In the not too distant past, the Ruhr area was Europe's biggest economic region. It's landscape was dominated by factories and pit-mines. However, with the decline in the coal and steel industries in Germany, people have been forced to think of new ways of attracting businesses and visitors to the Ruhr. One somewhat novel, but very successful way has been through tourism.
A special tour called the "Route of the Industrial Culture" was created, which takes visitors to various abandoned iron and steel works, coking plants, and coal mines in the region. For a more detailed look into Germany's industrial past, we pay a visit to the Rheinischen Industrie Museum in Oberhausen. Old factory complexes are also being put to new uses.
At the old steel works in Duisburg, for example, the huge smokestacks have been converted into free-climbing towers. Finally, we tour the most obvious example of the Ruhr's transition to a consumer-based economy, the "CentrO", a recreation / shopping mall complex with about 200 shops and stores, restaurants, cinemas, a park, and a center for hosting events. The "CentrO" truly is at the heart of the new Ruhr.
