Ruhr region, Europe's upcoming cultural capital, has full programme

Dec 29, 2009, 14:24 GMT

Essen, Germany - It is a first -- for all 53 of them. That is how many German towns simultaneously hold the title of European Capital of Culture for the year 2010, along with Istanbul and the Hungarian city of Pecs.

Essen applied for the honour on behalf of the entire Ruhr region, Germany's industrial heartland. So it shares the spotlight next year with the Ruhr's other 52 towns, many of which are probably unfamiliar to people outside the region.

The places include Bergkamen and Breckerfeld, Hattingen and Hamm, Marl and Moers, Schwerte and Sprockhoevel.

The European Union (EU) has been selecting European cultural capitals annually since 1985. Cities so designated present a cultural programme to the public with EU support. The organizing agency for the Ruhr's programme has dubbed the 53 towns collectively 'the Ruhr Metropolis.'

Never have there been so many reasons to visit the Ruhr region, which lies between the Ruhr and Lippe rivers in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The cultural programme, spread over the entire year, comprises 300 projects and 2,500 events such as exhibitions, readings, theatre, art, cabaret and town festivals.

It is safe to say that few visitors will see all 53 towns. But each one gets a week in the spotlight as a 'Local Hero.' Essen, Germany's sixth-largest city and the largest urban centre in the Ruhr region, will be a 'Local Hero' for the whole year. Kicking off the festivities as 'Local Hero No 1' is Dinslaken, population 72,000.

Home to some 5.3 million people, the Ruhr region is Europe's third-largest conurbation, after London and Paris. This is reason enough for the Ruhrpott, or simply Pott (the colloquial German word is related to the English word 'pit,' as in 'coal pit'), as the region is popularly known, to exude self-confidence.

And that is exactly what it did at this year's ITB in Berlin, the international travel trade show. 'What do London and Paris have in common?' Ruhr tourism promoters asked archly. The answer: 'Fewer museums than the Ruhr Metropolis.'

Some of the Ruhr's museums aim to attract plenty of attention in 2010. The Folkwang Museum in Essen, for example, which houses an important collection of 19th and 20th century art, is due to reopen on January 30 in a new building designed by British architect David Chipperfield.

Contrary to the old cliche, the Ruhr, which has been undergoing structural change for years, is more than just blast furnaces and chimney stacks. It should not be forgotten, however, that coal miners and steelworkers made the region what it is.

A project called Schaft Signs will commemorate the Ruhr's industrial roots. In the week after the Christian Pentecost celebration, around 400 large yellow balloons, filled with helium and attached to ribbons, will hover up to 80 metres above former mine shafts.

Partying will not be forgotten either in the Ruhr's 'capital-of- culture' year. 'Extra Shift: The Long Night of Industrial Heritage,' to be held on June 19 for the tenth time, will be a giant summer festival.

From 6 pm to 2 am, some 200 events are planned across the region, with shuttle bus service among the venues. Redeveloped spoil tips and former steelworks will turn into stages for music, dancing, street theatre and light installations.

June 4 and 5 are billed as the Day of Song. More than 670 choirs with a total of some 23,000 singers will make themselves heard in dozens of towns - not only in concert halls and opera houses, but also in department stores, kindergartens, town squares and streets.

Yet another high point will be Still Life on July 18, when the Ruhr's main road, the 60-kilometre A40/B1 motorway between Duisburg's Inner Harbour and the Hoerde district of Dortmund, will be closed to motor traffic for a street festival of superlatives.

Some 20,000 trestle tables will be lined end-to-end on the Dortmund-to-Duisburg side of the road. Everyone is welcome to take part in the multicultural picnic. The other side will be open to wheeled vehicles without motors.

A wide range of entertainment will also be on tap, provided by groups such as church choirs, rock bands, Boy Scouts and Turkish ravers. So, despite the lack of traffic noise, the road will be far from quiet.