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developments in a heavy
industrial region – the ruhr
T
HE RUHR is a largely urban
area in the North RhineWestphalia region of Germany
(Figure 1). It consists of a
number of cities like Essen and
Bochum that were once major
industrial centres bordered by
the rivers Rhine to the west,
Ruhr to the south and Lippe
to the north. The area has a
population of about 5.5 million
and is considered part of the
larger Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan
area which has over 12 million
people.
There have been settlements
in the Ruhr for over a million
years, but the more rapid growth
started about a thousand years
ago. Goods were transported
along the Rhine and towns
prospered along the river. The
availability of natural resources
such as iron ore, wood for
energy and later coal, along with
the incentive to produce goods,
resulted in many skilled workers
settling in the Ruhr. At the start
of the Industrial Revolution
the Ruhr was easy to reach by
road and rail and labourers
easily adapted to the new work.
Food was not a problem as the
lowlands further north had
fertile soil where crops could
be grown in abundance. At the
time, industrialisation in the
Ruhr rivalled that in the UK.
Alfred Krupp and August
Thyssen were 19th-century
industrialists who pioneered a
number of new processes for
making iron. This, combined
with new steam engines to
circulate air under the ground,
led to the creation of deeper
mines in the area. Such
410
by Paul Warburton
Ruhr
Ruhr
GERMANY
Key
North Rhine-Westphalia
Built-up area
GERMANY
R. Lippe
R. Rhine
her
msc
R. E
Dortmund
Duisburg
Essen Bochum
N
R. Ruhr
Wuppertal
0
Düsseldorf
15 km
Figure 1: The Ruhr region in Germany
developments helped the Ruhr
of steel and supported the
to grow during the Industrial
companies operating in the area.
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Revolution.
Unfortunately
for Germany, the
Fig 410_01 Mac/eps/illustrator
11 s/s
NELSON THORNES PUBLISHING
Ruhr was heavily bombed during
Artist: David Russell Illustration
The Ruhr went through
a
the war, but it was subsequently
difficult period after the
rebuilt with new equipment
First World War but thrived
and buildings. Its prosperity
during the 1930s. Hitler
and growth continued to be
recognised the importance
linked to a number of major
heavy industries (Figure 2), coal
mining, steel and engineering.
This was based on a number of
Heavy industry
key factors (Figure 3).
Manufacturing that involves
converting bulky raw materials and
partly processed materials into
products of higher value. These
products are often also bulky.
Examples include steel and cars.
Light industry
Manufacturing activities that tend to
use already manufactured products
(components) or small amounts of
raw materials to make small, highvalue products. Examples include
TVs and DVD players.
Figure 2: What are heavy and light
industries?
The decline of the Ruhr
The decline of heavy industry in
the Ruhr was linked to a number
of key factors (Figure 3).
Loss of natural resources
The prosperity and growth of
the Ruhr was largely founded
on coal. By the latter part of the
20th century the most accessible
coal was largely exhausted and
the remaining coal was more
expensive to mine. Coal mining
Series 20 Spring issue Unit 410 Developments in a Heavy Industrial Region – the Ruhr © 2009 Nelson Thornes
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RAW MATERIALS
The Ruhr was rich in coal and had
other natural resources like iron
ore.
LABOUR
Over a long period a huge
and skilled labour force has
developed, a valuable resource
for the many industries and
commercial activities in the Ruhr.
KEY FACTORS
TRANSPORT
The River Rhine runs through
the region and provides a link to
the North Sea and the world’s
shipping lanes. At the mouth
of the Rhine is Rotterdam and
Europoort, the largest port in
Europe and one of the busiest in
the world. Canals lead from some
of the urban centres to the Rhine.
MARKETS
About 18 million people live
within North Rhine-Westphalia.
This represents a huge market.
The Ruhr is also centrally placed
in Europe, surrounded by
economically developed countries
with their own huge markets.
Figure 3: Key factors in the growth of industry in the Ruhr
was also affected by cheaper
coal imports from countries like
Australia. Although a few mines
remain they are progressively
being closed.
Loss of traditional industries
Gradually the major traditional
industries in the Ruhr – steel,
coal mining, chemical and heavy
engineering – started to contract.
This was partly related to the
loss of cheap natural resources.
Increasingly, though, they faced
competition from other parts
of the world. Industries in
newly industrialising countries
(NICs) like Malaysia, South
Korea and Taiwan were based
on cheaper labour and had the
latest equipment and technology.
They were able to make the same
products but at a lower cost.
Unemployment
As the industries closed,
thousands became unemployed,
which put off new investment in
the region. Between 1980 and
2002, around 500,000 jobs were
lost in the traditional industries.
Figure 4 shows how this affected
one of the largest industrial
cities.
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90,000
Key
80,000
Breweries
Steel
Coal mining
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
1960
1970
1980
Year
1990
1997
Figure 4: Loss of jobs in the old
core industries
Dortmund,
GeoActivein
Series
20 Issue 2
Fig 410_04 Mac/eps/illustrator 11 s/s
1960–97
Source: NELSON
www.ncl.ac.uk/critical/Dortmund
THORNES PUBLISHING
Artist: David Russell Illustration
Blighted environment
The decades of industrial activity
and the decline at the end of the
20th century left a devastated
environment. The Ruhr had
a legacy of derelict buildings,
polluted air, rivers and soil.
Rebirth of the Ruhr
In recent decades the Ruhr has
been adapting to change. Efforts
have been made to restructure
the economy and to tackle the
environmental neglect.
Tourism
The Ruhr may not seem to be the
most promising area for tourism.
However, after the mining and
steel industries fell into decline
in the 1970s, the Ruhr Valley
decided on an unusual strategy
for economic renewal. It turned
the dying industrial landscape
into a giant history and
technology museum, as well as a
top recreation destination.
This appears to be working. With
its mixture of museums, parks
and unique historic industrial
sites, the Industrial Heritage
Route, which officially opened
in 1999, helped attract some
3 million visitors to the Ruhr
Valley in 2001, with the numbers
on the rise, according to tourism
authorities. In terms of specific
attractions, one of the most
popular is the German Mining
Museum in Bochum (Figure 5).
Founded in 1930, it gives visitors
an insight into the world of coal
mining. Beneath a 70 metre
tower are 25 exhibition halls. A
display mine reaches 20 metres
below ground, showing curious
visitors what life might have been
like for a miner.
Even more impressive
diversification has taken place at
the landscape park in DuisburgNord, a former ironworks
with towers, gasometers (huge
cylindrical containers for storing
gas), bunkers, power plants and
compressor rooms, all on an
immense scale.
Since its closure in 1985, parts
of the ironworks have been
redeveloped – the gasometer
has been filled with water to
create the biggest artificial diving
centre in Europe, the concrete
bunkers have been turned into
climbing walls, number 5 furnace
is dedicated to mountaineers,
and an open-air cinema with a
rolling roof has been inserted
into furnace number 1. The
compressor room is regularly
booked up for dinners and
dances, and the giant power
station hosts opera and trade
fairs. When darkness falls the
Series 20 Spring issue Unit 410 Developments in a Heavy Industrial Region – the Ruhr © 2009 Nelson Thornes
This page may be photocopied for use within the purchasing institution only.
The highlight is hidden 20 metres
below ground level: a replica of a
coal mine, with seams, galleries
and shafts, complete with all the
machinery. The whole stretch is
2.5 km long. Here visitors can see
live, close-up demonstrations of
various mining techniques. The
equipment ranges from a mallet
and gad to a fully automatic disc
shearer. But the museum is not
content with machines, however
spectacular they might be. For the
history of mining is simultaneously
the history of generations of miners,
their living and working conditions,
life between colliery and carrier
pigeons, strikes and settlements,
the decline of the coal industry
and structural transformation. All
these themes are reflected in a
huge number of everyday objects,
models, diagrams and photographs,
painting and statues. At the end of
the tour visitors can take a trip to the
60 metre viewing platform at the top
of the pithead gear.
Figure 5: The German Mining
Museum
whole tangled mass turns into
a light installation, thanks to
British lighting designer Jonathan
Park (enter ‘Duisburg Nord
landscape park’ into Google and
look at the images).
Changes to industry
There has also been rapid growth
of a number of major industries
including car manufacturing, oil
refining and food processing.
The region has recognised
the expertise and experience
associated with the traditional
mining, engineering and energyrelated industries and has been
adapting to change. It has
become the world’s leading
location for suppliers to wind
power plants, thanks largely to
diversification by companies
involved in the mining and steel
industries. Bio energy is another
field where numerous companies
have their origins in the mining
sector. Many new activities relate
to processing and using energy
from biomass. Others have
emerged working on fuel cells
and new hydrogen technology.
Two companies of international
importance are working in the
nuclear industry.
These activities range from
university research to the
development of components
to trial and testing. Other
business clusters are developing
in the geothermal, solar energy,
energy-saving technologies and
energy services fields, with a
special focus on IT systems
and services. There are a
number of science parks in the
region with research and hightechnology companies. These
reflect an increasing emphasis
on lighter industrial activities
(see Figure 2) in contrast to the
traditional emphasis on heavy
manufacturing.
Restructuring the economy of
the Ruhr has not been easy. The
car industry, for example, has
been affected by rising labour
costs. Workers in that industry
were traditionally paid very high
wages but this has put a strain
on the competitiveness of the
car companies. Thousands of
jobs have now gone to Eastern
Europe and countries like Turkey
where wages are lower.
Conclusions
The Ruhr has much in common
with other traditional industrial
areas in Europe. There is still a
legacy from its industrial past,
some abandoned industrial
areas need to be redeveloped
and not all economic structures
in the region are trend-setting.
There are still problems with
the infrastructure in the region,
such as in the transportation
system. Unemployment is
one of the major problems in
areas that have experienced
deindustrialisation and this is still
above the average for Germany.
There have been notable
successes, though, and the Ruhr
is remoulding itself to meet the
demands of the 21st century.
It will probably be several
decades yet before the new
industries and tertiary activities
have a significant effect on
employment in the region.
The tertiary sector
Much of the recent development
has been in the tertiary sector.
Many traditional industrial
towns and cities have attracted
new office developments. There
has been expansion in fields
like research and development,
the media and communications.
The Ruhr region has one of
the biggest concentrations of
universities and higher education
establishments in Europe.
A number of towns and cities
have become important centres
for retailing and cultural
activities. Oberhausen, in the
west of the Ruhr, illustrates well
the changes that have occurred
in a number of towns and cities
in the region (Activity 3 will help
you to explore these changes).
Series 20 Spring issue Unit 410 Developments in a Heavy Industrial Region – the Ruhr © 2009 Nelson Thornes
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Activities
1 Using an atlas, draw a large
outline map of Germany.
(a) Add the names of
surrounding countries.
(b) Add the names of the two
seas.
(c) Draw on the River Rhine.
Region
Rate (%)
Dortmund
14.6
Ruhr Region
12.0
North RhineWestphalia
(NRW)
9.7
NRW without
Ruhr region
8.8
Germany (West)
8.0
Germany
2 There are a number of
important terms used in this unit
– you could be asked to define
them in an examination. Define
the following:
(a) deindustrialisation
(b) newly industrialising country
(c) infrastructure
(d) science park
(e) secondary sector
(f) tertiary sector.
3 Explain in your own words
why the Ruhr region declined.
4 (a) Use a computer program
to present the data in Figure 7 as
a proportional bar graph.
(b) Describe and explain what
your completed graph shows.
Economy (producing,
transporting, using goods)
perhaps for a TV programme
like Newsround, or as a
PowerPoint presentation.
6 Complete the table in Figure
8 to summarise how the changes
in the Ruhr have benefited the
region.
10.0
Figure 7: Unemployment rate
of Dortmund and other parts of
Germany, October 2003
Source: www.ncl.ac.uk/critical/Dortmund
5 Use the following website to
discover how one large town has
successfully changed its image
and restructured its economy
following the decline of the
traditional industries.
http://business.metropoleruhr.
de/en/information_advice/
site_information/city_town_and_
area_profiles/oberhausen.html
There are various ways in which
you could present this, for
example as a written report,
Environment
(the world around us –
landscape, wildlife, vegetation)
Social
(relating to people – their
health and well-being)
Cultural
(the features of a society
– music, art, literature etc.)
Figure 8: Changes in the Ruhr
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Series 20 Spring issue Unit 410 Developments in a Heavy Industrial Region – the Ruhr © 2009 Nelson Thornes
This page may be photocopied for use within the purchasing institution only.