Gelsenkirchen

Blue fan terrace and green mining waste tips, monumental industrial memorials and innovative companies, high culture at the Musiktheater im Revier and comedy at the cabaret, shopping flair in the pedestrian zone, a versatile dining scene, relaxing sunbathing on the Rhine-Herne Canal and, of course, world class football - all of this is Gelsenkirchen, the city in the heart of the Ruhr district. Work in the collieries and steelworks determined life in Gelsenkirchen for decades. Much has changed since then. Today, the city is more modern, liveable and attractive than ever before and has something to offer both its 270,000 inhabitants and its visitors. Workers’ estates and former mining and steelworks are now contemporary witnesses that tell the story of a grand industrial age. Instead of a bland façade, Gelsenkirchen is home to a colourful pot pourri.