Dortmund: mines, parks, and universities
Located on the Western edge of the “Ruhrgebiet”, Dortmund often suffers under the same misconceptions as its neighbors: for many Germans, the name is synonymous with nothing more than mines, factories, and football. People who visit Dortmund usually change their minds, though. After all, just like the rest of the Ruhr-area, the city has replaced mines with museums and factories with universities. Yet one thing remains unchanged: the locals still go wild for the legendary Borussia Dortmund football club.
Overview of the campus. Photo: YG
Dortmund introduced
With just over 587,000 inhabitants, Dortmund is the biggest city in the Ruhrgebiet and is considered the undisputed center of Westphalia, the extensive rural country to the North and East of the Ruhr.
As a regional center, Dortmund is home to several important companies. Insurance businesses like Continentale, Signal Iduna and Volksbund have headquarters in Dortmund, along with international telecommunications concern Verizon. Deutsche Telekom also runs a large regional site here. Indeed, although not famous for being so, Dortmund has become a center for high-technology companies, with over 100 other businesses in the IT and communications sector based in the city.
Yet Dortmund has long been known for its traditional industries, railways, and beer; and despite the changes of the past decades, mechanical engineering and Deutsche Bahn still play a big role here. Furthermore, despite the collapse of beer-brewing in the Westphalian capital, Dortmunder Kronen is still produced within the city limits. There is no better symbol for the sweeping changes in Dortmund over the last 50 years than a gigantic “U” on the roof of the long-derelict Union Brauerei, an iconic former brewery in the city center. These changes are set to quicken, as Dortmund will be transformed for the events of Ruhr.2010 European Capital of Culture
Overview of the universities
Dortmund’s first University was not founded until 1968. However, by the turn of the century, the city could boast four higher education institutions, and can justly claim to be a center of learning and research.
Technische Universität Dortmund Bochum (TU Dortmund)
http://www.tu-dortmund.de
One of the first new universities after the war, the Technische Universität is a child of its time. Big, modern, concrete: the buildings are not to everyone’s taste. What most students do value, however, is the modern planning concept behind this large, spacious campus university: plenty of green spaces; generously sized rooms and lecture theaters; and it even has its own dedicated S-Bahn station with several services an hour into central Dortmund.
Furthermore, the University site at Dortmund boasts its own mass transit system: The “H-Bahn”, a hanging monorail train designed and built by doctoral students at the University in the 1980s, carries thousands of students a day through the extensive parklands between the northern and southern campus centers.
The H-Bahn also runs onto the Technologiepark, a center for high-tech industries in Westphalia with which the University enjoys close relations. Also on the campus of the TU Dortmund are a Max-Planck and a Frauenhofer Institut, both contributing to Dortmund’s reputation for high-level research in science and technology. With facilities like these on offer, it’s no wonder that 21,000 students choose to study at the TU, with over 3,300 coming from abroad to do so.
Fachhochschule Dortmund
http://www.fh-dortmund.de
The Fachhochschule in Dortmund has its main site on the campus, along with two further sites closer to the city center. It is much smaller than the TU, with around 8,000 students, and offers a range of more vocational and applied courses: in English, it calls itself the University of Applied Sciences, and as such, focuses on cooperation with the numerous technology companies and service sector companies located in Dortmund.
International School of Management
http://www.ism.de
A privately-owned University, the International School of Management is small, with just 700 students, and its sleek, modern buildings could easily be overlooked on the expansive TU Dortmund campus where they are located. All students do compulsory semesters abroad with partner institutions in far-flung destinations like Singapore. In return, ISM Dortmund plays host to a large number of foreign students and has created a thriving, international community on campus.
Universität Witten-Herdecke
http://www.uni-wh.de
Built in 1983, Witten-Herdecke was Germany’s first ever private University. Although not officially in Dortmund, students can be at the central station within 15 minutes thanks the S-Bahn connection, and many of them use this service to make the most of the shops, clubs and culture of the nearby city. Witten-Herdecke has around 1,000 students, nearly all of them studying medicine or a related subject; many of them come from abroad, too, as the University benefits from a very active international office.
What Dortmund is like
Henning Schröder, 24, is from Ibbenbühren in Westphalia, and came to Dortmund five years ago to study information technology at the Technische Universität. He has been happily studying here ever since, and is convinced that he made the right decision.
“I chose Dortmund because of its reputation for IT. Compared to older universities in Westphalia like Münster, the course here was far more modern. As a place to study and work in computers, the city itself is great, too. The Technologiepark is right next to the University, and a lot of us have got part-time jobs there, which is good both for financing our degrees and offering employment afterwards.”
Surely it’s not all about work, though, Henning? “Well, Dortmund has other attractions, too. The night-life is good, and the range of cultural activities is amazing. There are the old mines and industrial museums, as well as a good theater, plenty of music, and art of all kinds. Once you’ve seen all that, within half an hour you’re in Essen, and half an hour further down the line is Düsseldorf; and that’s not counting all the other towns and cities in between. You really have no excuse for being bored around here.”
My favorite spot
Despite the industrial legacy, Dortmund is amazingly green. A large amount of the city is given over to parkland, and suburbs are separated from one another by fields and woods. “Some like the Westfalenpark with the Florianturm observation platform and mini-railway, but I far prefer Wischlingen in Dorstfeld. You don’t have to pay entrance, and it’s far quieter. The summer there is great: people barbecuing, enjoying a few beers – a lovely atmosphere.”
What about the night-life? “Dortmund should have enough to keep students happy, wherever they come from” And if it doesn’t? “Well, that’s another advantage of having Bochum and Essen just down the road.”
Did you know?
Dortmund was once famous - not just in Germany, but all over Europe - for its beer. Not quite an ale, but definitely not a lager, Dortmunder beer has a deep golden colour and crisp, refreshing taste. Unfortunately, only a few breweries remain, but their beers can be ordered in some bars in the city, sometimes even in a Stößchen, a special glass invented in Dortmund. This thin, tall serving of Dortmunder is a real insider tip, though, so you won’t see it listed on drinks menus.
Things to check out
Dortmund’s city center sometimes looks slightly unassuming, but a closer look is enough to reveal a varied and interesting collection of architectural styles. Just outside the Hauptbahnhof, for example, is the super-modern semi-circular form of the central library (http://www.bibliothek.dortmund.de ). If you’re around for any length of time, it’s well worth signing up.
Almost directly next to the library is the imposing art-deco edifice of Dortmund’s Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte (http://mkk.dortmund.de), with both its own collection and frequent exhibitions. Fans of modern art can head down the road to the Museum am Ostwall ( http://www.museumamostwall.dortmund.de) and enjoy works by some of the big names in German expressionism such as August Macke.
Dortmund’s got something for the history buffs, too, in the form of the Adlerturm (http://museumadlerturm.dortmund.de) museum and its exhibitions on the medieval origins of the city. A slightly more recherché area of history, but a no less fascinating one, is food history, and the Deutsche Kochbuchmuseum (http://kochbuchmuseum.dortmund.de) has an interesting story to tell about what cookery books and kitchens say about the societies who produce and use them.
The cookery-book museum is located south of the city center in the Westfalenpark (http://westfalenpark.dortmund.de), a beloved Sunday destination for Dortmunders and home to the 700 ft. Florianturm; at its opening in 1959, it was Germany’s tallest building. Today, this particular honour has gone elsewhere, but the revolving restaurant and observation platform still give a great view over flat, green Westphalia to the North and the hilly, often snow-capped peaks of the Sauerland to the South.
Several points of interest might catch your eye from the tower. You might like to go and explore the Kreuzviertel, with its chic buildings and pleasant cafés, or go and have a look at Borsigplatz, a very pretty reminder of how Dortmund looked at the turn of the century. Or you might be intrigued by some of the huge empty spaces, once factories, mines and such like, that are slowly being renovated and re-used.
Wesfalenhütte, for example, once one of Europe’s largest industrial complexes, houses a small museum about the Dortmund’s urban and industrial development (http://hoeschmuseum.dortmund.de). Another interesting stop-off for those on the trail of long-lost industrial Dortmund is the former coal mine Zeche Zollern II/VI (http://www.lwl.org/LWL/Kultur/wim/S/zollern); and for the more adventurous explorer, the as-yet un-renovated Kokerei Hansa is quite a sight.
What’s happening?
After a hard day seeing some of what Dortmund has to offer, you might like to finish by sauntering down Westhellenweg, the central shopping drag, and treating yourself to coffee, or maybe even a Stößchen. The Hansaplatz has its fair share of traditional places that might just know what you’re asking for, and the side-streets contain some of Dortmund’s most popular after-hours locations if the beer puts you in the mood for clubbing: City Nightrooms is considered by many to be the best in town.
If you’re a football fan, you’ll feel at home in Dortmund as the Westfalenstadion is considered by most to have the best atmosphere in Germany. Dortmund is an 80,000 sell-out every single home game with ear-splitting roars from the crowd being generated here. The south terrace, which is home to 25,000 of the most dedicated fans is a sight to behold. The sea of yellow and black is one of the most imposing sights in world football. It is not without reason that the German national team tend to schedule their most difficult matches here, as they can rely on the support of the Dortmund crowd.
Useful links
The University Ranking of the DAAD
http://www.daad.de/deutschland/hochschulen/hochschulranking/06543.en.html
for information on the cities’ higher education institutes.
Cheap accommodation
http://dortmund.studenten-wohnung.de/
The universities’ student unions
Bochum, AKAFÖ
http://www.akafoe.de/index-lang-en.html
Technische Universität Dortmund
http://www.uni-dortmund.de/uni/International/index.html
International Office
http://www.aaa.uni-dortmund.de/dienst/en/index.html
Fachhochschule Dortmund
http://www.fh-dortmund.de/en/index.php
ISM Dortmund
http://www.ism.de/
International Office
http://www.ism.de/de2/intStudents.php
Universität Witten-Herdecke
http://www.uni-wh.de/
International Office
http://www.uni-wh.de/international/
The city’s homepage in English
http://city.dortmund.de
