Neue Mitte (New Center)
Oberhausen has built a 'new center' on the grounds of the Gutehoffnung iron works, adjacent to the Rhein-Herne Canal (which connects Duisburg to Dortmund). There you will find the CentrO shopping center, as well as the Sea Life Center which hit the news briefly during the World Cup 2010 because of its 'clairvoyant' octopus. The area is also a center for night-life, has a leisure park, an arena etc. etc..
The image to left shows the Gasometer, now an exhibition center with a lift up the outside. From the top you can view the CentrO. When it was built in 1929, it was the largest gasometer in Europe - in reality this original gasometer was destroyed in the war (probably more accurate to say it exploded) and was re-built.
View from the top of the Gasometer, showing the Rhein-Herne Canal to the left. The River Emscher is visible to the left of the canal (the two run parallel for most of the way). In center is the railway whose embankment shielded the GuteHoffnung upper management from seeing the works themselves from their houses.
The Oberhausen Song
by Stephanie Überall and Gerburg Jahnke :
and below is their song with views to accompany the lyrics
History
The founding of the St. Antony Hütte (ironworks) in ca. 1758 is taken by several sources to mark the start of iron-working (and the upcoming industrialization) in the Ruhr district. It made use of the local Eisenstein smelted with charcoal and passed into the possession of the abbess of Essen Abbey, Maria Kunigunde (as a private venture).
The original Gute Hoffnung works was established in ca. 1787, and became not too long afterwards a very early possession of the Krupp family. In 1791 the Neuessen works was established in which Maria Kunigunde was also involved.
In 1808 all three concerns were united by a syndicate headed by Jacoby, Huyssen and the brothers Fritz and Gerhard Daniel, which came to eventually also trade under the name Gute Hoffnung, although Krupp sold their share as part of the syndicate takeover. Maria Kunigunde was also to liquidate her interests - although Napoleon had abolished the special status of Essen Abbey, she managed to keep her private industrial property.
Gute Hoffnung started to manufacture steam engines in 1814, for a short time they also manufactured locomotives - their first locomotive was built in 1839 - the 'Ruhr' (the first locomotive indeed to be built in the Ruhr district). In their latter years they manufactured the platform halls of the Anhalter Railway Station in Berlin (1879) and Frankfurt Central Station (1887), and the Hohenzollern Bridge in Köln (1911),
In 1847 a new railway station was named after the nearby castle of Oberhausen. When a few years later, a settlement was authorized it took on the name of the railway station. The resulting early town was built on a definite grid pattern. The castle only became a part of the town later on, as did the aforementioned ironworks.
Museum
Rheinland Industrial Museum adjacent to the Hauptbahnhof, with additional locations at the former workers settlement of Eisenheim and the early ironworks of the "St. Antony Hütte". The main building is housed in the former Altenberg zinc factory.
Schloss Oberhausen
Schloss Oberhausen only actually stems from the beginning of the 19th century, being build adjacent to the ruins of an erlier castle of the same name. Sections also had to be re-built because of war damage, with some change in design. It nowadays house the Ludwig Art Gallery
The zoo (Tiergehege im Kaisergarten) is small - too small to get mentioned in many guides, but it actually quite famous due to publicity via the Missfits (see below). Entry is free. Location is in the Kaisergarten adjacent to Schloss Oberhausen