- Duisburg Inner Harbour
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Duisburg Inner Harbor around 1900
Warehouses of the Küppersmühle and Werhahnmühle
Museum Küppersmühle in the Inner Harbor
Plan of the DevelopmentThe Innenhafen (Inner Harbor) in Duisburg, encompassing an area of 89ha., was for over a hundred years, during the high point of the Industrial Revolution, the central harbor and trading point of the town. Since the mid-60s, the importance of the harbour declined and it lay in a disused condition for 20 years, before plans for renovation were drawn up. This former industrial area been fundamentally transformed, a process which started as a part of the International Building Exhibition Emscher Park (IBA) which ran from 1989 until 1999.
The basis for this model of development in the Ruhr district was delivered in 1994 by the British architect Norman Foster. Since then, the Inner Harbor has transformed itself into a district combining employment, housing, culture and water-based leisure activities. Today, the Inner Harbour is both an industrial monument and a main point on the Route der Industriekultur.
Contents
History
Where today you observe the Inner Harbor, flowed many centuries ago the Rhine. Up until the 5th century, it formed in this locality the boundary with the Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages, situated on the present-day location of the Rathaus, there was a Frankish regal court positioned directly on the banks of the Rhine. On the same spot were to be found the old Duisburg town church, the Salvatorkirche, the market hall and the city walls.
Sometime around the year 1000 – according to recent research – the Rhine shifted its course westwards. Duisburg found itself no longer lying directly on the Rhine; however, for about another 400 years it did remain connected to the river by a navigable ‘dead’ arm of the Rhine. Subsequently, this previously important trading town declined into a small agricultural settlement. It was only in the 19th century that an initiative to resurrect the connection to the Rhine proved successful. Initially, the Outer Harbor was dug from the Rhine in the west as far as the contemporary Marientor Bridge, to which an eastern extension was later built, the Inner Harbor. Early on, the timber industry established itself on the harbor, mining.interest being a major customer for their products Then, as modern production methods were able to reduce their space requirements, grain mills established themselves in several locations, along with their warehouses for storage. They conferred on the Inner Harbor the nickname "bread basket of the Ruhr district“, supplying the rapidly growing population in the district.
After the decline of the grain mills in the 1960s, the Inner Harbor lost its economic significance and was characterized primarily by warehousing. Nevertheless, the district still continued to block off access to the water from the city itself. The first steps in giving the inner harbour a new face were taken at the end of the 80s with the opening up of city walls and the construction of a new living quarter on Corputiusplatz.
Within the framework of the IBA Emscher Park, which renovated the industrial areas of the Ruhr in an exemplary fashion, a design for the transformation of the entire Inner Harbour was launched. The water was to be re-incorporated into the city, it was to be made freely accessible and produce an enhanced quality of living – and attract investors. Space for employment – especially in the service sector – for living, culture and leisure were to be integrated into the overall plan. In this sense, the industrial and historic “symbols“ of the harbor were to be quite consciously retained.
The Inner Harbor today
Highlights of the newly-renovated quarter of the Inner Harbor are the Küppersmühle converted to an arts museum by Herzog & de Meuron, the Werhahnmühle, which following the departure of the Children's Museum ATLANTIS is being used as a “Legoland Discovery Center“, the Cultural- and City History Museum, the “Garden of Remembrance“ laid out by Dani Karavan as well as the Synagoge of the Jewish District of Duisburg-Mülheim/Ruhr-Oberhausen, designed by the architect Zvi Hecker.
Additionally, on the far side of the Garden a marina has been built complete with a Buckelbrücke ('Buckle bridge' – for pedestrians). It is intended to extend the marina into the adjacent Holzhafen.
A lively dining-scene has also developed. In addition to more than 15 restaurants und clubs, there are also owner-run bars and franchises.
Progression of Developments
After a previous project had run into problems revolving around the awarding of the contract, 2008 should see an investor beginning the construction of Eurogate, a semi-elliptical multi-functional building with up to 10 floors and a floor area of about 35.000 master plan, under contract from the City Council, which foresees a transformation similar to that which has been carried out in the eastern section – and which is itself still ongoing: A further area for new building lies at the extreme Eastern end, near to the Küppersmühle, which itself has plans for extension, following the need for more space due to the fusion of the Grothe und Strцher collections. At the back of the office building on the Northern bank, a park is envisaged. In order to coordinate the ideas of the planners with respect to both the Inner Harbor and the City Center, the area of responsibility of the Innenhafen-Entwicklungsgesellschaft (Inner Harbor Development Society) now also includes the management of the renovation of the entire city center.
As from 2010 the Land Archive of NRW will be based in the Upper Harbor. Up until now it has been based in Düsseldorf (Main Archive) and Brühl (Personenstandsarchiv Brühl). In December 2007 the Austrian architects Ortner und Ortner received the commission for converting a listed storage building from the 30s.
Views
Pictures
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Garden of Remembrance
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District Center of the Jewish District Duisburg-Mülheim/Ruhr-Oberhausen, in the Garden of Remembrance
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Section of the historic city walls. City walls adjacent to the Altstadtpark in the Inner Harbor
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Schwanentorbrücke: a moving bridge; to the left of it, the RWSG-warehouse, which will be extended and used for the Land Archive.
Panorama
View of the Marina (left hand) and the “Five Boats” office complex, designed by the British architect Nicholas Grimshaw. On the right hand you can see the Holzhafen, which will be encircled by a projected hotel complex could Eurogate. The free space shown in the photograph to the left of Grimshaw’s 'boat building' does not actually exist any more (used for the “Hitachi Power Office”).External links
Categories:- Duisburg
- Ruhr Industrial Heritage Trail
- River ports of Germany
- Redeveloped ports and waterfronts
- Warehouse districts
- Visitor attractions in North Rhine-Westphalia
- Entertainment districts
- Restaurant districts and streets
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