File:Duisburg 012.jpg

English: Duisburg

The Ruhr area ('Ruhrgebiet') is named after the river that borders it to the south and is the largest urban area in Germany with over five million people. It is mostly known as a densely-populated industrial area. By 1850 there were almost 300 coal mines in operation in the Ruhr area. The coal was exported or processed in coking ovens into coke, used in blast furnaces, producing iron and steel. Because of the industrial significance, it had been a target from the start of the war, yet "the organized defences and the large amount of industrial pollutants produced a semi-permanent smog or industrial haze that hampered accurate bombing". During World War II, the industry and cities in the Ruhr area were heavily bombed. The combination of the lack of historic city centres, which were burned to ashes, and (air) pollution has given the area and the cities a bad reputation. Especially because it is so close to the Netherlands, I thought it would be an interesting area to visit for a little trip. I have spent three nights at a campsite on the Ruhr and visited six cities.

My trip started in Duisburg, the fifteenth largest city in Germany and the third largest in the Ruhr area with a population of 500,000 inhabitants. Although the city is one of the most heavily bombed cities by allied forces during World War II, it has a rich history. The city wall was erected in 1120 and Duisburg was granted city rights in 1279. Duisburg has the largest inland port in the world.

From the centre of Duisburg I cycled to Ruhrort, a small neighbourhood of 5,500 people at less than 2.5 kilometres of the city centre. Ruhrort is almost completely surrounded by the Duisburger (or Duisburg-Ruhrorter) harbour, which once belonged to the independent town Ruhrort. Ruhrort was founded in 1371 as a custom site and granted a town status in 1551. In 1905, after the establishment of the city of Duisburg, Ruhrort and other neighbourhoods in the surroundings were incorporated into Duisburg. Ruhrort was heavily bombed during World War II as well, yet it is the only part of Duisburg which has retained some of its pre-WW2 feeling, with over eighty buildings being described as a monument.