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North Rhine-Westphalia Region

FFederal Republic of Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia. Centre of the Westphalian Ruhr. Geographic position: 51°30'58" northern latitude and 7°28'5" eastern longitude. Area: 28,020 hectares (about 280 mill. sqm). Population: 605 584, seventh largest city in the Federal Republic of Germany.

History: 1100 years old, most important city in the Hansa League during the Middle Ages. Important site during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. Economic situation: advanced stage of structural transition from dependency on heavy industry to an emphasis on services, technologically oriented research and wholesaling/retailing. Important location for communication technology. Westphalia Hall Trade Fair Centre. Science: University, Polytechnic, 28 research institutions.

Culture: museums, Opera House, theatre, ballet, children's, youth and alternative theatre. Sports: Westphalia Hall (sports arena), Westphalia Stadium, Olympia Centre and German national training centres, more than 130 000 athletes organized in almost 600 sports clubs. Leisure time: Westphalia Park, Romberg Park, Dortmund Zoo, large wooded areas near Dortmund.

Partner of Europe for 700 years

The "Hanse" trade routes around 1400, European sisters towns of the city Dortmund in 1994, figurative depiction of business relations between enterprises in Dortmund and countries of the European Union (1994).

In the 13th century Dortmund was one of the wealthiest cities within the Hanseatic Board. The important trade routes of the middle ages, the "Hellweg" and the "Hansalinie", connected the free city with the rest of Europe in every direction. Merchants of Dortmund had close trade relations with the Benelux countries of today, Scandinavia, the Baltic state, England, France, Spain, Portugal and Russia.

Today, Dortmund's economies are represented on all markets of the member states within the European Union (EU). About 300 different enterprises habe close business relations wthin the EU.

The Chambers of Industry and Commerce (IHK) in Dortmund offers a variety of specialist's advice and information as well as further education to support world wide economical and European activities of their members.

Apart from the intensive economical contacts, Dortmund is closely interlinked in the network of European scientific and research exchange programmes, and Dortmund has established vivid partnerships with five European cities. An intensive exchange programme for the young generation, cultural activities and sports forms the centre of these city partnerships, smoothing the way for a Europe without boundaries between the countries and in the minds of the people.

Facts And Figures

History and Economy: Dortmund was first mentioned in official documents as "Throtmanni" - about AD 880. By the 13th century, Dortmund had developed into one of the most important and prosperous towns in the powerful Hanseatic League, attaining the status of "Free Imperial and Hanseatic City". As various iron-processing mills were founded and the coal industry burgeoned, Dortmund advanced to an industrial city by the middle of the 19th century. The opening of the Dortmund-Ems Canal in 1899 plus the building of a suitable harbour accelerated this industrial expansion. Until the beginning of the 1970s, iron and steel were the linchpins of the Dortmund economy. But none of the numerous coalmines so essential for the blast furnaces now produce any coal. Thanks to a thoroughgoing structural change, Dortmund now ranks as the service economy city of the Westphalian Ruhr and as a centre for practice-oriented science and research.

Geography: Dortmund lies at the eastern edge of the Ruhr in north-west Germany and has a population numbering around 610,000. To be more precise: it lies 51° 30'58" north and 7° 28'5" east; it rises from 60 to 254 metres above sea level; and its north-south diameter measures 21 km and its east-west diameter 23 km. The Dortmundians are particularly proud of their green side. At least half of Dortmund's territory - 28,025 hectares - is made up of parks, gardens, fields, woodland and other green spaces.

Transport: One of Dortmund's great strengths is its convenient location in terms of traffic and transport. Seven motorways from all directions of the compass lead to Dortmund, three of them forming a ring around it. Fly from Dortmund-Wickede Airport and you can reach all the major cities in Europe within 75 to 100 minutes. More than 100 InterCity trains stop at Dortmund Central Station every day. From the largest inland canal port in Europe - i.e. here in Dortmund - you can reach all of the international seaports by waterway.

Science And Research: Dortmund is possibly the most respected location for innovative practice-oriented science and research in Germany: six colleges and academies plus thirty other academic institutes have their seat in Dortmund. Typical for Dortmund's international reputation for research are the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics, the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, the Health and Safety Exhibition at the National Institute for Health and Safety and the Institute for Industrial Physiology at the University of Dortmund. Opened in 1968, the University of Dortmund now has 25,000 students and 350 professors and lecturers. The students can choose between sixteen different faculties though the emphasis is firmly on natural science, technology, engineering, economics, social science and development planning plus some humanities and teacher training. The Polytechnic of Dortmund has a staff of 250 professors and lecturers with 9,500 students in eight departments focusing on technology, social science and business studies.

Sport: Dortmund is a full-blooded sports town, the tops in many a discipline whether amateur or professional. And not just in football (Borussia Dortmund were German Champions 1994/1995) and in rowing (with the world-famous "Germany Eight") but also with many a winning performance in light athletics, ice-skating, wrestling, shooting, swimming, canoeing and volleyball. European and world championship events take place in Dortmund's Westphalia Hall, one of the largest multi-purpose halls in Europe - more often than at any other German venue. Every fourteen days, the adjacent Westphalia Stadium seethes at a fever pitch when Borussia Dortmund play at home. Dortmund enjoys a sound reputation on the chess scene as well: the International Dortmund Chess Tournament attracts more stars than any other comparable event in Germany. Approximately 130,000 Dortmund citizens are members of the 600 or so sports clubs. There are simply no limits to sporting things to do at the 190 communal sports grounds, 256 tennis courts, 39 riding schools, competition-level golf course and more.

Culture: Dortmund's wide range of cultural activities is fascinating. With a broad selection from the worlds of music, dance, theatre, literature and fine arts, patrons of traditional art and supporters of the avant-garde will all find something to suit their taste. In exactly the sane way, the Westphalia Hall with its arena for 12,000 spectators will host Frank Sinatra and Madonna one week, Carreras and Pavarotti the next. Dortmund City Theatre has a similar appeal: opera, operetta, ballet, musicals, drama, concerts with the Philharmonic Orchestra and a Youth Theatre for children (or the young at heart). Plus a lively cabaret, variety and fringe scene which attracts more than 100,000 visitors a year. Dortmund's many museums, galleries and industrial monuments promise unforgettable experiences - for example, unique one-off exhibitions such as the Emperor Of China And His Terracotta Army held at the Museum am Ostwall or China's Golden Age - the Tang Dynasty and the Cultural Heritage of the Silk Road held at the Museum Art and Culture, both of which brought in guests from all over the world.

Research Location and Science City with an International Reputation

Over the last few years, Dortmund has become a major location for research and science. However, since pure research, applied research and industrial development in Dortmund all go hand in hand, you will look in vain for ivory towers. Business and science have been cooperating with one another in exemplary fashion for a long time now and fully deserve the international acknowledgement already earned. Research and science in Dortmund are thus the locomotives of the city's economic development.

Six colleges of higher education and thirty institutes form a tight network on Dortmund's science and research scene. As for research and teaching, a grand total combined staff of 6,000 lecturers and professors pass on their specialist knowledge to a total of 33,000 students. Ground-breaking by definition was the first technology centre to be founded in North-Rhine Westphalia closely followed, in time and place, by the technology park. For more than a decade now - and situated right on the doorstep of the University, Polytechnic and other renowned institutes - Dortmund's Technology Centre and Technology Park have been putting technology transfer between academia and industry into practice.

Sports Mecca

Sport in Dortmund means more than the extremely popular first-division football as exemplified by Borussia Dortmund, Bundesliga champions in 1995 and 1996. Without a doubt, Borussia's loyal and disciplined fans deserve top-of-the-table status too. Sport in Dortmund is an impressive array of top-class events. Over the past few years, the Large Westphalia Hall alone has been the venue for 19 World Championships and more than 50 European titles - e.g. the Ice Hockey World Championships 1993 and the Gymnastics Team Championships held for the first time in 1994. The Dortmund arena is virtually a world champion in its own right! Boxing champ Henry Maske for one appreciates the incomparable atmosphere in this giant oval and has appeared here on several occasions in defence of his title. Sport in Dortmund also means countless individual activities with or without membership of the nearly 600 sports clubs here.

Not least because of its excellent sports infrastructure, Dortmund is the national base for eight Olympic disciplines. Here, under the motto of "Going for Gold 2000", this elite German sporting academy is honing 200 athletes to perfection. The most famous "graduates" at the moment are the German Rowing Eight who regularly pick up medals at European, international and Olympic events. Sport in Dortmund includes the International Dortmund Chess Tournament which regularly plays host to the world elite of this sport of kings: from Gary Kasparov to Anatoly Karpov to the youngest grandmaster of all time, the chess prodigy Peter Leko. Played in the "all against all" mode to produce the winner, this chess tournament features the highest chess-playing calibre of any match in Germany. The International Dortmund Chess Tournament has already taken place 24 times yet. Hardly surprising, then, that the Dortmund chess scene has such a good reputation throughout the world.

A Top Cultural Scene In The City And In The Region

Dortmund's culturescape offers a truly wide range of artistic and cultural events. Theatre, opera, ballet, youth theatre and a good number of classical music concerts. Not only that: there are around fifty small theatres, cabarets and event cafés in Dortmund as well. So: whether you prefer a large concert or a small cabaret act, classical or contemporary music, sacred or profane art - all embedded in the cultural region known as the Ruhr - you're bound to find something to your liking in Dortmund, Europe.

The concerts and events held in the Westphalia Halls, for example, a giant complex consisting of the Large Hall and seven smaller ones. In 1993 alone, over three million visitors experienced the international charisma of the place. No famous name is missing from the halls' roll of honour: from Louis Armstrong through the Arena di Verona production of Aida to Take That, Madonna and David Copperfield.

You will also hear the cry to clear the stage at many other theatres in Dortmund. At the Fletch Bizzel Theatre, with the satirical rock group Rocktheater N8chtschicht, in Cabaret Queue or the Luna Variety & Theater, at the Live Station, on Bruno's Bunter Bühne and at the Hohensyburg Open Air Theatre ... you will experience world-class entertainment.

For those who can't get enough art, the true culture vultures, Dortmund's central location is an added bonus. Half-an-hour's journey by car and you will soon be taking in the Folkwang Museum in Essen, Pina Bausch's legendary Dance Theatre in Wuppertal, the Kunsthalle in Düsseldorf or the popular Starlight Express in Bochum ... to name just a few.