Tourist Attractions in Dortmund

Opposite St Reinold's Church in Dortmund is the Marienkirche (12th and 14th C.; Protestant), whose principal treasure is the Marienaltar, by the Dortmund master Konrad of Soest.

The Petrikirche (14th-15th C.), on the north side of Westenhellweg in Dortmund, has a large and beautiful altar from Antwerp (c. 1521), with 633 gilded figures.

To the south of the Dortmund city center lies a large park in which are the Westfalenhalle (Trade Fair Center, with seating for 23,000; several subsidiary halls), the Ice Stadium (Eisstadion; ice-skating and roller-skating), the Westfalenstadion (seating for 54,000) and the "Rote Erde" athletics stadium.

The central feature of the old town in Dortmund is the Alter Markt, with the Municipal and Provincial Library (1957).

Northwest of Dortmund are the harbor installations on the Dortmund-Ems Canal (272km/169mi long). Adjoining is the Fredenbaum leisure park.

12km/7.5mi south of Dortmund, on a wooded crag above the Ruhr valley, stands the ruined Hohensyburg, which was destroyed in the 13th C. Just to the west are the Vincketurm (panoramic views) and the Emperor William Memorial (1902). Below the crag lies the Hengsteysee, an artificial lake formed by the construction of a dam in 1928.

Near the east end of Ostenhellweg in Dortmund is the Museum am Ostwall (20th C. art, painting, objets d'art, sculpture, graphic art; works of the Expressionist group "Die Brücke").

The Dortmund Museum of Art and Culture has among its exhibits a history of the town, church history, old furniture, gold coins, medieval and 19th C. pictures, 17th and 18th C. culture, folk art.

To the north of the Dortmund city center, some distance beyond the railroad station (Hauptbahnhof), is the Natural History Museum (fossils from the Messel shale-mine at Darmstadt, minerals, reconstructions of dinosaurs; aquarium; children's museum).

The Westenhellweg and Ostenhellweg pedestrian zones, which begin at Marienkirche, are Dortmund's principal shopping streets.

To the south of Westenhellweg in Dortmund is the 14th C. Propsteikirche (R.C.), with a 15th C. high altar.

In Dortmund's south end is the Rombergpark, with the Botanic Garden (tropical houses, arboretum) and the Zoo (Tiergarten).

Northeast of the Alter Markt in Dortmund stands the Reinoldikirche (13th C.), with a Late Gothic choir (15th C.). Its 104 m/341ft high tower, with the heaviest peal of bells in Westphalia, is the landmark and emblem of the city.

The Westfalenpark (area 70 hectares /175 acres) in Dortmund is where the Federal Garden Show was held in 1959 and 1969. Here too are the 212 m/696ft high Television Tower (Fernsehturm) known as Florian, with a revolving restaurant at 138 m/453ft, and the German Rosarium.