Bochum

Basic data:

Geography:

The city is located on the so-called "Bochumer Landrücken". This means that the city has even rises and falls. The "Bochumer Landrücken" is part of the Ruhr Heights on the border between the southern and northern Ruhr coal zone and lies between the two rivers Ruhr and Emscher. The highest point in the city is on Kemnader Straße at 196 m above sea level. NN, the lowest is in Hordel with 43 m above sea level. NN. In the west-east direction, the urban area has the greatest extent at 17.1 km, in the north-south direction the extent is 13 km.

Climate:

Bochum is located in the temperate climate zone. Its mean annual rainfall is 809.5 mm. The average temperature in the warmest month is 19°C, the coldest month has an average temperature of 4.9°.

City structure:

6 districts: Central district, Wattenscheid, North district, East district,
District South, District Southwest

history:

Today`s Bochum urban area was settled as early as the Neolithic Age. The city was first mentioned in a document by the archbishops of Cologne in 1041 under the name of Cofbuokheim. Count Engelbert II of the March of Bochum granted the market rights in 1321. Although coal mining rights existed as early as the 14th century, the city was dominated by agriculture until the 19th century.

After Bochum belonged to the Ruhr department of the Grand Duchy of Berg until 1813, it came to Prussia two years later and became the seat of the Bochum district in 1817. In 1876, however, it became an independent city. In 1929 the district of Bochum was dissolved. The heyday of mining in Bochum began with the invention of cast steel in 1850 by Jacob Mayer, founder of the "Bochumer Verein" steel company, and with the transition from open-pit to underground mining in 1852. With the connection to the Witten/Dortmund-Oberhausen/Duisburg and Osterath-Dortmund railway lines, further foundations were laid for heavy industry.

In 1905 Bochum exceeded the limit of 100,000 inhabitants thanks to the incorporation of surrounding towns. 1906 live 22,844 miners; they mine more than five million tons of coal. The city continued to grow and had 321,146 inhabitants in 1929. During World War II, 38 percent of the city was destroyed by bombing. At that time, two DP (Displaced Persons) camps for former forced laborers from Poland were set up in Bochum.

In 1962, Adam Opel AG led the structural change in the Ruhr area with the opening of its first branch on a former colliery site. A large part of the lost jobs can be compensated. Three more Opel plants follow in the districts of Laer and Langendreer. In 1964, the Ruhr Park was completed in the Harpen district, the second "green field" shopping center in the Federal Republic and today the largest of its kind in Germany.

A year later, the Ruhr University Bochum is opened as the first university in the Ruhr area. The last Bochumer (Hanover colliery) was closed in 1973. Some of the closed areas are being replaced by large green areas, some of which appear almost rural, extending to the Ruhr and the Kemnade reservoir (approved in 1980).

In 1979 the first light rail route and the Ruhr Stadium were inaugurated. Bochum has been a musical city since June 12, 1988 with the German-language musical production "Starlight Express" by Andrew Lloyd Webber.In 1993, Bochum joined forces with the cities of Hattingen, Herne and Witten to form the Central Ruhr region. In 2003 the event center RuhrCongress was opened.

Sights: