Dortmund

Coordinates: 51°31′N, 7°28′E

Dortmund is a city in Germany, located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 587,830 (20 June 2005) makes it the largest city in the region, 7th-largest in Germany, and 34th-largest in the European Union.

The Ruhr river flows south of the city, and the small river Emscher flows through the municipal area. The Dortmund-Ems Canal also terminates in the Dortmund Port, which is the largest European canal port, and links Dortmund to the North Sea.

Dortmund 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 the Rombergpark. Historically seen, after nearly a hundred years of extensive coal mining, coking, and steel milling within the city limits, this is quite a contrast.

History

The history of Dortmund goes back as far as 880 to 885, when the city was first mentioned in official documents as Throtmanni. It was a small village at that time. In 1152 the emperor Barbarossa came to the region and rebuilt the town, which had been destroyed in a fire shortly before. For two years Dortmund was the residence of Barbarossa — a short time, but afterwards it grew to become one of the most powerful towns of the empire. In the 13th century Dortmund joined the Hanseatic League. In 1220, it attained the status of an Imperial Free City, i.e. it was directly subordinated to the emperor. After 1320, the wealthy trading city started to appear in writing as "Dorpmunde". The etymology of the name is uncertain.

Dortmund lost its status as an Imperial Free City in 1803. It was incorporated into Prussia after the Napoleonic Wars and became a major center for coal, steel, and beer.

During the rule of the Third Reich, Dortmund was home to the Aplerbeck Hospital that "took care" of mentally and/or physically disabled persons (that is, they were murdered in a euthanasia programme). Located in the heart of the Ruhr Area (Ruhrgebiet), Dortmund, along with neighbouring cities, was a target of allied bombing raids. During World War II about 80% of homes in Dortmund were destroyed.

Today the city is a center for hi-tech industry. It is also one of the greenest cities in Westphalia, with extensive parks and gardens laid out in the reconstruction period after the World War II. Additionally, the Dortmund chess tournament, one of the strongest in the world, is held there annually.

Interesting Sights in Dortmund

Cultural history tones are set by city cente churches whose towers characterise the picture of Dortmund.The St.Reinoldikirche an the St.Marienkirche are gems of middle Age architecture in the City.

The centre of Dortmund still retains the outline of the medieval city. A ring road traverses the former site of the city wall, and West/Ostenhellweg, is still the major street bisecting the city centre.

• Reinoldikirche , built around 800 AD. The currente edifice is from 1250-1270. Restored since World War II, it has a 112 m Gothic tower once known as the "Wonder of Westphalia". The church was largely rebuilt after an earthquake in 1661.

• Petrikirche , a Protestant church dating from the 14th century. It is famous for the huge carved altar (known as "Golde Miracle of Dortmund"), from 1521. It consists of 633 gilt carved oak figures depicting 30 scenes about Easter.

• Marienkirche, a Protestant church originally built in 1170-1200 but rebuilt after World War II. The altar is from 1420.

• Florianturm (TV Tower Dortmund): One of the first TV towers built in Germany has a revolving restaurant — one of the first in the world. It offered an opportunity to bungee jump from a height of nearly 140 m. This however was discontinued after a tragic accident which resulted in a fatality.

• Signal Iduna Park: Soccer Ground of Borussia Dortmund, formerly known as the Westfalenstadion. Close to it is the Westfalenhalle, a large convention center, the site of several major conventions, trade fairs, ice-skating competitions, and other major events since the 1950s.

• Westphalian Industrial Museum Zollern Colliery, an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage

• Hansa Cooking Plant

• Haus Bodelschwingh (13th century), a moated castle.

• Haus Dellwig (13th century), a moated castle partly rebuilt in the 17th century. Tha façade and the step tower, and two half-timbered buildings, are original.

• Haus Rodenberg (13th century), a moated castle.

• Altes Stadthaus was build at 1899 und is created by Friedrich Kullrich

• Wasserschloss Bodelschwingh.

• Romberg Park Gatehouse (17th century), once a gatehouse to a moated castle. Now it houses an art gallery.

• RWE Tower (120 meters Skyscraper - the biggest in Dortmund)

• Opera House, built in 1966 over the old Synanogue destroyed by Nazis in 1938.

Sports

Dortmund is home of the sport club Borussia Dortmund which won the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup in 1997, as well as the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup against Liverpool (2:1 after extra-time in Hampden Park, Glasgow) in 1966. This made it the first European Cup Winner in Germany. They play at Signal Iduna Park, formerly known as the Westfalenstadion. It was built for the 1974 FIFA World Cup and also hosted some matches of 2006 FIFA World Cup, including Italy's 2-0 defeat of Germany in the semi-finals. It is Germany's largest football stadium with a capacity of 82,932 spectators.

Borussia Dortmund has also a women's handball team playing in the first Bundesliga and a Table tennis team playing in the second.

Dortmund is the Olympiastützpunkt Northrhine-Westphalia.

Also a big new Sportspoint in Dortmund is the Basketball, the team SVD 49 Dortmund is in the 2. Liga in Germany.

Since 1982 the Sparkassen Chess-Meeting has taken place in Dortmund.

Transportation

Dortmund Airport is a medium-sized, but quickly growing airport 13 km east of the city centre at the city limit to Holzwickede.

The central train station (Hauptbahnhof) is the third largest long distance traffic junction in Germany.

Dortmund Harbour (Hafen) is the largest canal harbour in Europe; almost as large as the one in Duisburg, the world's largest inland port.

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. Connections to the more distant parts of Germany are maintained by the A1 and the A2 which pass closely to the north and east of the city and cross each other at the Kamener Kreuz interchange northeast of Dortmund. For public transportation, the city has an extensive Stadtbahn, streetcar and bus system. An additional light rail line is currently under construction in the city centre.

The H-Bahn at Dortmund University is a a hanging monorail built specifically to shuttle passengers across the university's campus, which is now also flanked by research laboratories and other high-tech corporations. A nearly identical monorail system transfers passengers at Düsseldorf Airport.

Sister cities

Notable people born in Dortmund

• 4. Mai 1772, Friedrich Arnold Brockhaus † 20. August 1823 in Leipzig
• 3. Januar 1818, Fritz Anneke, † 6. Dezember 1872 in Chicago (Illinois), USA; Revolutionär
• 1830, Heinrich Schüchtermann, † 20. April 1895, Industrieller und Stifter
• 29. November 1941, Lothar Emmerich, † 14. August 2003 in Hemer, Footballplayer
• 25. August 1962, Michael Zorc, Footballplayer
• 20. November 1965, Michael Steinbrecher, german sports journalist
• 12. Dezember 1977, Christina Becker, female athlete
• 10. Juli 1976, Lars Ricken, Footballplayer

See also

• Dortmunder Export

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