The Ruhr Area
The Ruhr Area(also called Ruhrpott, Ruhrpott, Kohlenpott, Pott) is with about 5.1 million inhabitants and an area of 4,438.69 square kilometers the largest conurbation in Germany and the third largest in Europe and is home to over five million inhabitants. The people who live here are just as diverse as the Metropole Ruhr. More than 150 different nations are represented in the region. This densely populated region is named after the river Ruhr which runs along its southern edge.
The Ruhr area has undergone a unique transformation over the past decades. While in the last century mining and the steel industry determined the people and landscape of the region, today the motto is: back to nature and welcome culture! In economic terms, too, the structural change in the Metropole Ruhr is taking place towards a location for services, technology and knowledge.
Ruhr Area – The metropolis in the heart of europe
From cultural metropolis to climate metropolis
The International Building Exhibition Emscher Park demonstrated in an impressive way how such a change is possible. More than 120 projects were launched between 1989 and 1999: Industrial wastelands and wastewater streams are being renaturalized, and old industrial sites are being converted for art and culture, leisure and sport or as office space. In this way, a whole series of unique industrial monuments are created, which today inspire tourists and locals alike along the route of industrial culture. But the change is not over yet. Following its development into a cultural metropolis, the Ruhr region is now on its way to becoming the “Climate Metropolis Ruhr 2022”.
A trip to the Ruhr area is always a good idea! Eleven exciting cities and four districts await you here, where you can experience a lot. About 3,500 industrial monuments that reflect the Ruhr Area’s eventful past and have become impressive places for leisure and culture, a multitude of cycle paths, exciting sights and a lot of nature: All this is the Ruhr Area. Contrary to many clichés, it is very green here, instead of mountains, people walk across slagheaps. The people carry their hearts on their tongues and with around 250 festivals a year there is always something going on here. Essen is located in the heart of the Ruhr area, so the Hotel an der Gruga is the ideal starting point to explore the pot with all its facets. If you need tips, we will be happy to help you. Just talk to us!