dahlhausen

Folkwang-Museum Essen

The museum Folkwang is known for its excellent art collection of the 19th century, the classic modern as well as for the art after 1945 and photography. Most paintings are from German and French artists of the 19th and 20th century. The pioneers of modern art are represents by famous paintings from Cézanne, Gauguin und van Gogh, but also the German Romantik. The numerous pieces of the German expressionists and of the Blaue Reiter are of unique quality. From the 50s and 60s of the 20th century are large scale paintings (Newman, Rothko, Reinhard, Stella) and the German Informel (Nay, Schumacher, Thieler).

Link: Folkwang Museum

The Museum Ludwig

The collection of the Museum Ludwig in Cologne comprises the most important stages and positions in the development of 20th century art and contemporary art.
Most works came from Peter and Irene Ludwig who have built up the biggest collection of Pop Art outside the USA. It was to be the first museum in Cologne to exhibit contemporary art. Apart from pop art the Ludwigs also donated a large collection of Russian Avantgarde from the period 1906 to 1930 and a voluminous collection of several hundred works by Pablo Picasso as a permanent loan.

The museum has continued to systematically collect contemporary art. New acquisitions were often only a few months old when they were bought. Thus German art from the 70s and 80s, international trends and installations by the younger avantgarde also found their way into the collection of the Museum Ludwig.

Link: Museum Ludwig

K20 K21 Kunstsammlung Düsseldorf

Because of its superior collection, the Kunstsammlung has long enjoyed an outstanding position in the international world of museums. Its focus is on Western European and American modern art. K20 owns excellent individual works from Pablo Picasso to Joseph Beuys, and a large number of Surrealist works. The Kunstsammlung collection includes some 100 works by Paul Klee. After World War II the essential focus of the collection is on American art.

European painting, with works by Gerhard Richter, Per Kirkeby und Markus Lüpertz, is another highlight. We should also emphasise the Joseph Beuys collection, with the late major work ‘Palazzo Regale’. The collection is at present complemented by the Günter Ulbricht collection, one of the artist’s last great work-complexes.

Link: Kunstsammlung Düsseldorf

Neanderthal Museum

In the Neander Valley (the Neandertal in Germany) in the summer of 1856 quarrymen discovered the fossilised remains of a skeleton - which has since achieved world-wide fame. Today the Neanderthal Museum can be found on this legendary site. The museum tells the story of human evolution. Since its opening in 1996 the exhibition has fascinated a large audience: more than 170,000 visitors are welcomed annually.

They are enthusiastic about a uniquely recollective landscape. The museum, discovery site, stone age workshop, "Human Traces" sculptured path and animal park create a truly extraordinary mix, ensuring that any visit remains a memorable experience.

Link: Neanderthal

The MKM – Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art

The MKM is a forum for modern and contemporary art in all its diversity, located in a vital cultural context. Thanks to the New Ströher Collection, an international exhibition schedule, and its compelling architecture, the MKM has been a centre of attraction on Duisburg’s Inner Harbour since its opening in April 1999. Sited at the hub of the pulsating megacity of the Ruhr Basin, the MKM enjoys fine transit connections with a dense rail and autobahn network, and with the Cologne/Bonn and Düsseldorf airports. The MKM harbours and presents key works of the New Ströher Collection. Awaiting the viewer on two floors is a tour through several decades of outstanding achievements on the part of German artists of international renown, with an emphasis on painting. Each year the MKM mounts five to six changing exhibitions of international art, in a schedule that reflects recent and current developments. In addition, international cooperation with other art institutions enables the presentation of topical group exhibitions and retrospectives of the work of established artists. A further exhibition series, "Akademos", is devoted to art produced by professors at the renowned Düsseldorf Art Academy.

Link: MKM Duisburg

Lehmbruck Museum Duisburg

The Lehmbruck Museum Duisburg for international sculpture and object art of the 20th century its numerous important artists of that era.

 The master pieces of Ernst Barlach and Käthe Kollwitz are on display in the central halls of the museum. The cubism and constructivism is represented by Archipenko, Duchamp-Villon, Laurens und Lipchitz, Rodcenko, Péri, Gabo, Pevzner and many others including Brancusi.

Sculpturism changed during the period of surrealism with the continous transformations of nature as portrayed by Picasso, Arp, Dali and Ernst. One main topic of the musem are iron sculptures. The technique evolved from the beginning with Gargallo and González to the works of Kricke and Uhlmann.

Link: Lehmbruck Museum