The city of Bochum

Bochum lies in the middle of the Ruhr Area. The Ruhr Area with approximately 5.3 million inhabitants is fifth biggest metropolitan area in Europe. The majority of the Ruhr Area consists of several independent large cities that grew together at the arterial roads during industrialization. The Ruhr Area is bordered by the rivers Lippe (in the north), Rhein (in the west) and the Ruhr (in the south) from which the area derives its name.

History and population

The city of Bochum, at almost 700 years old, doesn't look its age. The city received its town charter in the year 1321 however it remained a small city with a few thousand residents until the middle of the 19th century. Bochum, like the other Ruhr Area cities, did not begin to grow until the coal mining and steal industry booms. In 1904 the population exceeded 100,000 and Bochum became a metropolis. The population reached its peak in the 1970s at 420,000 inhabitants since that time it has sunk to 390,000. The percentage of foreigners lies just under 12%.

Economy

Coal and steel dominated the economy until long after the Second World War – the almost 15 ton Bell in front of the Bochum city hall is evocative of this era. When it became foreseeable that the end of the coal and steel era was approaching, the people tried to counteract the economic slump by setting up educational facilities and service enterprises. In 1965 the Ruhr-University, the first newly founded University after the Second World War, was established and the other Universities in the Ruhr district emerged in the following years. In 1973 the last coal mine in downtown Bochum was closed and steel production lost regional importance as well.

The service sector has since taken over the leading economic role. The companies Opel,  Johnson Controls and Krupp are situated in Bochum as well as the German headquarters of Aral/BP, the Federal Miners Insurance and the universities.

Culture and Recreation

The German Mining Museum, the Schauspielhaus theater, the Planetarium and the musical Starlight Express are know nationwide. Starlight Express has been running in Bochum since 1988 and is nowadays the most successful musicals in the world. Football plays a big role in everyday culture: The VfL Bochum usually plays in the German Premiere League (Erste Bundesliga) but was relegated into the Regional League (Zweite Bundesliga) in the summer of 2005. Two other Premier League Teams come from neighboring cities Dortmund (Borussia Dortmund) and Gelsenkirchen (Schalke 04).

In football stadiums, theaters, museums and in Starlight Express there is a reduced price for students.

Many former industrial facilities are used for other purposes nowadays, for example the Westpark is now a recreation area, the coal-mine Prinz Regent as an arts center or the grounds of the Hannibal coal-mine as a shopping center.

Although Bochum is known primarily as an industrial city there is still a lot of green, like the City Park in the north or the Weitmarer Holz and the Kemnader Lake in the south.