Multifaceted Metropolis in the Ruhr Region
Of the approximately 600,000 inhabitants in Dortmund, over 55,000 young people study at the city’s universities. While Dortmund used to be considered a “commuter city” in the middle of the Ruhr region, it is now becoming increasingly popular, and even students from the surrounding area choose to live in Dortmund.
With its numerous green areas, Dortmund offers plenty of space for recreation in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the big city. Almost half of the municipal territory consists of green spaces and parks. Two of the largest and most beautiful parks are the Westfalenpark, where the “Juicy Beats” electronic festival takes place every summer, and the Rombergpark with its close-by zoo. A trendy meeting place with a beer garden and boule courts is the Westpark near the Kreuzviertel, a neighbourhood popular with night owls. For treasure hunters there are regular flea markets in the parks. The night flea market in the Kulturort Depot draws large crowds. The former main tramway workshop is just one example of the many converted industrial sites that continue to shape the cityscape. If you go exploring in Dortmund, you will find many interesting industrial monuments. Highly recommended: the Zollern Colliery and the Hansa Coking Plant.
Dortmund is also known for its vibrant cultural scene: the most recent and literally shining example is the Dortmunder U. Once the brewery tower and warehouse of the Dortmund Union brewery, the U tower is now a trendy center for art and creativity. Other highlights for culture aficionados include the opera house, the theater and the concert hall in the heart of the city center. The unique acoustics of the Dortmund Concert Hall not only attracts international stars of the opera scene, but also gives pop concerts a very special atmosphere. Concerts and events on a large scale take place in the Westfalenhallen. International artists and bands from various musical genres regularly perform at the Freizeitzentrum West (FZW) not far from the main train station. The FZW also has a good reputation as a party location. Apropos: You can dance in numerous clubs in the city – or on a boat bar on the water at the Dortmund harbor.
If you like something cozy and small, you will feel comfortable in the bar and pub scene in Dortmund. In the Kreuzviertel, for example, you can enjoy live music in the bars and cafes of the trendy district at the annual "Kreuzviertel bei Nacht" event. In the Nordstadt, the cultural location "Recorder" founded by students, the iconic Subrosa or the Sissikingkong as a bar-restaurant cellar club all-rounder are particularly in demand. Every second year, on the "Day of the Drinking Hall", the little shops, kiosks and drinking halls of the Ruhr area are set in scene. When it comes to Budenkultur, the Bergmann Kiosk and Trinkhalle Adler 59 are particularly popular among young people.
And then there’s football: in the “most beautiful stadium in the world” – the designation the renowned English newspaper “Times” gave the SIGNAL IDUNA PARK in 2009 – every Borussia Dortmund home match becomes an experience with a goose bump guarantee. Football fans and “wanna be” fans will definitely get their money’s worth. Dortmund teams and players have also made a name for themselves in other sports. For example, the world-class rowers of Germany’s Eight train in the Ruhr metropolis.
If you would rather be active yourself, the city also has a broad spectrum of leisure and recreational sports: In total, there are almost 600 sports clubs, numerous sports halls and swimming pools, a mountain bike arena, three climbing halls, a well-developed cycling path network and several fun sports facilities.
For an overview of the leisure and cultural offerings of the city of Dortmund click here.
For those interested in culture, the Theater Dortmund has a special offer: students of TU Dortmund University will receive free tickets upon presentation of their valid student ID.