Dortmund, the largest city in Westphalia, lies on the eastern edge of the Ruhr in the fertile Hellweg area watered by the upper Escher. The foundations of its economy are the iron and steel industry and engineering.
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.
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").
Address: Museum am Ostwall, Ostwall 7, D-44122 Dortmund, Germany
Hours:
January 1 to December 31: 11am-6pm; Thu:11am-8pm; Fri:11am-8pm; Closed: Mon
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.
Address: Museum of Art and Art History, Hansastrasse 3, D-44137 Dortmund, Germany
Hours:
January 1 to December 31: 10am-5pm; Thu:10am-8pm; Sat:12pm-5pm; Closed: Mon
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).
Address: Museum für Naturkunde, Münsterstrasse 271, D-44145 Dortmund, Germany
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.
Address: Westfalenpark, An der Buschmühle 3, D-44139 Dortmund, Germany