Dortmund

For other uses, see Dortmund (disambiguation).
Dortmund
From top: Skyline including the Reinoldikirche,
Town Hall, Theater Dortmund,
Concert Hall, Dortmund U-Tower,
Westfalenstadion (Borussia Dortmund)

Flag
Coat of arms
Dortmund

Coordinates: 51°31′N 7°28′E / 51.517°N 7.467°E / 51.517; 7.467Coordinates: 51°31′N 7°28′E / 51.517°N 7.467°E / 51.517; 7.467
Country Germany
State North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region Arnsberg
District Urban
Founded 882
Government
 • Lord Mayor Ullrich Sierau (SPD)
Area
 • Total 280.4 km2 (108.3 sq mi)
Population (2014-12-31)[1]
 • Total 580,511
 • Density 2,100/km2 (5,400/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 44001-44388
Dialling codes 0231, 02304
Vehicle registration DO
Website www.dortmund.de

Dortmund ([ˈdɔɐ̯tmʊnt]; Low German: Düörpm [ˈdyːœɐ̯pm̩]; Latin: Tremonia) is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the middle part of the state and is considered to be the administrative, commercial and cultural centre of the region. Its population of 575,944 (2013) makes it the 8th largest city in Germany. Moreover, Dortmund is the largest city by area and population in the Ruhr Area, an urban area with some 5.1 million (2011) inhabitants which is the largest urban agglomeration in Germany.

Founded around 882,[2] Dortmund became an Imperial Free City. Throughout the 13th to 14th centuries, it was the "chief city" of the Rhine, Westphalia, the Netherlands Circle of the Hanseatic League. After the Thirty Years' War the city was destroyed and decreased in significance until the onset of industrialization. The city then became one of Germany's most important coal, steel and beer centres until the 1970s.

Dortmund is home to many cultural and educational institutions, including the Technical University of Dortmund and Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, International School of Management and other educational, cultural and administrative facilities with over 49,000 students, many museums, such as Museum Ostwall, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, German Football Museum, as well as theatres and music venues like the Konzerthaus or the opera house of Dortmund. The city is known as Westphalia's "green metropolis". Nearly half the municipal territory consists of waterways, woodland, agriculture and green spaces with spacious parks such as Westfalenpark and Rombergpark. This stands in a stark contrast with nearly a hundred years of extensive coal mining and steel milling within the city limits.

Dortmund is home to Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund, one of the most successful clubs in German football history.[3][4]

History

The first time Dortmund was mentioned in official documents was around 882[2] as Throtmanni.[5] After it was destroyed by a fire, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) had the town rebuilt in 1152 and resided there (among other places) for two years. It became an Imperial Free City. Throughout the 13th to 14th centuries, it was the "chief city" of the Rhine, Westphalia, the Netherlands Circle of the Hanseatic League.

City hall: Statue of the hanseatic league

After 1320, the city appeared in writing as "Dorpmunde". The 1661 earthquake made the Reinoldikirche collapse. It was part of Grand Duchy of Berg between 1806 and 1813 before passing to Prussian rule. Within the Prussian Province of Westphalia, Dortmund was a district seat within Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg until 1875, when it became an urban district within the region. During the industrialisation of Prussia, Dortmund became a major centre for coal and steel.

In 1920, Dortmund was one of the centres for resistance to the Kapp Putsch - a right military coup launched against the Social Democratic-led government. Radical workers formed a Red Army who fought the freikorps units involved in the coup.

Under Nazi Germany, the Old synagogue was destroyed in 1938. Also, the Aplerbeck Hospital in Dortmund transferred mentally and/or physically disabled patients for euthanasia at the Hadamar mental hospital as part of the Action T4 (an additional 229 children were killed in the "Children's Specialist Department", which was transferred from Marburg in 1941). Bombing targets of the Oil Campaign of World War II in Dortmund included Hoesch-Westfalenhütte AG, the "Hoesch-Benzin GmbH" synthetic oil plant, and the Zeche Hansa;,[6] and the bombings destroyed about 66% of Dortmund homes[7] and about 98% of the inner city area. The code word Dortmund was radioed to initiate the 1941 Operation Barbarossa campaign against the Soviet Union.

The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Dortmund in April 1945. The US 95th Infantry Division, attacked the city on 12 April 1945 against a spirited German defense. The division, assisted by close air support, advanced through the ruins in urban combat and completed its capture on 13 April 1945.[8]

After the war, buildings such as the main churches Reinoldikirche and Marienkirche were restored or rebuilt, and extensive parks and gardens were laid out. The LWL-Industriemuseum was founded in 1969,[9] and the city subsequently became a regional centre for hi-tech industry.

On 3 November 2013, more than 20,000 people were evacuated after a 4,000-pound bomb from World War II was found. German authorities safely defused the bomb. The bomb was found after analysing old aerial photographs while searching for unexploded bombs dropped by Allied aircraft over Germany's industrial Ruhr region.[10]

Geography

Location

Dortmund skyline with Ardey Hills in the background

Dortmund is an independent city located in the east of the Ruhr area, one of the largest urban areas in Europe (see also: megalopolis), comprising eleven independent cities and four districts with some 5.3 million inhabitants. The city limits of Dortmund itself are 87 km (54 mi) long and border twelve cities, two independent and ten kreisangehörig (i.e., belonging to a district), with a total population of approximately 2.4 million. The following cities border Dortmund (clockwise starting from north-east): Bochum, Castrop-Rauxel, Waltrop, Lünen, Kamen, Unna, Holzwickede, Schwerte, Hagen, Herdecke and Witten. Historically speaking, Dortmund is a part of Westphalia which is situated in the Bundesland North Rhine-Westphalia. Moreover, Dortmund is part of Westphalian Lowland and adjoins with the Ardey Hills in the south of the city to the Sauerland.

The lowest point can be found in the northern borough of Brechten at 48,9m, the highest point in the borough of Syburg at 254,3 m.

Boroughs

Municipalities and neighbouring communities

Dortmund comprises 62 neighbourhoods which in turn are grouped into twelve boroughs (called Stadtbezirke), often named after the most important neighbourhood. Three boroughs cover the area of the inner city (Innenstadt-West, Innenstadt-Nord, Innenstadt-Ost) and the remaining nine boroughs make up the surrounding area (Eving, Scharnhorst, Brackel, Aplerbeck, Hörde, Hombruch, Lütgendortmund, Huckarde, Mengede). Each Stadtbezirk is assigned a Roman numeral and has a local governing body of nineteen members with limited authority. Most of the boroughs were originally independent municipalities but were gradually annexed from 1905 to 1975. This long-lasting process of annexation has led to a strong identification of the population with "their" boroughs or districts and to a rare peculiarity: The borough of Hörde, located in the south of Dortmund and independent until 1928, has its own coat of arms.

Climate

Dortmund is situated in the temperate climate zone. Winters are comparatively mild, summers rather cool. The average annual temperature lies at approximately 9 to 10 °C (48 to 50 °F), the total average annual amount of precipitation lies at approximately 800 mm (31 in). Precipitation evenly falls throughout the year; steady rain (with some snow), prevails in the wintertime, isolated showers dominate the summer season. Dortmund features characteristics of densely populated areas as for example the occurrence of urban heat islands is typical.

Climate data for Dortmund
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 4
(39)		 5
(41)		 9
(48)		 13
(55)		 18
(64)		 21
(70)		 22
(72)		 22
(72)		 19
(66)		 15
(59)		 9
(48)		 5
(41)		 13.5
(56.3)
Average low °C (°F) −1
(30)		 −1
(30)		 2
(36)		 4
(39)		 8
(46)		 11
(52)		 13
(55)		 13
(55)		 10
(50)		 7
(45)		 3
(37)		 1
(34)		 5.8
(42.4)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 65
(2.56)		 56
(2.2)		 53
(2.09)		 57
(2.24)		 68
(2.68)		 78
(3.07)		 93
(3.66)		 93
(3.66)		 67
(2.64)		 60
(2.36)		 71
(2.8)		 77
(3.03)		 838
(32.99)
Average rainy days 19 17 14 16 14 14 17 16 15 17 19 19 197
Source: Wetter Kontor [11]

Demographics

Largest groups of foreign residents[12]
Nationality Population (2014)
 Turkey 22,919
 Poland 8,821
 Romania 4,109
 Greece 3,951
 Italy 3,228
 Morocco 3,106
 Ukraine 2,657
 Bulgaria 2,471
 Spain 2,422
 Russia 1,898
Population Development since 1400

Dortmund's population grew rapidly in the time of the 19th century industrialisation when coal mining and steel processing in the city began. 1904 marks the year when Dortmund saw a population of more than 100,000 for the first time in its history. During the 19th century the area around Dortmund called Ruhr attracted up to 500,000 ethnic Poles, Masurians and Silesians from East Prussia and Silesia in a migration known as Ostflucht (flight from the east). Most of the new inhabitants came from Eastern Europe, but immigrants also came from France, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. Almost all their descendants today speak German as a mother tongue, and for various reasons they do not identify with their Polish roots and traditions, often only their Polish family names remaining as a sign of their past. Not taking the fluctuation of war years into account, the population figures rose constantly to 657,804 in 1965. As a result of the city's post-industrial decline, the population fell to just under 580,000 in 2011. Today with a population of 595,624 (2015) the City of Dortmund is the eight largest city in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Düsseldorf.

Contrary to those projections, population figures have been on the up in the recent years due to net migration gains. Dortmund has seen a moderate influx of younger people (18 to 25 years of age) mainly because of its universities.[13] Data of the EU-wide 2011 census revealed massive inaccuracies with regard to German population figures. Consequently, respective figures have been corrected, which resulted in a statistical "loss" of 9,000 inhabitants in Dortmund.[14]

As of 2012, Dortmund had a population of 571,403 of whom about 177,000 (roughly 30%) were of non-German origin.[13] The table shows the number of first and second generation immigrants in Dortmund by nationality as of 31 December 2014.[15]

Religion

Dortmund was historically a Protestant-dominated city. However, during the 19th century an increasing number of Catholics moved there from East Prussia, Silesia and Poland. The Jewish community has a history dating back to Medieval times and has always ranked among the largest in Westphalia. The synagogues operate there in City center, Hörde and Dorstfeld. Due to the growing immigration of people from Muslim countries beginning in the 1960s, Dortmund has a large Muslim community.

Politics

Dortmund city hall at Freedom Square)

Dortmund is one of nineteen independent district-free cities (kreisfreie Städte) in North Rhine-Westphalia, which means that it does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity, in this case it is not part of a Landkreis'

Dortmund is often called the Herzkammer der SPD (roughly translated as "heartland of the Social democrats"), which is the politically dominant party in the city. Since the end of the war, the SPD has held a relative majority in the town council - except from 1999 to 2004. Since the 2012 local election, there have been 8 parties and electors' groups in the town council (86 seats; 2009: 96 seats): Ullrich Sierau (SPD) has been the mayor of Dortmund since May 2010. He has had to work with changing majorities in the local council.

Current composition of the local council:

SPD CDU GRÜNE FDP/Bürgerliste DIE LINKE. Non-inscrit Total
2012 38 23 15 4 3 3 86

International relations

Dortmund has a large number of international relations and partnerships. It is currently twinned with:[16]

Economy

Dortmund has adapted since the collapse of its century long steel, coal and beer industries. The region has shifted to high technology, robotics, biomedical technology, micro systems technology, engineering, tourism, finance, education and also services. In 2009, Dortmund was classified as a Node city in the Innovation Cities Index published by 2thinknow.[19] The City of Dortmund

In the last years a service sector and high-tech industry grow up. Some of its most prominent companies of these sector include Wilo, Amprion, RWE-Westnetz, Rhenus Logistics, KHS GmbH, Elmos Semiconductor, Signal Iduna and ABP Induction Systems – all of whom have their headquarters here.

Dortmund is home to Germany's twelve biggest exhibition centre, Halls of Westphalia which lies near the city center next to Dortmund Airport. Hundreds of SMEs are still based in and around Dortmund (often termed Mittelstand). Dortmund is also home to a number of medium-sized information technology companies,[20] many linked to the local university TU Dortmund at the first technology center in Germany named "Technologiepark Dortmund" opened in the 1980s. Companies like Boehringer Ingelheim and Verizon Communications seat there.

[21] The city works closely with research institutes, private universities, and companies to collaborate on the commercialisation of science initiatives.[22]

Companies with operations in or around Dortmund include:

Consulates

As a profoundly international city, Dortmund hosts diplomatic missions (consulates and consulates-general) of Italy, Greece, Bangladesh, Ghana, South Africa and the Czech Republic.

Courts

Several courts are located in Dortmund, including:

Media

Newspapers

Two important daily newspapers are published in and around Dortmund. The conservative Ruhr Nachrichten, also known as RN, was founded in 1949. The RN has a circulation of over 225,000 copies daily. The other important newspaper, the Westfälische Rundschau, was first published in 1945 and has a daily circulation of over 181,000. The WR is published by Germany's third largest newspaper and magazine publisher Funke Mediengruppe'.'

Magazines

Several magazines also originate from Dortmund. The Rock Rock hard (magazine) is a metal and hard rock magazine, with subsidiaries in various countries worldwide, including France, Spain, Brazil/Portugal, Italy and Greece.Visions' is a German music magazine with a circulation of approximately 35,000.

Radio and TV

The Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR, West German Broadcasting Cologne has a big studio in Dortmund, which is responsible for the east Ruhr area. Each day, it produces a 30-minute regional evening news magazine (called Lokalzeit Ruhr), a 5-minute afternoon news programme, and several radio news programmes. A local broadcasting station called Radio 91.2 went "on-the-air" in the early 1990s. Sat.1 have a regional studio in Dortmund

Two big Radio Channels of Westdeutscher Rundfunk are sending from Dortmund.

Other radio broadcasters include Radio NRW and Eldorado.

Transportation

Road transport

The Ruhrschnellweg Section East Dortmund

Dortmund also serves as a major European and German crossroads for the Autobahnsystem. The Ruhrschnellweg follows old Hanseatic trade routes to connect the city with the other metropolises of the Ruhr Area. It crosses the Dutch-German border as a continuation of the Dutch A67 and crosses the Rhine, leads through the Ruhr valley toward Bochum, becoming B 1 (Bundesstraße 1) at the Kreuz Dortmund West and eventually mergeing into the A 44 near Holzwickede. It has officially been named Ruhrschnellweg (Ruhr Fast Way), but locals usually call it Ruhrschleichweg (Ruhr Crawling Way) or "the Ruhr area's longest parking lot". According to Der Spiegel, it is the most congested motorway in Germany.

Connections to more distant parts of Germany are maintained by Autobahn routes A1 and A2, which traverse the north and east city limits and meet at the Kamener Kreuz interchange northeast of Dortmund. In combination with the Autobahn A45 to the west these form the Dortmund Beltway (Dortmunder Autobahnring).

Rail transport

Dortmund central train station

The central train station (Dortmund Hauptbahnhof) is the third largest long distance traffic junction in Germany. Dortmund has a railway service with Deutsche Bahn InterCity and ICE-trains stopping at Dortmund Hauptbahnhof (Dortmund Main Station), and Dortmund Airport. ICE and TGV Thalys high-speed trains link Dortmund with Amsterdam, Brussels (in 2h 30) and Paris (in 3h 50). There are frequent ICE trains to other German cities, including Frankfurt am Main, Berlin and other cities in the Rhein-Ruhr Region.

For public transportation, the city has an extensive Stadtbahn and bus system. In April 2008, the newly constructed east-west underground light rail line was opened, completing the underground service in the city centre and replacing the last trams on the surface.[23]

The H-Bahn at Dortmund University of Technology is a hanging monorail built specifically to shuttle passengers between the university's two campuses,[24] which are now also flanked by research laboratories and other high-tech corporations and startups. A nearly identical monorail system transfers passengers at Düsseldorf Airport.[25]

Air transport

Dortmund Airport is a medium-sized, but fast growing airport 13 km (8.1 mi) east of the city centre at the city limit to Holzwickede.[26] The closest intercontinental airport is Düsseldorf International Airport.

Water transport

Dortmund Harbour (Hafen) is the largest canal harbour in Europe and the 11th fluvial harbour in Germany.

Main sights

Dortmund with RWE-Tower and churches of Reinoldi, Petri and Marien on the right

Dortmund's city centre offers a picture full of contrasts. Historic buildings like Altes Stadthaus or the Krügerpassage rub shoulders with post-war architecture like Gesundheitshaus and concrete constructions with Romanesque churches like the Reinoldikirche and the Marienkirche. The inner city of Dortmund was completely destroyed during World War II. The reconstruction of the city followed the style of the 1950s, while respecting the old layout and naming of the streets. The downtown of Dortmund still retains the outline of the medieval city. A ring road marks the former city wall, and the Westen-/Ostenhellweg, part of a medieval salt trading route, is still the major (pedestrian) street bisecting the city centre.

Thus, the city today is characterized by simple and modest post-war buildings, with a few interspersed pre-war buildings which were reconstructed due to their historical importance. Some buildings of the "Wiederaufbauzeit" (era of reconstruction), for example the opera house are nowadays regarded as classics of modern architecture.

Urban Districts

Unlike the Dortmund city centre, much of the inner districts around the old medieval centre escaped damage in the second world war and post war redevelopment.

Kreuzviertel

Typical Wilhelminen style houses

The Kreuzviertel is characterised by old buildings, the majority of which come from the turn of the 20th century (1884 to 1908). Over 80% of all housing in this area was constructed before 1948, with the oldest building the Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts still standing being from 1896. In the second World War, relatively few buildings were destroyed in comparison to other areas of the city. Today, Kreuzviertel forms a nearly homogeneous historic building area. Over 100 buildings remain protected as historic monuments, like the Cross church at Kreuzstraße Straße and the first Concrete Church in Germany St.-Nicolai. Nowadays the Kreuzviertel is a trendy district like Prenzlauer Berg or Williamsburg with countless pubs, restaurants, cafés, galleries and little shops create a day and nightlife atmosphere unique from the rest of the Ruhr. The west park is the green lung of the Downtown of Dortmund and in the months between May and October Hotspot of the student urban Life.

Even today many artists choose Kreuzviertel as their residence: Sascha Schmitz, Matthias Nadolny or a lot of Players of Borussia Dortmund

Nordstadt

Borsigplatz home of the BVB

The northern part of Dortmund called Nordstadt, situated in a territory of 14.42 km² is shaped by a colorful variety of cultures. As the largest homogeneous old building area in Ruhr the Nordstadt is a melting pot of different people of different countries and habits just a few steps from the city center. The Nordstadt is an industrial urban area that was mainly developed in the 19th Century to serve the Westfalenhütte steelworks, port and rail freight depot. All of the residents live in a densely populated 300 hectare area (the most densely populated residential area in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with steelworks, port and railway lines acting as physical barriers cutting off the area from the city centre and other residential districts).

The area has been badly affected by the deindustrialisation of these heavy industries, with the target area developing a role as the home for growing numbers of immigrants and socially disadvantaged groups partly because of the availability of cheaper (although poor quality) accommodation. Nevertheless, two nice parks – Fredenbaumpark and Hoeschpark – are situated there. There is also much equipment for children to spend their free time. For example, the 35 meters high Big Tipi, which was brought in from the Expo 2000 in Hanover. All of that should attract families to settle in, but low prices of apartments and a variety of renting offers speak for the contrary. This developed into the youngest population of Dortmund is living and created a district with art house cinemas to ethnic stores, from exotic restaurants to student pubs.

The Borsigplatz is probably one of the best known squares in the Nordstadt. Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund was founded nearby, north-east of the main railway station. The streets radiating outward to form a star shape, the sycamore in the middle of the square and the tramline running diagonally across the square give Borsigplatz its very own flair.

Kaiserviertel

The Kaiserstraßen District is located east of the former ramparts of Dortmund and follows the course of the Westenhellweg. In this district numerous magnificent buildings from the 1900s and new buildings from the 1950s are located next to the heritage-protected State Mining Office Dortmund, several Courts, Consulate and the East Cemetery. Today the historical Kaiserbrunnen and the entrance sign for Kaiserstraße are important starting points for a tour to the popular shopping district.

Shopping Streets

The Westenhellweg , is a popular shopping destination and with nearly 13,000 visitors per hour it was Germany's most frequented shopping street in 2013.[27] Some of the most reputed shops, department stores, and labels have their stores here. It is a pedestrian-only area and is bordered by the Reinoldikirche in the east and U-Tower in the west. The Westenhellweg has one of the highest rents for retail and office space in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Westenhellweg

85 percent of the shops are retail chains such as H&M, Saturn, Esprit, Zara or NewYorker. In 2009 a new shopping mall named Thier-Galerie opened there with nearly 100 stores and chains like Hollister. Three more shopping malls occupy the Thier-Galerie, Galeria Kaufhof and Karstadt, as well as large fashion retail clothing stores from Peek & Cloppenburg and C&A. During the month before Christmas, the extended pedestrian-only zone is host to Dortmund Christmas Market, one of the largest and oldest Christmas markets in Germany. With more than three and a half million visitors of 300 stalls around a gigantic Christmas tree creation that stands 45 metres tall is the Dortmund Christmas Market one of the most visited and popular market in the world.[28]

In close proximity to the Dortmund concert hall lies the Brückstraßenviertel quarter - a hub especially for young people. The "Rue de Pommes Frites", which is what the Dortmund citizens have called the Brückstraße for a long time, has turned into a modern, young shopping promenade. Here under 25s can find nearly anything - from a flashy hairstyle via crazy clothes to trendy accessories. If you need to gather some breath after all the shopping, browsing and buying, you can find a cosy space in one of the roughly 130 cafés, restaurants and pubs.

The Boulevard Kampstraße. For a long time the Kampstraße had a shadowy existence as parallel street to the Westenhellweg and Ostenhellweg - but it has now become a grand boulevard. Additionally, the specialist stores on offer here guarantee an attractive shopping experience. Right next to the Kampstraße is the Kleppingstraße, an expensive shopping street with prestigious shops.

Churches

Reinoldikirche and Marienkirche

Castles

Industrial buildings

The most industrial building in Dortmund are part of the Industrial Heritage Trail (German: Route der Industriekultur). The trail links tourist attractions related to the industrial heritage in the whole Ruhr area in Germany.[29] It is a part of the European Route of Industrial Heritage.

Cultural buildings

Other important buildings

High-rise structures

Dortmund tallest structure is the Florianturm telecommunication tower at 266 m or 873 ft. Other tall buildings are the churches around the city centre. A selection of the tallest office buildings in Dortmund is listed below.

Education

Technical University of Dortmund founded in 1968 is located in the southern part of the city. It has about 30,000 students and a wide range of subjects in of physics, electrical engineering,chemistry, spatial planning and economics. The university has its own train station at the campus’s main gate which is only seven minutes away from the city center. The university’s most noticeable landmark is the H-Bahn, a monorail train which connects the north and south campuses.

The city is the site of several other universities, colleges and academies, which attract about 45,000 students.[15] Among them there are: Other academic institutions include:

Culture

Dortmund U-Tower (Dortmund U-Tower)

The city has a long tradition of music and theatre. The orchestra was founded in 1887 and is now called Dortmunder Philharmoniker. The first opera house was built in 1904, destroyed in World War II and opened again in 1966 as Opernhaus Dortmund. It is operated by Theater Dortmund together with other locations, including (since 2002) the Konzerthaus Dortmund.

The Dortmund U-Tower, which was once a brewery, is now European centre for creative economy and the Museum am Ostwall. The area around the U-Tower called "Union Viertel" is part of the Creative.Quarters Ruhr and are rooted in the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010.

Cuisine

Traditional meals in the region are Pfefferpotthast (kind of Goulash with a lot of beef), Heaven and Earth (Himmel und Äd; black pudding with stewed apples mixed with mashed potatoes) and Pumpernickel with Griebenschmalz (German lard with crispy pieces of pork skin)

In summer the people like to eat a Dortmunder Salzkuchen (Bread buns with caraway fruits, salt, meet and onions). Also a special meal in the winter is Reibekuchen (fried potato pancake served with apple sauce).

The Dortmund Brewing Industry

Dortmunder Salzkuchen and Export beer

Forty years ago Dortmund was Europe's top brewing city. It brewed more beer than anywhere else, had the largest single brewery and was home to the most popular beer style called Dortmunder style beer

When Michael Jackson wrote his "World Guide to Beer" in 1977 the Dortmund's breweries were still an impressive sight. "It is barely possible to leave the railway station without encountering a cluster of Dortmund breweries: Dortmunder Actien and Dortmunder Union in Rheinische Street, the Thier, Hansa, Ritter and Wenker Kronen breweries." he wrote. His walk would be very different today.

At the beginning of the 19th century Dortmund was an insignificant town of around 5,000 inhabitants. The breweries it possessed were pub-based brewhouses producing small quantities of top-fermenting beer. But all that was soon to change. As Germany began to industrialise Dortmund became a major centre for the coal and steel industries. The population boomed and with it breweries to slake the workers' thirst.

In 1842 Kronen was the first Dortmund brewery to swap to bottom fermentation. The lager they brewed was, as was usual at that time in Germany, a dark beer in the Münchner style. Throughout the following 50 years a series of new, industrial lager breweries were established in the city. Organised on a similar basis to the city's other industries, they operated on a far larger scale than had ever been seen in North Germany. The small, alt-producing brewhouses were swept away.

Dortmund's industrial brewers continued to expand in the 20th century (though with some interruption from two world wars), peaking in the 1960s. In 1965 the city's DUB and DAB breweries were the largest in Germany.

As the popularity of Pils soared at the expense of Export, growth slowed, stagnated or even went into reverse. When, in the 1990s, the German economy plummeted into recession, the heavy industry of the Rhine/Ruhr was particularly badly hit. As output fell, Dortmund's breweries looked to mergers for salvation. Today the Dortmunder Actien Brauerei is the biggest of just 3 Breweries.

Sports

Signal Iduna Park, the home stadium of Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund, is the biggest stadium in Germany

Dortmund is home to the sports club Borussia Dortmund, one of the most successful clubs in German football history. Borussia Dortmund are former Bundesliga champions most recently in 2011–2012. Borussia Dortmund was winner of the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup in 1997, as well as the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1966. This made it the first European Cup Winner in Germany. 'Die Borussen' are eight-time German Champions and have won three German Cups. Borussia Dortmund play at Westfalenstadion, currently known as Signal Iduna Park. It was built for the 1974 FIFA World Cup and also hosted some matches of 2006 FIFA World Cup. It is Germany's largest football stadium with a maximum capacity of 81,359 spectators.[30]

Borussia Dortmund also has a women's handball team playing in the first Bundesliga, while Borussia's table tennis team and the SVD 49 Dortmund basketball team play in their respective second national divisions.

Dortmund is the Olympic centre for Westphalia.

The Sparkassen Chess-Meeting has been hosted in Dortmund since 1982.

Besides Dortmund owns an all-weather racecourse called "Galopprennbahn Dortmund".

References

  1. ↑ "Amtliche Bevölkerungszahlen". Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW (in German). 23 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 Wikimedia Commons: First documentary reference to Dortmund-Bövinghausen from 882, contribution-list of the Werden Abbey (near Essen), North-Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
  3. ↑ "Fußball Deutsche Meister seit 1903 Tabelle Liste Statistik Übersicht deutsche Fußballmeister Fussballmeister DFB". Sport-finden.de. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  4. ↑ "Alle Sieger des Landesmeister-Cups und der Champions League". Kicker.de. 20 May 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  5. ↑ Rudolf Kötzschke (Hrsg.): Die Urbare der Abtei Werden a. d. Ruhr (= Publikationen der Gesellschaft für rheinische Geschichtskunde XX: Rheinische Urbare). Bd. 2: A. Die Urbare vom 9.-13. Jahrhundert. Hrsg. von Rudolf Kötzschke, Bonn 1908, Nachdruck Düsseldorf 1978, Bd. 3: B. Lagerbücher, Hebe- und Zinsregister vom 14. bis ins 17. Jahrhundert, Bonn 1908, Nachdruck Düsseldorf 1978, Bd. 4,I: Einleitung und Register. I. Namenregister. Hrsg. von Fritz Körholz, Düsseldorf 1978, Bd. 4,II: Einleitung, Kapitel IV: Die Wirtschaftsverfassung und Verwaltung der Großgrundherrschaft Werden. Sachregister. Hrsg. von Rudolf Kötzschke, Bonn 1958
  6. ↑ "Historisches Centrum Hagen : Chronik 1945" (in German). Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  7. ↑ A. Schildt, Die Sozialgeschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland bis 1989/90, Munich: Oldenbourg, 2007
  8. ↑ Stanton, Shelby, World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946 (Revised Edition, 2006), Stackpole Books, p. 171.
  9. ↑ "LWL Industrial Museum". Retrieved 2013-02-26.
  10. ↑ "4,000-pound, World War II bomb forces mass evacuation in Germany". CBS News. Retrieved 3 November 2013.
  11. ↑ "Klima Deutschland, Dortmund - Klimadiagramm, Klimatabelle - WetterKontor". Wetterkontor.de. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  12. ↑ "Statistisches Jahrbuch 2013". Stadt Dortmund. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
  13. 1 2 "Dortmund 2012: Mehr Einwohner, mehr Studierende, mehr Übernachtungen - Nachrichtenportal - Leben in Dortmund - Stadtportal". Dortmund.de. 2012-12-31. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  14. ↑ Dortmund hat weniger Einwohner als angenommen | WAZ.de
  15. 1 2 http://dev.statistik.dortmund.de/project/assets/template1.jsp?col=2&content=me&smi=10.2.4&tid=66334
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "List of Twin Towns in the Ruhr District" (PDF). © 2009 Twins2010.com. Retrieved 2009-10-28. External link in |publisher= (help)
  17. ↑ "Leeds - Dortmund partnership". Leeds.gov.uk. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-14.
  18. ↑ "Netanya - Twin Cities". Netanya Municipality. Archived from the original on 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2013-08-01.
  19. ↑ "2thinknow Innovation Cities Global 256 Index". Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  20. ↑ "The new Dortmund - space for change". Stadt Dortmund - City of Dortmund Economic Development Agency.
  21. ↑ "The new Dortmund - space for change". Stadt Dortmund - City of Dortmund Economic Development Agency. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  22. ↑ "The new Dortmund - space for change". Stadt Dortmund - City of Dortmund Economic Development Agency. Retrieved 2010-07-30.
  23. ↑ "Neuer U-Bahn-Tunnel: keine Straßenbahn mehr in Dortmunder City". Oliver Volmerich. 2008-04-25. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  24. ↑ "H-Bahn - Route map". Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  25. ↑ "H-Bahn - Sky-Train Düsseldorf". Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  26. ↑ "Arriving by car - Dortmund Airport". Retrieved 2009-06-03.
  27. ↑ http://www.handelsdaten.de/statistik/daten/studie/236346/umfrage/ranking-der-beliebtesten-einkaufsstrassen-deutschlands-2013/
  28. ↑ "Weihnachtsmärkte: Köln ist Publikumsmagnet : Topnews". Topnews.de. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
  29. ↑ "What is the Industrial Heritage Trail?". Retrieved 2009-05-02.
  30. ↑ "Fakten & Kurioses". Signal Induna Park official website. Retrieved 10 February 2011.

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