Oberhausen in the Ruhr Area – The History of an Extraordinary Ruhr City

13 November 2020

---

For the 100th birthday
the first political representation of the Ruhr area

By Dr. Magnus Dellwig

In 1920, Greater Berlin was formed. The metropolitan region
on the Spree with almost 4 million inhabitants moves into the first league of
European centres. The Ruhr region and the state of Prussia take this as an impetus
and also administratively encompass the Ruhr area for the first time in its history
together: In 1920, the SVR – the Ruhr Coal District Settlement Association – was founded. It is
with almost 6 million inhabitants, Europe's largest industrial region. Its municipalities
recognized at that time that such elementary tasks as transport, housing, green spaces,
Urban planning would no longer be manageable if not intercommunal
work together.

This is how an Oberhausen couple dressed for a stroll on Marktstrasse after 1920, exhibition view, 2020 © LUDWIGGALERIE Schloss Oberhausen

What is different in Oberhausen than in the rest of the Ruhr area? – A city
arises without pre-industrial roots!

If we look at the Ruhr area today, the far
Common opinion: The cities of the region are very similar, have a
largely the same influence from the era of coal and steel. Therefore
it is clear to speak of the Ruhr area as a region.

I counter this with the somewhat provocative thesis: Oberhausen is
unlike any of the other cities between Moers and Hamm, between Recklinghausen
and Hagen! The unique thing about Oberhausen is: Before the arrival of industry and
There was no railway! No village, no church, no school, no
Market place, no public administration. Oberhausen was built on 900 hectares
Lipperheide. The sandy soil was so modest – sorry, poorly productive –
that in the age of agriculture, which stretches from the Stone Age to the invention
the steam engine was enough, people simply lacked the means of subsistence.
And that was not the case anywhere in the Ruhr area! Duisburg, Essen, Recklinghausen and
Dortmund were cities, Osterfeld and Sterkrade were villages.
Industry was able to settle there. In Oberhausen in 1846/47 the Cologne-Minden
Railway – the “A 3” of the 19th century – was built from Cologne to Berlin and
In just 10 years, the ring around this station was filled with
Factories were closed. Roads, residential buildings, schools and
everything else. The mayoralty of Oberhausen, founded in 1862, was panting
from now on lagging behind the dynamic industrialization and urban development. And how
dynamic Oberhausen was! One of the fastest growing cities in the world:
Within half a century from 1862 to the First World War, the population exploded almost 20-fold: 5.590 became 103.500
residents.

Es was supposed to be the center of Oberhausen – then the space sank into the water. From 1970 to 1880, the “Lake Concordia” depression extended from today’s Health Department to John Lennon Square. Map of Oberhausen with the extent of Lake Concordia, 1913 © Oberhausen City Archives

The Houses on today’s Grillostraße got wet feet. Lake Concordia was up to 2,50 meters deep and 13! hectares in size. – Only with the construction of the sewerage system he finally disappeared. Concordia Lake, around 1875 © Stadtarchiv Oberhausen

But despite these difficult circumstances, the
Oberhausen local politicians and mayors managed to
To continue to improve living conditions. This was expensive, cost
Tax money, but was supported by the industrialists and small businessmen in the city council
realized: Their factories and businesses could not grow and earn,
if the city did not grow in an orderly manner around it. Above all, the
City housing for workers, schools for their children, from which
should become workers again.

Besides the town hall, they were highlights of brick expressionism of the 1920s. The quality of the architecture of public buildings gave the city center big city flair!

What makes Oberhausen so special compared to the rest of the
Ruhr area – and all of Germany in the 19th century – up to the present day?
Let us go from north to south across the Oberhausen Friedensplatz from
District Court past the police station to the Europahaus and further to the
Bert Brecht House, then we understand it! On this area, which today is a
A well-designed bridge connects the Marktstraße business centre to the
Transport and administrative center between the train station and the town hall, stood until 1903
a mighty factory. On  200 times 350
Blast furnaces and factory halls of the Styrum iron industry spread out over an area of ​​1,000 metres.
700 people worked there. Then the ironworks ceased operations in 1901.
For over 25 years, the city has persistently redesigned this space and created
only a coherent, metropolitan city center. Rectangular streets and
Squares and many parks characterize Oberhausen where elsewhere a ring road
the foundations of a former city wall a winding street network
encloses.

Come to our exhibition “Oberhausen. Awakening makes history.
Structural Change 1847–2006”, when it opens again! See for yourself
using old maps and new plans, what makes Oberhausen special and how
profoundly it changed! But here we show you the
The story of the disappearance of the Styrum iron industry: In the
extremely detailed city plan from 1921, which shows a still largely undeveloped
Friedensplatz shows the previous location of the factory in the dimensions of 1857
But by 1872, the Styrum iron industry was twice as large
long and extended to the present Bert Brecht House at
Zaporizhzhia Square (then Industrial Street).

 

---

2020 exhibition Home Oberhausen City Archives