File:Duisburg 031.jpg

English: Duisburg

The Ruhr area ('Ruhrgebiet') is named after the river that borders it to the south and is the largest urban area in Germany with over five million people. It is mostly known as a densely-populated industrial area. By 1850 there were almost 300 coal mines in operation in the Ruhr area. The coal was exported or processed in coking ovens into coke, used in blast furnaces, producing iron and steel. Because of the industrial significance, it had been a target from the start of the war, yet "the organized defences and the large amount of industrial pollutants produced a semi-permanent smog or industrial haze that hampered accurate bombing". During World War II, the industry and cities in the Ruhr area were heavily bombed. The combination of the lack of historic city centres, which were burned to ashes, and (air) pollution has given the area and the cities a bad reputation. Especially because it is so close to the Netherlands, I thought it would be an interesting area to visit for a little trip. I have spent three nights at a campsite on the Ruhr and visited six cities.

My trip started in Duisburg, the fifteenth largest city in Germany and the third largest in the Ruhr area with a population of 500,000 inhabitants. Although the city is one of the most heavily bombed cities by allied forces during World War II, it has a rich history. The city wall was erected in 1120 and Duisburg was granted city rights in 1279. Duisburg has the largest inland port in the world. Let's find out what is left of pre-war Duisburg.

I thought this picture summarizes Duisburg pretty well. An old industrial building on the left, the beautiful church (without the tower, showing the disastrous damage to the city during WW2), the bland yellow apartment building as an example of post-war concrete constructions that dominate Duisburg and the entire Ruhr region, Türkish (Turkish) because one in six Duisburger are of Turkish descent (as a whole 42.4% of the Duisburger have a migration background) and well, the rusty pipe symbolizes the urban decay of the city. The population from Duisburg shrank with 100,000 inhabitants to less than 500,000 in the past 4.5 decades. Moreover, Duisburg has debts of 8 billion euros.