Recklinghausen
The Ruhrfestspielhaus was erected in the early 60s in the north-west of the town center. The theatre building, which was designed by the Recklinghausen architects Felix Ganteheführer and Fritz Hannes, lies like a "monolithic block" in the stadtgarten, a cube covered with grey Londorf basalt
In the entrance foyer, a 1.7 tonne lump of coal from the Recklinghausen Zeche König 4/5, brings to mind the creation of the Ruhrfestspiele in the hardship years after the Second World War. In the hard winter of 1946/47, miners from the colliery delivered in an unbureaucratic way, urgently required coal to three Hamburg theaters and thereby saved their season from being abandoned prematurely. In the following summer, the Hamburg ensemble returned thanks with special guest plays in Recklinghausen: "Kohle fur Kunst - Kunst for Kohle". Since then the Ruhrfestspiele has taken place every year in May, financed by the German trade unions and the town of Recklinghausen. The festival encompasses social issues in, for example, considering contemporary and "workers" literature as well as in a theatrical reappraisal of current problems in society like unemployment or auslandhass.
Herten
The late-gothic Schlosskapelle on the northern side of the outer bailey island of Schloss Herten originally stood on the lands of Schloss Grimberg in Gelsenkirchen-Bismarck. It was translocated to Herten in 1908 after Schloss Grimberg was severly disturbed by the building of the Rhein-Herne Canal. The baroque portal was a part of the Schloss Grimberg rather then the church originally but was designed by Johann Conrad Schlaun, who however designed large sections of the original church and its installations.
Schloss Herten is depicted below
Marl
The Chemiepark Marl is integrated into the Route of Industriekultur. It occupies an area of 6.5 km2 and is occupied by 30 companies.
The park has its origins in the Chemischen Werke Hüls GmbH which was founded in Marl in 1938. Their main product initially was Buna, the artificial rubber. Production almost succumbed to allied bombing as early as 1943. In the wirtschaftwunder years, the works then developed as a part of the nationalised VEBA to an international undertaking.
Datteln
Datteln became the location of a major canal junction. In 1899, the Dortmund-Ems-Canal was opened and ran through the district. In 1914, this canal formed two junctions in Dattlen, with the Datteln-Hamm-Canal and the Rhein-Herne-Canal. Then in 1930 another junction was formed with the Wesel-Datteln-Canal.
Waltrop
At Henrichenburg, the first Hebewerk (boat lift) in Germany (1899) was constructed to negotiate a difference in level of 14m on the Dortmund-Ems Canal. After operating trouble-free over the decades, the old lift was replaced by a larger and more modern one in 1962, measuring 90m by 12m. . It had been complemented earlier by a lock system in 1914, this lock system itself being replaced by a more modern system in 1989, capable of taking ships 190m long
The the old Hebewerk was originally left to rot but was restored and was opened to the public again in 1992 as a museum. All these installations are located in the Schleusenpark Waltrop ('Locks Park Waltrop').
Since 2005, only the lock of 1989 is operational. Because fewer ships use Dortmund Harbor than previously, there appears to be little desire to renovate the new lift to operational status again. But should problems arise with the remaining lock system, as has happened once already, ships will be unable to enter Dortmund.
The installations actually lie in Waltrop-Oberwiese nowadays (just - Datteln juts in very , very closely) . Henrichenburg is close by, but is actually a part of Castrop-Rauxel.
Lünen
Originally the town was situated on the north bank of the River Lippe. In 1336, the town was forcibly transferred to the south bank. In the centuries that followed, flooding and fire catastrophes were seemingly quite common. In the second half of the 18th century still less than 1000 people lived in Lünen.
With the upgrading of the Lippe for shipping, a modest economic upswing began in the 1820s. Iron ore from the vicinity around Lippstadt formed at the time the raw material for the blast furnaces of the early Lünen hutten industry . In the 1870s the first deep shafts were dug south of the city. Because of serious problems with water drainage, coal extraction in the region could only commence in grand style around 1900. For a time, several shaft installations of the Minister Aschenbach , Preussen and Victoria colleries operated here.
After the re-location of the town in the 14th century, the old Marienkirche north of the Lippe survived (although it was replaced . In the south, a further parish church dedicated to St. George was erected in the new town around 1360. This later became a protestant church.
The decades of coal extraction in Lünen are witnessed, apart from anything else, by severe subsidence. In some areas the water-table of the Datteln-Hamm-Canal lies several meters higher than the adjoining land, which then has to be protected from flooding by massive embankments.
In the Seepark Lünen, which was laid out in 1996 as a Landesgarten show along the Datteln-Hamm-Canal, the problem of subsidence was tackled artistically. Right in the middle of the park is the "Horstmarer Loch", an area of subsidence which in places is 8 meters below the level of the park. Here nowadays is to be found a natural amphitheater where regular performances are staged. Apparently the view of the higher-lying canal can be quite interesting, with the ships passing by above the heads of the audience.
In the north-east of Brambauer, a hall ensemble of the Zeche Minister Aschenbach was converted into the Technology Center LUNTEC. In so doing, the star-designer Luigi Colani positioned a "UFO" on the winding tower of shaft 4 : the Colani-Egg.
Bergkamen
Bergkamen was the site of Deutschland's worst mining disaster when 405 miners died in the Zeche Grimberg 3/4 in on 20th February 1946. The explosion occured at 930 meters but was so powerful tah it claimed victims on the surface. The cage slammed into the extraction tower as though ejected from a catapult. 64 miners survived. I don't think it was ever definitely decided on the cause although a later investigation criticised the amount of dust in the mine
The last survivor to be dragged out of the mine was Friedrich Hägerling, after 30 hours. He ended up before a British military court, accused of having survived by shirking off work. He was only set free after detailed examination of witnesses.
A memorial commemorates the victims in the 'Am Südhang' cemetery in Weddinghofen.
The same mine had experienced a major incident on 11th. September 1944 when 107 miners, including many Soviet slave workers, died in a methane explosion.
In Oberaden was discovered one of the largest early Roman military camps north of the Alps. The results of repeated archaeological digging have produced the conclusions that it was erected in 11 BC on the instructions of Drusus, a stepson of Emperor Augustus, as an outpost against the Sicambri, and after the forced re-location of this Germanic people to the left bank of the Rhine ca. 8 BC it was abandoned again. The history of this Roman camp is a central theme of the exhibition in the Stadtmuseum Bergkamen on Museumplatz in Oberaden, although a greater number of its artificts are exhibited in the Roman Museum in Haltern.
Kamen
The terrain within which the town is situated was formerly very marshy river plain (which was often flooded right up to the 1920s).
The Pauluskirche is notably skewed, against the prevailing wing towards the south-west.
The Köln-Minden Railway, which started up in 1847, became a considerable motor for the economic upswing of the region. A year beforehand, the Fünfbogenbrücke had been constructed over the Seseke, which counts as one of the oldest remaining railway bridges in Deutschland (in the vicinity of the Henry-David-Strasse). It is also known for being built across boggy ground.