Hattingen
The Heinrichshütte was founded in 1854 and became a major coal and steel concern. Its closure in 1987 was a bit of a shock, a portent of what would soon affect the whole region. In 1989, the "heart" of the installation was taken over by the Westfalen Industry Museum.
The Burg Blankenstein is a ruin in the ownership of the town of Bochum.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the last bailiff of Burg Blankenstein, Johann Georg von Syberg, moved into a nearby Wasserschloss: Haus Kemnade in the Ruhr valley was, after damage by fire in 1589, built anew using older building material (by 1663). The outer ward was only completed in 1704. In the main building, which is flanked by two unlike towers, the most impressive features are the painted or plastered beamed ceilings and two renaissance fireplaces. Although actually situated in Hattingen, Haus Kemnade is owned by the town of Bochum, who have used it to house a collection specific to the history of Bochum, an farmhouse museum and the Grumbt collection of musical instruments.
On the Ruhrbergen to the West, the extensive ruins of the Hattinger Isenburg can be viewed. It was built around 1200 by the Graf Arnold von Altena but its 'fame' derived from the fact that his son Friedrich von Isenberg murdered the Archbishop of Köln, Engelebert, in 1225. As a result, vassals of the Archdiocese of Köln besieged and destroyed the fortification. In the Landhaus Custodis which was erected within the grounds of the ruins in 1858, the “Verein zur Erhaltung der Isenburg” displays, among other things, finds from archaeological excavations
Witten
Zeche Nachtigall is now a LWL museum
Anfahrt mit öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln Sie fahren mit der S 5 oder der RB 40 zum Wittener Hauptbahnhof. Von dort erreichen Sie die Zeche Nachtigall zu Fuß innerhalb von ca. 20 Minuten. Wenn Sie das Bahnhofsgelände verlassen haben, befinden Sie sich auf der Bergerstraße. Sie wenden sich nach links und biegen an der nächsten Straße links in die Herbeder Straße ein. Sie unterqueren die Bahngleise und gelangen an eine Weggabelung, an der Sie sich links halten. Nun befinden Sie sich auf dem Ruhrdeich, dem Sie ca. 50 m bis zu einer Fußgängerampel folgen. Nachdem Sie sie überquert haben, folgen Sie dem grünen Wegweiser "Muttental" durch einen waldähnlichen Weg bis zur Nachtigallbrücke, die Sie über die Ruhr führt. Wenn Sie sich an der nächsten Gabelung rechts halten und dann links über die Bahngleise gehen, stoßen Sie auf den Museumseingang.
Wetter
Burg Wetter was erected by Graf Engelbert 1 von der Mark between 1250 and 1274 as a strongpoint against the kölnisch Burg Vollmarstein. Under the protection of the castle, a Freiheit came into being.
From 1780-1815 Wetter was the seat of the Kleve-Märkischen Berg- und Oberbergamt whose offices stood in the castle's grounds. Karl Freiherr vom und zum Stein operated between 1784-93 as Bergamt director in Wetter. In this function, he promoted early mining in the Ruhr by virtue of technical innovation, better education for miners, social reforms and the extension of the regional traffic network. He concerned himself with road-building and with making the Ruhr navigable. A metal plaque is attached to his house (Freheitstraße 18). In neighboring Hagen-Vorholle stands a Stein Tower.
After the Märkisches Bergamt had been transferred to Bochum in 1815, Friedrich Harkort bought the long-deserted castle in 1819 and set up there the Mechanischen Werkstätten Harkort & Co, a famous name from the early industrial period of the Ruhr District. Its production stretched from cast-iron crosses for graves up to machine parts and machines for textile manufacture, iron smelting and mining. Steam engines were being built by 1820. In 1826 Harkort introduced the first puddling furnace in the Ruhrgebiet.
Harkort latterly entered politics, campaigning for progressive causes. In 1884, his supporters erected a widely visible 35m high memorial with the Harkortturm. His name was also given to an artificial lake on the Ruhr completed in 1931 - the Harkortsee.