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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.

Gelsenkirchen is the 25th largest city in Germany and the fourth largest in the Ruhr region with a population of 260,000. Gelsenkirchen remained a small settlement until the nineteenth century, when the industrial revolution led to a rapid population increase. It became an independent city in 1896. The city used to have many torches due to the excess of coke oven gas from the coking plants, which gave Gelsenkirchen its nickname Stadt der 1000 Feuer (City of 1000 Fires). Gelsenkirchen is primarily known for its soccer club: Schalke 04, which is named after the Gelsenkirchener district Schalke.

Gelsenkirchen suffers from problems including high unemployment due to its former reliance on the coal and steel industry, high crime rates and a large amount of vacant houses caused by population decline. The population reached an all-time high in 1959 with 391,745 inhabitants; the forecast for 2025 lies at only 226,100 inhabitants, making it one of the fastest shrinking cities in Germany. Gelsenkirchen now tries to turn around things by expanding its service sector and positioning itself as a hub for solar technology.

Even though 75% of the city was destroyed during World War II, there are still plenty of remains of the architectural past.