Oberhausen

For other places with the same name, see Oberhausen (disambiguation).

Oberhausen
CentrO-Park in Oberhausen
Oberhausen
Coordinates	51°33′0″N 6°51′0″E / 51.55°N 6.85°E / 51.55; 6.85Coordinates: 51°33′0″N 6°51′0″E / 51.55°N 6.85°E / 51.55; 6.85
Administration
Country	Germany
State	North Rhine-Westphalia
Admin. region	Düsseldorf
District	Urban district
Lord Mayor	Klaus Wehling (SPD)
Basic statistics
Area	77.04 km2 (29.75 sq mi)
Elevation	78 m  (256 ft)
Population	212,945 (31 December 2010)[1]
- Density	2,764 /km2 (7,159 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	OB
Postal codes	46001-46149
Area code	0208
Website	City of Oberhausen (de)

Oberhausen (German pronunciation: [ˈoːbɐhaʊzən]) is a city on the river Emscher in the Ruhr Area, Germany, located between Duisburg (c. 12 km) and Essen (c. 13 km). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its Gasometer Oberhausen is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. It is also well known for the Centro, which is the biggest shopping mall in Germany. The city's Sea Life Centre was home to Paul the Octopus.

History

Oberhausen was named for its 1847 railway station which had taken its name from the Castle Oberhausen (German: Schloss Oberhausen). The new borough was formed in 1862 following inflow of people for the local coal mines and steel mills. Awarded town rights in 1874, Oberhausen absorbed several neighbouring boroughs like Alstaden, parts of Styrum and Dümpten in 1910. After becoming a city in 1901, Oberhausen incorporated the towns of Sterkrade and Osterfeld in 1929. The Ruhrchemie AG synthetic oil plant ("Oberhausen-Holten" or "Sterkrade/Holten")^[2] was a bombing target of the Oil Campaign of World War II, and the US Forces had reached the plant by April 4, 1945.

Oberhausen was largely focused on mining and steel production until the 1960s. The last coal mine closed in 1992 and the large Thyssen iron and steel mill closed in 1997 (over 50,000 jobs). The Altenberg zinc factory (German: Zinkfabrik Altenberg) closed in 1981, was taken over by the Rheinisches Industriemuseum (English: Rhineland Industry Museum) in 1984, and opened in 1997.^[3]

In 1954 the city began hosting the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, and the 1982 Deutscher Filmpreis was awarded to a group that wrote the Oberhausen Manifesto.

Demographics and Industry

The age breakdown of the population is 0-18, 18.2%; 18-64, 62.9%; >65, 18.9%; while the unemployment rate is 13.2% (January 2007) and the foreign population ratio is 12.4%.

Oberhausen performs chemical processing, mechanical engineering, and education. The "Neue Mitte Oberhausen" (English: New Central Oberhausen) at the former site of the Thyssen mill has light industry.

Cityscape

Schloss Oberhausen - inner courtyard with little castle

Oberhausen has 4 city centres, and Alt-Oberhausen, Sterkrade and Osterfeld are common town centres. The new city centre with its mall draws many people from more distant places as it also boasts a larger number of exceptional shops. Much of the city is composed of low- to medium-density residential areas, most of which date from the 1950s-1970s.

Main sights

• Gasometer Oberhausen, a huge gas holder converted into exhibition space.
• Ludwiggalerie in the Castle Oberhausen
• "Neue Mitte" with CentrO shopping mall, Sea Life aquarium, König Pilsener Arena, and CentrO.park, an amusement park.
• OLGA-Park, a landscaped garden in Osterfeld created for a horticultural show
• Rheinisches Industriemuseum (English: Rhineland Industrial Museum)
• The memorial shrine of Paul the Octopus in the Oberhausen Sea Life Centre, who predicted national soccer match winners by choosing between two food boxes labelled with flags

Gallery

• 

  Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof

• 

  Gasometer

• 

  Castle Oberhausen as seen from the Gasometer

• 

  Townhall with Grillo-Park

• 

  Theatre

Transport

Road

Oberhausen is well connected to the German motorway network.

• A2 (E34) (Oberhausen - Dortmund - Bielefeld - Hanover - Magdeburg - Berlin)
• A3 (E35) (from Arnhem - Oberhausen - Cologne - Frankfurt - Würzburg - Nuremberg - Passau - to Linz)
• A40 (Ruhrschnellweg, Venlo - Duisburg - Essen - Dortmund)
• A42 (Emscherschnellweg, Kamp-Lintfort - Oberhausen - Gelsenkirchen - Dortmund)
• A516 (Motorway Interchange from A2 to Oberhausen-Zentrum)

Rail

Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in the city. Long-distance trains stop at the station (some even to Amsterdam and Basel) as well as regional and local services. There are stations at Holten, Sterkrade and Osterfeld, catering for regional and local travel.

Airports

Nearby commercial airports are at Düsseldorf International Airport (28 km), Dortmund Airport (50 km) and Weeze Airport (60 km).

Waterways

The Rhein-Herne Canal bisects the city, and the Ruhr is in the city's south-west (river navigation uses a shortcut canal to the south).

Public Transport

The city-owned company "STOAG" provides an extensive coverage of bus and tram services. It is part of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr transport association covering the whole Rhine-Ruhr area.

Sport

With around 250 sports clubs Oberhausen has an active community. Local football club Rot-Weiss Oberhausen currently play in the second tier of the league.

Twin towns

• Middlesbrough, United Kingdom, since 1974
• Zaporizhia, Ukraine, since 1986
• Freital, Germany, since 1990
• Iglesias, Italy, since 2002
• Carbonia, Italy, since 2002
• Mersin, Turkey, since 2004

References

1. ^ "Amtliche Bevölkerungszahlen" (in German). Landesbetrieb Information und Technik NRW. 31 December 2010. http://www.it.nrw.de/statistik/a/daten/amtlichebevoelkerungszahlen/index.html. 
2. ^ Powell, A.R. (January 9 & 10, 1945). "Detailed Summary of meeting of Oil Mission Held in New Interior Building" (PDF). Enemy Oil Intelligence Committee. p. 17 (p61 of pdf). http://www.fischer-tropsch.org/Tom%20Reels/Linked/B1870/B1870-0073-0208%20Item%204.pdf. Retrieved 2009-03-25. 
3. ^ "LVR-Industriemuseum" (in German). Landschaftsverband Rheinland. http://www.industriemuseum.lvr.de/schauplaetze/oberhausen/zinkfabrik+altenberg.htm. Retrieved 23 September 2010. 

External links

• Ludwiggalerie in the Castle Oberhausen (English)