Germany City Travel Guide: Gelsenkirchen

World Cup 2006 Matches I City Guide I Turismus I Arrival I Accommodation I Entertainment I Internet Cafes

Gelsenkirchen

Located in the Ruhr in west central Germany
Coal mining/heavy industry
Population 285,000 including 10,000 people of Turkish descent
40 km (25 miles) from Düsseldorf International Airport
Castle: built from 16th – 18th century
Port on the Rhine-Herne Canal
Connected by four autobahn highways

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Gelsenkirchen dates back to the twelfth century but rapidly industrialized in the nineteenth century with the discovery of coal, becoming an important European center of iron and steel production, earning itself the name of the "city of a thousand fires" and drawing the attention of Allied bombers during World War II.

Now with the closure of the last coal mine in the area in the late 1990s, the city is striving to reinvent itself with new technologies such as solar energy and high-tech industry.

Places to visit include Gelsenkirchen Castle, which was built from 16th – 18th century. Other romantic buildings include the Palace Horst, Palace Berge as well as the Haus Lüttinghof.

The many canals in the area, which served the old coal and iron industries, are being converted for leisure activities on the British model.

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Images of Gelsenkirchen courtesy of www.stadtmarketing.de

Gelsenkirchen Tourist Offices

Hauptbahnhof, Empfangshalle 60329, Frankfurt am Main.
Tel. +49 (0) 69 21 23 88 49

Getting to Gelsenkirchen

Air

Düsseldorf Airport is 40 km (25 miles) away. The city can also be reached from Dortmund and Cologne/Bonn airports.

Train

From the Hauptbahnhof (main station) there are frequent trains to Dortmund, Dusseldorf, and approx. every 2 hours to Cologne. Gelsenkirchen's efficient integrated urban transport system includes buses, subway and trams. A seven-day pass is available for travel in the Ruhr region or in Gelsenkirchen city.

Bus/Road

Arbeitsgericht, Gelsenkirchen. Connections to all parts of Germany via the autobahn - A2, A40, A42 and A52.

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Accommodation

Solarsiedlung, Bramkampstrasse, Gelsenkirchen.

Featured Hotels

Maritim Hotel, Am Stadtgarten 1, 45879 Gelsenkirchen.
About 1 kilometre from the Bahnhof (railway station).
Tel. +49 209 176-0
Fax +49 209 176-20 91

InterCityHotel, Ringstrasse 1-3, 45879 Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
Near Gelsenkirchen railway station.
Tel. +49 209 92550
Fax +49 209 9255999

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Eating

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Drinking

There are plenty of bars and eateries around the main station and in the Buer district or head for the famed "Bermuda Triangle" of bars and pubs in nearby Bochum.

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Internet Cafes

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Local football teams

The Bundesliga's Schalke 04 are Gelsenkirchen's home team. Uefa Cup Winners in 1997 (beating Internazionale di Milano on penalties in the final). Seven times German champions, though the last time was way back in 1958. Schalke 04 play their home games in the superb Veltins-Arena (formerly AufSchalke Arena) which will host five matches at the 2006 World Cup and the 2004 UEFA Champions League Final.