City of Dortmund

Dortmund has had to re-orientate itself more than most other German cities in the last few decades. In the 19th century, coal mining, the steel industry and beer brewing were the economic driving force in the Ruhr region. But in the 1960s, the mines started to close, and these drastic changes affected Dortmund, too. As the heart of heavy industry slowly stopped beating, thousands of miners lost their jobs.

Vision for the future

Instead of leaving their homes to try their luck in other cities, Dortmund residents got down to some serious work in order to create a comfortable future for themselves. It wasn't easy, but it has paid off. The whole region is rediscovering itself and is focusing on job sectors of the future, such as information technology, microtechnology, logistics, biomedicine and robotics.

The city has already made a name for itself nationally and internationally as an innovative science center that develops the technology of tomorrow. A leader in this area is the so-called "dortmund-project," a joint initiative between the city, industry and science. One of the first steps in this direction was the establishment of Dortmund University in 1968, where 22,000 students are enrolled today.

But despite this focus on the future, Dortmund has not forgotten its working-class roots. The dormant furnaces, mines and coking plants have not been demolished, but instead present themselves as proud symbols of a bygone industrial era. Places where steel was once processed are nowadays mostly research centers, dance venues or mining museums that bring this whole era to life. All these efforts seemed to have paid off, too, because the EU has designated the entire Ruhr region as the European Capital of Culture 2010.

The black-yellow heroes

No matter how much restructuring goes on in Dortmund, one thing will probably never change: when the referee blows the whistle to start a soccer match at the Signal Iduna Park, the former Westfalen Stadium. In the Dortmund area, the hearts of all soccer fans seem to be black and yellow, the colors of the Borussia Dortmund club.

There's especially a lot of excitement around here during the so-called Revier-Derby, when Borussia comes face to face with its archrivals, Schalke 04. Soccer is not just a leisure activity here, but rather a religion - and a tribute to the sport is paid in one of the largest and most beautiful stadiums in Germany.

Author: Suzanne Cords