Ruhr Area within Germany

Map of the Ruhr Area

The Ruhr Area, also called simply Ruhr, (German Ruhrgebiet, colloquial Ruhrpott or Kohlenpott) is an urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, consisting of a number of large formerly industrial cities bordered by the rivers Ruhr to the south, Rhine to the west, and Lippe to the north. Southwest it borders the Bergisches Land. The area, with some 5.3 million people, is considered part of the larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area of more than 12 million people. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Download high resolution version (1000x593, 95 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Download high resolution version (1000x593, 95 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Crowded Shibuya, Tokyo shopping district An urban area is an area with an increased density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. ... Coat of arms Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DEA Capital Düsseldorf Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) Governing parties CDU / FDP Votes in Bundesrat 6 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  34,084 km² (13,160 sq mi) Population 18,033,000... For the conurbation see Ruhr Area. ... It has been suggested that River Rhine Pollution: November 1986 be merged into this article or section. ... The Lippe is a river in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Berg was a medieval territory in todays North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... The Rhine-Ruhr Area in Germany ranks among the large metropolitan areas in the world, with 10,233,678 people. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

Going from west to east, the area includes the city boroughs of Duisburg, Oberhausen, Bottrop, Mülheim an der Ruhr, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, Herne, Hamm, Hagen, and Dortmund as well as parts of the more "rural" districts Wesel, Recklinghausen, Unna and Ennepe-Ruhr. These districts have grown into a large complex forming an industrial landscape of unique size, inhabited by some 5.3 million people, the fifth largest urban area in Europe after Moscow, Greater London, Greater Madrid, and Paris (see also: Istanbul). Duisburg is a German city and port in the western part of the Ruhr Area (Ruhrgebiet) in North Rhine-Westphalia. ... Oberhausen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Map of Germany showing Bottrop Bottrop is a city in west central Germany, on the Rhine-Herne Canal, in North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen). ... Mülheim an der Ruhr is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. ... Essen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Herne (IPA: ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Map of Germany showing Hamm Hamm is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Hagen is the 37th largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. ... Dortmund is a city in Germany, located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. ... Wesel is a city (population about 61,689 in 2004) in Germany, located at the point where the Lippe River empties into the Rhine. ... Recklinghausen is a city in the Ruhr Area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Unna is a town which is the seat of the Unna district. ... The Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis is a district in the middle of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ... Position of Moscow in Europe Coordinates: , Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Government  - Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Area  - City 1,081 km²  (417. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto: (Spanish for From Madrid to Heaven) Location Coordinates: , Country Spain Autonomous Community Comunidad Autónoma de Madrid Province Madrid Administrative Divisions 21 Neighborhoods 127 Founded 9th century Government  - Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Jimémez (PP) Area  - Land 607 km² (234. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) The Eiffel Tower in Paris, as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Istanbul (Turkish: , Greek: , historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see other names) is Turkeys most populous city, and its cultural and financial center. ...

History

Towns in the area first grew during the Industrial Revolution, mainly basing their economy on coal mining and steel production. As demand for coal slowly decreased after 1960, the area went through phases of structural crisis and industrial diversification, first developing traditional heavy industry, then moving into service industries and high technology. The proverbial air and water pollution of the area are largely a thing of the past. In 2005 “Essen for the Ruhrgebiet” was the official candidate for nomination as European Capital of Culture for 2010. The Industrial Revolution was a major shift of technological, socioeconomic, and cultural conditions that occurred in the late 18th century and early 19th century in some Western countries. ... Chinese coal miners in an illustration of the Tiangong Kaiwu Ming Dynasty encyclopedia, published in 1637 by Song Yingxing. ... The steel cable of a colliery winding tower. ... The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by the European Union for a period of one year during which it is given a chance to showcase its cultural life and cultural development. ...

In January 1923 French forces occupied the Ruhr area as a means of reprisal after Germany proved incapable of fulfilling reparation payments demanded by the Versailles Treaty. The German government answered with "passive resistance," which meant that coal miners and railway workers refused to obey any instructions by the occupation forces. Production and transportation came to a standstill, but the financial consequences completely ruined public finances in Germany and passive resistance was called off in late 1923. The Occupation of the Varun Balan in 1923 and 1924, by troops from France and Belgium was a response to the failure of German Weimar Republic under Cuno to pay reparations in the aftermath of World War I. Initiated by French Prime Minister Raymond Poincaré, the invasion took place on... World War I reparations refers to the payments and transfers of property and equipment that the German state was forced to make following its defeat during World War I. Article 231 of the Treaty (the war guilt clause) held Germany solely responsible for all loss and damage suffered by the...

In World War II, the Allies mounted a campaign specifically to encircle and capture the Ruhr Area. This effort succeeded in surrounding the entire area, trapping several hundred thousand Wehrmacht troops within what was known as the "Ruhr Pocket." Due to its economic significance, the region was very heavily bombed during the War and some of its towns (Dortmund, for example) were among the most devastated cities in Germany. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Look up ally in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Wehrmacht   (armed forces, literally defence force(s)) was the name of the armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. ... The Ruhr Pocket was a battle that took place at the end of World War II in the Ruhr Area, Germany. ... Dortmund is a city in Germany, located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. ...

Following the German unconditional surrender after World War II, the Ruhr area led a perilous existence. The Morgenthau Plan had set the tone in 1944 by requiring the entire area to be stripped of all mining and manufacturing industry, and its industrial worker population to be dispersed as widely as possible. The Ruhr area was then to be governed as an international zone. The French Monnet plan also pushed for an internationalization (see also French proposal from September 1945). The Ruhr Agreement was imposed on the Germans as a condition for permitting them to establish the Federal Republic of Germany.^[1] (see also the International Authority for the Ruhr (IAR)). The Morgenthau Plan showing the planned partitioning of Germany into a North State, a South State, and an International zone. ... This article deals with the 1945-47 plan of the immediate post war period. ...

In the end, the beginning of the Cold War led to increased German control of the area, although permanently limited by the pooling of German coal and steel into a multinational community in 1951 (see European Coal and Steel Community). The nearby Saar area, containing much of Germany's remaining coal deposits, was handed over by the U.S. to economic administration by France as a protectorate in 1947 and did not politically return to Germany until January 1957, with economic reintegration occurring a few years later. Parallel to the question of political control of the Ruhr, the Allies conducted an effort to decrease German industrial potential by limitations on production and dismantling of factories and steel plants, predominantly in the Ruhr. (see also The industrial plans for Germany). By 1950, after the virtual completion of the by then much watered-down "level of industry" plans, equipment had been removed from 706 manufacturing plants in the west and steel production capacity had been reduced by 6,700,000 tons.^[2] Dismantling finally ended in 1951. For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... Members of the European Coal and Steel Community Flag of the European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was founded in 1951 (Treaty of Paris), by France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands to pool the steel and coal resources of its member... The Saar, corresponding to the current German state of Saarland, was a protectorate under French control between 1947 and 1959. ... The industrial plans for Germany or Level of Industry plans for Germany were the plans to lower the German industrial potential after World War II. At the Potsdam conference the victorious Allies had decided to abolish the German armed forces as well as all munitions factories and civilian industries that... This article or section cites very few or no references or sources. ...

After Cold War tensions increased, it was anticipated that a Red Army thrust into Western Europe would begin in the Fulda Gap, and would have the Ruhr Area as a primary target. For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ... The borders of Western Europe were largely defined by the Cold War. ... Location of terrain features in the region of the Fulda Gap. ...

Structural Change

After the traditional industries of coal and steel became less and less important, the whole Ruhr Area was faced with a continuous and difficult Structural Change ("Strukturwandel"), starting with the Coal Crisis in 1958 and lasting till today and into the future. During 1980 and 2002, around 500,000 jobs were lost in the traditional industries. The introduction of the engineering industry and especially the service sector is illustrative of the structural change. Currently, the service sector shows the biggest prospect for re-creating the lost jobs.

Tourism is also becoming more and more important as people realize that the Ruhrarea is no longer a dirty industrial area, but offers recreational areas with rivers, lakes and forests. Many of the former industrial sites have been demolished, but some have been saved to remind visitors of the history of the Ruhrarea. Many of these preserved sites are connected via the "Route der Industriekultur" (Route of Industrial Culture), including the World Heritage Site Zeche Zollverein in Essen and the large industrial complex of a former steel mill at Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord (Landscape Park Duisburg-North). A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... Essen is a city in the center of the Ruhr Area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... This article is considered orphaned, since there are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

In 2006 the city of Essen, representing the whole Ruhr Area, was recommended by an independent jury to be the European Capital of Culture 2010. This was regarded as a big step in structural change since the decline in the coal and steel industries.

Language

The local dialect of German is commonly called Ruhrdeutsch or Ruhrpottdeutsch, although there is really no uniform dialect that justifies designation as a single dialect. It is rather a working class sociolect with influences from the various dialects found in the area and changing even with the professions of the workers. A major common influence stems from the coal mining tradition of the area. For example, the Ruhr Area is more commonly known among locals as either "Ruhrpott", where "Pott" is a derivate of "Pütt" (pitmen's term for mine; cp. the English "pit"), or as "Revier" (pitmen's term for seam). In linguistics, a sociolect is the language spoken by a social group, social class or subculture. ...

Single words in the dialect are of Polish origin (see below about the Polish immigration in the 19th century), e.g. the word "Mottek" meaning "hammer" which is derived of the Polish word "Młotek" with the same meaning.

The article "das" is often spoken "dat(t)" in Ruhrpottdeutsch, "was" is spoken "wat(t)" etc.

The influx of foreign workers has introduced new expressions arising from the circumstances of industrial work and led to a form of slang typical of certain groups of people in the area. So there is no unified grammar or spelling of the Ruhrdeutsch variations available, yet a substantial amount of literature has been published, including translations of the famous Asterix comic books representing a typical instance of the varieties spoken in the Ruhr Area. For other uses, see Asterix (disambiguation). ...

Migration

In the 19th century the Ruhr area pulled up to 500,000 Poles from East Prussia and Silesia due to the event referred to as Ostflucht. By 1925, the Ruhrgebiet had around 3.8 million inhabitants. Most of the new inhabitants migrated from Eastern Europe, however, one could also find a couple of immigrants from the France, Ireland, and the United Kingdom. It is believed that these immigrants came from over 140 different nations. After World War II, even more immigrants flocked from the east. These guest workers or "gastarbeiter" came mostly from Italy, and Turkey. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... East Prussia (German: Ostpreu en; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. ... Silesia (Czech: ; German: ; Latin: ; Polish: ; Silesian: Åšlónsk) is a historical region in central Europe. ... The Ostflucht (flight from the East) was a movement by residents of the historically eastern German regions, such as East Prussia, West Prussia, Silesia and Province of Posen beginning around 1850, to the more industrialized western German Rhine and Ruhr provinces. ...

Almost all of their descendants today speak German only and consider themselves Germans, with only their Polish family names remaining as a sign of their past.

In 1900, the main concentrations of the Polish minority were: Äž: For the film, see: 1900 (film). ...

• District of Gelsenkirchen, (Westfalia) 13.1 %
• District of Bochum, (Westfalia) 9.1 %
• District of Dortmund, (Westfalia) 7.3 %
• City of Gelsenkirchen, (Westfalia) 5.1 %

Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Dortmund is a city in Germany, located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. ... Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ...

Public Transport

All public transport companies in the Ruhr Area are run under the umbrella of the VRR (German: Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr), which provides a uniform ticket system valid for the entire area. The Ruhr Area is well-integrated into the Deutsche Bahn, both in passenger and cargo rail. Germanys main train operator, the Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railway Corporation, also known as DB or DBAG) provides passenger and freight service via federally owned tracks. ...

External links

• Tourist information on the Ruhrgebiet in English with photos
• Post-Surrender Program for Germany (Sept. 1944)
• Ruhr Delegation of the United States of America, Council of Foreign Ministers American Embassy Moscow, March 24, 1947
• Draft, The President's Economic Mission to Germany and Austria, Report 3, March, 1947; OF 950B: Economic Mission as to Food…; Truman Papers.
• France, Germany and the Struggle for the War-making Natural Resources of the Rhineland Describes the contest for the Ruhr and Saar over the centuries.
• Photos about the Ruhr
• Photos and stories from students at the 3 Ruhr-area universities

Notes

Bibliography

• Kift, Roy, 'Tour the Ruhr - the English language guide' (second edition 2003) (ISBN: 3-88474-815-7 Klartext Verlag, Essen [1]
• Berndt, Christian. Corporate Germany Between Globalization and Regional Place Dependence: Business Restructuring in the Ruhr Area (2001)
• Crew, David. Town in the Ruhr: A Social History of Rochum, 1860-1914 (1979) (ISBN: 0231043007)
• Gillingham, John. Industry and Politics in the Third Reich: Ruhr Coal, Hitler, and Europe (1985) (ISBN: 0231062605)
• Chauncy D. Harris, "The Ruhr Coal-mining District," Geographical Review, 36 (1946), 194-221.
• Norman J. G. Pounds. The Ruhr: A Study in Historical and Economic Geography (1952) online
• Royal Jae Schmidt. Versailles and the Ruhr: Seedbed of World War II (1968)
• Elaine Glovka Spencer. Management and Labor in Imperial Germany: Ruhr Industrialists as Employers, 1896-1914. Rutgers University Press. (1984) online

See also

• Occupation of the Ruhr (1923-1924)
• Rhine-Ruhr