Introduction

Emscher Park is located in the Emscher basin, a valley running several miles wide and approximately 45miles long between Dortmund and Duisburg, in the West of Germany. The Emscher Park itself lies approximately 21miles from Dortmund and 9miles from Duisburg.

Location Map from Google Earth showing location within Germany

This Western area of Germany, named the Ruhr Gebeit, was the centre of the European steel manufacturing and coal mining industries. In the last 30 years these industries have declined leaving derelict steel buildings and abandoned coal mines.

The area suffered greatly from the departure of business leaving many social, economic and environmental problems including high unemployment, severe contamination and many vacant buildings, most of which were over 10 stories tall.

Industrial structures of the Park

Aerial photo showing Emscher Park at the height of industrial activity