Welcome to the European Capital of Culture 2010

 

After Berlin (1988) and Weimar (1999), Essen and the Ruhr region is the third German city to be nominated European Capital of Culture. The Ruhr is Germany’s most densely populated region (1,183 people per square kilometre).

Outside the region, the image persists that the Ruhr is still all heavy industry, coal and steel, smokestacks and air pollution. But since the long-lived coal and steel boom ended, green spaces have returned to the towns and cities. Today, the Ruhr is a fascinating melting-pot of different cultures. Thanks to the huge numbers of people from different parts of Europe who came to settle in the industrial metropolises between the Rhine and Ruhr, the Ruhr area now typifies the ideal of a united Europe: peaceful co-existence and mutual cultural enrichment. While in the first years of the industrial boom the Ruhr was no more than “a country for guest workers” to many migrants, it has now become a genuine home for the third and fourth generation. In the past, the people of the Ruhr struggled hard to extract natural resources from the ground and sent their products to all parts of the world. Today, after years of structural transformation from old to new technologies and science, they’re gratified that the focus of the European Capital of Culture 2010 will be on their region.

 

Charting the Course Together

“European Capital of Culture 2010” – with the awarding of this title to the city of Essen and the Ruhr, the jury decided in favour of a concept that will shape the future of the region. Great things are now expected of us – the towns and cities of the Ruhr.

We hope that the year 2010 will be one that we will all celebrate together – in a way that reflects the character of the people here with their different roots and backgrounds: confident, cheerful and forthright.

As a metropolis in the making, we have taken up this immense challenge, because we in the Ruhr region have always seen culture and creativity as important engines of structural change.

The motto of the city of Herne for RUHR.2010 is “Charting the Course Together”. With many individual projects, intermuniciple enterprises and the initiative for the joint project “KulturKanal” (Culture on the Canal), we want to make a lasting impact on the cultural landscape of the region. As a lively city in the metropolitan area we have chosen “Water” as our key theme. Apart from the numerous activities centring on ‘the liquid element’, Herne’s contributions to the Capital of Culture year will be the irrepressible street culture of our young people at the Pottporus Festival and the participation in large-scale projects of RUHR.2010 such as LOCAL HEROES, TWINS2010 and many more.

Click here for more information – from planning to final result. Don’t miss a date and look out for news. The Capital of Culture year is not far away, and the journey there will be exciting and eventful.