Photography - Ivan Andrejic
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Welcome to Duisburg Ruhr Area and Lower Rhine, industry hub and rural idyll, shopping malls and watering holes, philharmonic orchestra and industrial heritage – Duisburg combines apparent contrasts to create an exciting metropolitan mix. With its rivers and numerous lakes and canals, Duisburg is among the cities in Germany with the most stretches of water. Water has played a key role in the city over the course of its history. Its convenient position on the Rhine made Duisburg an important trading city in the Middle Ages. Later, with the dawn of industrialisation in the nineteenth century, its geographical location on the Rhine and Ruhr and the emergent Duisburg Port helped to turn the city into a key hub for industry. Water provides local recreation opportunities. Water is great for leisure activities! There are so many different ways of enjoying the water in Duisburg. With the lakes of the Sechs-Seen-Platte, Wasserwelt Wedau and the 2,300-metre-long Regatta Course, Duisburg Sportpark is ideal for games, sport and leisure. A tour around the world’s biggest inland port provides an insight into this important logistics hub. Specially designated cycle paths along the waterways are perfect for embarking on a cycle tour. See how former industrial areas have been transformed in Duisburg’s Inner Harbour and the Rheinpark, improving the city’s quality of life
Industrial heritage Duisburg produces more steel than any other city in Europe. Disused production facilities have been imaginatively transformed and are now among the world’s most unique monuments to industrial heritage. Former factory sites now offer sport, culture and leisure activities in an exciting setting. The huge buildings and production facilities built here over one hundred years ago were an international sensation at the time. Nowadays the creative and sometimes incredible ways in which the disused sites have been converted for new uses are no less sensational. The Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord, a former ironworks, is now one of the world’s finest leisure parks. The Inner Harbour, whose warehouses once served as unloading points for ships, is now a modern promenade and office district with inviting restaurants and cafés. On a former slag heap belonging to a zinc smelting works now stands the internationally acclaimed sculpture Tiger & Turtle, the ‘walkable roller coaster’. Yet industry is still very much alive in the city and continues to exert its influence. One particularly impressive sight is the Alsumer Berg on the site of a former rubble heap.
Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord This is industrial heritage: where workers once toiled, more than one million visitors every year now party, climb, dive and ramble. A disused ironworks has been transformed into a city oasis. It is one of the world’s finest parks Guests can set off on their own voyage of discovery or explore the site as part of an ironworks tour or torchlight tour. Europe’s biggest artificial diving centre has been built in an old gasometer, alpine climbing gardens have been created in ore storage bunkers, a casting house has been turned into a high ropes course and a defunct furnace is now a viewing tower. The highlight shines every evening, when a light installation bathes the monument site in light and colour. Best of all, the park is open around the clock and entry is free.
The Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord (Landscape Park Duisburg-Nord) is all about leisure, recreation, sport and culture. There is a circular industry trail with information on the past and present. Nature is also flourishing, having reclaimed its terrain from heavy industry in the form of gardens, meadows and stretches of water. Children and young people see the Landschaftspark as one huge adventure playground. There is a giant tunnel slide between two ore bunkers, an open hall for trend sports such as skating and mountain biking, lots of play areas and even an educational farm with horses, donkeys and hens.
Tiger & Turtle – Magic Mountain From the cover page of numerous magazines to the start screen on Windows computers, ‘Tiger & Turtle – Magic Mountain’ is one of the most photographed and published subjects of recent times. No other landmark in the Ruhr Area looks quite as impressive from afar as the sculpture Tiger & Turtle by Ulrich Genth and Heike Mutter in Duisburg’s Angerpark. Since opening in November 2011, the walkable sculpture has made headlines all over the world. The landmark can be seen from miles around and was built on the site of a former slag heap south of Duisburg. Anyone who clambers up the steps as far as the loop is rewarded with a magnificent view. When the weather is fine, it is possible to see from Duisburg city centre along the Rhine as far as Düsseldorf. It is sometimes even possible to make out the airport control tower. Visible all around the sculpture are the bustling activities of the various steelworks and Logport’s huge storage areas, but also dense forests that have been left untouched.The landmark created by artists Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth looks especially impressive when night falls. This is when 880 LEDs trace the twists and turns of the steel sculpture. Tiger & Turtle – Magic Mountain is open day and night, and entry is free.
In the centre of Duisburg, at the end of the regional cycle path known as the Ruhrtalradweg, stands the fascinating Rheinorange sculpture. Surrounded by Duisburg Port and an industrial panorama, the visitor is able to enjoy a unique vista in the heart of Duisburg. A landmark in a significant location the Rhine and Ruhr had not converged, Duisburg would possibly never have come into being in the first place more than one thousand years ago. The location then became even more important during the industrialisation of the Ruhr Area. It turned Duisburg Port into the world’s biggest inland port and it remains so to this day. So it is little wonder that this place has a special significance in the city, which is why the 25-metre-high Rheinorange sculpture was erected here in 1992. It is visible from miles around and now also marks the end of the popular RuhrtalRadweg cycle path.
Duisburg Innenhafen Here you can stroll on the river banks, past varied bistros, cafes and restaurants. Tourists can find impressive museums in converted old warehouse buildings. Nature lovers can wander secluded canals and discover swans and cormorants. A marina sparkles at the foot of the spectacular modern architecture, Five Boats’. Duisburg’s harbor, just walking distance from the Duisburg City recreation, entertainment and pleasure alike.
Duisburg Theatre Duisburg Theatre is one of the city’s most striking buildings and is also where the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf Duisburg, the Ballett am Rhein, the Duisburg Philharmoniker and theatre productions can be seen. Duisburg Theatre is one of the city’s most striking buildings. Based on a design by architect Martin Dülfer, it was built from 1911 to 1912 in the neoclassical style and has 1,117 seats. The building was badly damaged during the Second World War and rebuilt from 1946 onwards. Duisburg Theatre is a multifunctional venue and is home to the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, a theatre group formed by the cities of Duisburg and Düsseldorf in 1956, the Ballett am Rhein and the Duisburg Philharmoniker, which were formed in 1877. The theatre does not have its own theatre company, which is why major theatres in the German-speaking world regularly stage guest productions. The THEATERTREFFEN held as part of the Duisburger Akzente festival attracts a great deal of attention every year.
Duisburg - city of museums The Lehmbruck Museum presents a unique collection of modern sculptures in one of the most outstanding museum buildings of the post-war era. Starting with the work of Wilhelm Lehmbruck, this is a place of encounters between primitivism and cubism, abstraction and expressionism, constructivism and minimalism. Besides Wilhelm Lehmbruck’s main works, the museum also features works by Käthe Kollwitz, Constantin Brâncusi, Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Henry Moore and Niki de Saint Phalle. The museum also houses Germany’s most important group of works by Alberto Giacomett The MKM Museum Küppersmühle, situated right by Duisburg’s vibrant Inner Harbour, is one of the biggest private museums in Germany and a diverse centre of contemporary art. The MKM Museum Küppersmühle boasts several thousand square metres of exhibition space, a list of artists that includes Anselm Kiefer and Gerhard Richter, a varied programme of exhibitions and striking architecture that sits somewhere between industrial culture and White Cube.
Duisburg ZOO Elephants, lions, polar bears and much more await you during a visit to Duisburg Zoo. Located in the middle of the Kaiserberg forest, the zoo is one of the most beautiful zoos in the Ruhr Area. Here you can marvel at over 2,000 animals and more than 280 species. The most modern dolphinarium in Germany with a two million litre seawater pool inspires with breathtaking shows. A Caribbean palm beach serves as a backdrop for the “bottlenose dolphins”. Another attraction is the monkey house and for the young visitors especially the petting zoo. The Chinese Garden with its water pavilion and arched bridge, a gift from Duisburg’s partner city Wuhan in China from 1988, and Australian koala bears with their young, fossa, Madagascar’s largest predators, free-range cattas, elephants and lions, giraffesand seals are also looking forward to welcoming you.
Discovering Duisburg by Interrail Founded in 1972, Interrail has since become a symbol of unlimited rail travel throughout Europe. Providing access to more than 250.000 km of interconnected railways, Interrail now offers its customers the opportunity to travel in 30 different countries with an even greater number of transport organisations. Over the last 40 years Interrail has established itself as a provider of a unique travel experience associated with adventure, freedom and flexibility. Interrail provides a gateway to the geographical, historical and cultural richness of Europe, giving both new and seasoned travellers the chance to immerse themselves in the different cultural fabrics that make Europe such an exciting place to explore. All of this is accomplished with just one Pass, which also offers additional benefits such as discounted ferry travel, attractions and accommodation. Interrail Passes are aimed at European and Russian residents and are available as a Global or One Country Pass. Non-European residents can use Eurail passes. After originally being aimed at young adventurers, the Interrail Pass has evolved into an accessible, and unique tourism product used by over 250,000 European travellers of all ages each year.
Offering unlimited travel in either first or second class across 30 different countries, the Global Pass provides an extensive amount of choice to any traveller. This Pass is perfect not only for people who want to travel around several countries, but also for those who have not yet defined their itinerary. From the awe-inspiring landscape of Scandinavia to the secluded beaches of Greece − with the Interrail Global Pass the possibilities are endless! The Interrail Global Pass is available as a ‘Continuous’ Pass or a ‘Flexi’ Pass. Continuous Passes offer unlimited travel for 15 days, 22 days or 1 month and are suitablefor those, who wish to travel widely but with maximum flexibility.
Flexi Passes, on the other hand, offer unlimited travel for either 5 days within a 15 day period, or 7 or 10 days within a 1 month period and are ideal for travellers who already have a fixed itinerary. One Country Passes are ideal for travellers who are interested in exploring a specific European country. With an Interrail One Country Pass, up to two children aged 11 years and younger can travel for free with a paying adult. Available for either first or second class, there are currently 28 different One Country Passes available under the Interrail portfolio. The ‘Benelux Pass’ in particular entitles Pass holders to travel around Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.