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Bochum ( , also , ; wep, Baukem) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 364,920 (2016), is the sixth largest city (after Cologne, Düsseldorf,
Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
,
Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
and Duisburg) of the most populous
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the 16th largest city of Germany. On the Ruhr Heights (''Ruhrhöhen'')
hill chain A hill chain, sometimes also hill ridge, is an elongated line of hills that usually includes a succession of more or less prominent hilltops, domed summits or ''kuppen'', hill ridges and saddles and which, together with its associated lateral ri ...
, between the rivers
Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
to the south and Emscher to the north (tributaries of the Rhine), it is the second largest city of Westphalia after Dortmund, and the fourth largest city of the
Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
after Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg. It lies at the centre of the Ruhr, Germany's largest urban area, in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, and belongs to the region of Arnsberg. Bochum is the sixth largest and one of the southernmost cities in the
Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...
dialect area. There are nine institutions of higher education in the city, most notably the
Ruhr University Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...
(''Ruhr-Universität Bochum''), one of the ten largest universities in Germany, and the Bochum University of Applied Sciences (''Hochschule Bochum'').


Geography


Geographical position

The city lies on the low rolling hills of Bochum land ridge (Bochumer Landrücken), part of the Ruhrhöhen (highest elevations) between the
Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
and Emscher rivers at the border of the southern and northern Ruhr coal region. The highest point of the city is at Kemnader Straße (Kemnader Street) in Stiepel at above sea level; the lowest point is at the Blumenkamp in Hordel. The terrain of Bochum is characterised by rolling hills that rarely have more than three per cent graduation. Steeper graduation can be found at the Harpener Hellweg near the Berghofer Holz nature reserve (3.4%), at Westenfelder Straße in the borough of Wattenscheid (3.47%), or at Kemnader Straße, which begins at the banks of the Ruhr in Stiepel (), and rises to its highest point in the centre of Stiepel (, a 5.1% increase). The city extends north to south and east to west. The perimeter of the city limits is . It is surrounded by the cities of (in clockwise direction) Herne, Castrop-Rauxel,
Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
, Witten, Hattingen,
Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
and
Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...
.


Geology

There is sedimentary rock of carbon and chalk. The geological strata can be visited in the former quarry of Klosterbusch and at the Geological Gardens.


Waterways

The urban area is divided into the river
Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
catchment in the south and the Emscher catchment in the north. The Ruhr's tributaries are the Oelbach (where as well a waste water treatment plant is established), Gerther Mühlenbach, Harpener Bach, Langendreer Bach,
Lottenbach Lottenbach is a small river of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It flows into the Oelbach near Bochum. See also *List of rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia A list of rivers of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: A * Aa, left tributary of the M ...
,
Hörsterholzer Bach __NOTOC__ The Ruhr is a river in western Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia), a right tributary (east-side) of the Rhine. Description and history The source of the Ruhr is near the town of Winterberg in the mountainous Sauerland region, at an ...
and the Knöselbach. The Ruhr in combination with upstream reservoirs is also used for drinking water abstraction. The Emscher's tributaries are Hüller Bach with Dorneburger Mühlenbach, Hofsteder Bach, Marbach, Ahbach, Kabeisemannsbach and Goldhammer Bach. The industrial developments in the region since the 19th century were leading to a kind of division of labour between the two river catchments, pumping drinking water from the Ruhr into the municipal supply system and discharging waste water mainly into the Emscher system. Today approximately 10% of the waste water in the Emscher catchment is discharged via the Hüller Bach. and treated in the centralized waste water treatment plant of the Emschergenossenschaft in Bottrop. The ecological restoration of the Emscher tributaries initiated by the Emschergenossenschaft started with the
Internationale Bauausstellung Emscher Park The Internationale Bauausstellung Emscher Park (IBA Emscher Park) or International Architecture Exhibition Emscher Park was a programme for structural changes in the so-called German Ruhr region from 1989 to 1999 in order to show new concepts in ...
in 1989.


Vegetation

The south of the city has woods, the best known of which are the . These are generally mixed forests of oak and
beech Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''Engle ...
. The occurrence of holly gives evidence of Bochum's temperate climate. 844 species of plants can be found within the city limts


Climate

Bochum features an
Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
(Köppen-Geiger classification Cfb) characterized by cool winters and short warm summers. Extreme temperatures are uncommon. However, temperatures rising above 30 °C (86 °F) are to be expected on multiple days in summer and the climate station closest to the City did record a peak temperature of 40 °C (104 °F) on July 25, 2019. On the other extreme, freezing temperatures are common between mid-November and late March. In some years, however, frosts may occur as late as early May. Temperatures below −10 °C are, especially in recent years, only seen on rare occasions. The city lies within the warmer extent of the 8a
USDA plant hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most wide ...
(−12.2 to −9.4 °C or 10 to 15 °F). Some winters may pass without a frost below −5 °C (data from the nearest active climate station). These comparably mild conditions in Winter permit the planting of plants that would either not be reliably hardy or not able to bloom throughout Germany like '' Trachycarpus'' palms, Summer lilac, '' Paulownia tomentosa'' and Rosemary. However, winters can be unpredictable with strong fluctuations in temperatures: In mid-February 2021, the city was affected by a severe cold spell bringing temperatures down to –15 degrees Celsius (5 °F) accompanied by heavy snowfall which hindered traffic for multiple days. A week later, a temperature of 17 °C (63 °F) was recorded, an increase of 32°K. The total precipitation of 815mm is distributed relatively even throughout most the year but has a peak in winter and two minima in late spring and July, respectively. June shows a second peak in precipitation due to the return of the westerlies which leads to more thunderstorms being generated along frontal boundaries of atlantic low-pressure systems. In recent years, the city was affected by summer and spring droughts. Thunderstorms are not uncommon in the warm season and can generate intense downpours and sporadically hail. The city experiences little sunshine in winter with a minimum of 1,3h per day in December and a lot more in early summer and late spring with May featuring 7,5h per day. The total amount of sunshine per year is 1689h. Due to the cities northern latitude of 51°N, seasonal daylength variation is significant. The longest day of the year, June 21, features 16 h 38 min. of daylight while the shortest day of the year which is December 21 is only 7 h and 50 min. long.


Districts

Bochum is divided into six administrative districts with a total of 362,213 inhabitants living in an urban area of . * Bochum-Mitte includes Innenstadt,
Hamme Hamme () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Hamme proper, Kastel Moerzeke, and . In 2018, Hamme had a total population of 24,827. The total area is 40.21 km². The cur ...
(including Goldhamme, and Stahlhausen), Hordel, Hofstede, Riemke, Grumme and Altenbochum There are 102,145 inhabitants living in an area of . * Wattenscheid includes Wattenscheid-Mitte, Leithe, Günnigfeld, Westenfeld, Sevinghausen, Höntrop, Munscheid and Eppendorf (which includes Engelsburg and Heide). There are 74,602 inhabitants living in an area of . * North includes Bergen,
Gerthe Gerthe is a part of the city of Bochum in the Ruhr area in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most popu ...
, Harpen (including Rosenberg), Kornharpen, Hiltrop and Voede-Abzweig. There are 37,004 inhabitants living in an area of . * East includes
Laer Laer () is a municipality in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately south of Steinfurt and north-west of Münster Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Sta ...
,
Werne Werne an der Lippe (; Westphalian: ''Wäen'') is a town in the Federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia in the Unna district in Germany. It is located on the southern edge of the Münsterland region near the Ruhrgebiet. The population of Werne ...
, and
Langendreer Langendreer is the most populous district of the city of Bochum in the Ruhr area in Germany. Langendreer is between Dortmund, the largest city of Westphalia and Langendreer-Alter Bahnhof, another district of Bochum. Langendreeer includes Kaltehard ...
(including Ümmingen and Kaltehardt). There are 55,193 inhabitants living in an area of . * South includes Wiemelhausen (which includes Brenschede, and Ehrenfeld), Stiepel (which includes Haar, Brockhausen and Schrick) and Querenburg (which includes Hustadt and Steinkuhl). There are 50,866 inhabitants living in an area of . * Southwest includes Weitmar (which includes Bärendorf, Mark, and Neuling), Sundern, Linden and Dahlhausen. There are 56,510 inhabitants living in an area of .


Politics


Mayor

The current Mayor of Bochum is Thomas Eiskirch of the
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...
(SPD), who was elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Candidate ! Party ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Thomas Eiskirch , align=left,
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...
, 85,397 , 61.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Haardt , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 28,125 , 20.3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Amid Rabieh , align=left, The Left , 8,335 , 6.0 , - , , align=left, Jens Lücking , align=left, UWG: Free Citizens , 3,937 , 2.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Felix Haltt , align=left,
Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...
, 3,441 , 2.5 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Nils-Frederick Brandt , align=left, Die PARTEI , 3,357 , 2.4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Ariane Meise , align=left, National Democratic Party , 2,546 , 1.8 , - , , align=left, Volker Steude , align=left, The Citymakers , 2,351 , 1.7 , - , , align=left, Günter Gleising , align=left, Social List Bochum , 790 , 0.6 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 138,279 ! 99.0 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 1,438 ! 1.0 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 139,717 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 287,216 ! 48.6 , - , colspan=5, Source
State Returning Officer


City council

The Bochum city council governs the city alongside the Mayor. The most recent city council election was held on 13 September 2020, and the results were as follows: ! colspan=2, Party ! Votes ! % ! +/- ! Seats ! +/- , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...
(SPD) , 46,626 , 33.7 , 4.9 , 29 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Alliance 90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...
(Grüne) , 30,658 , 22.2 , 9.3 , 19 , 8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 28,799 , 20.8 , 4.9 , 18 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 8,434 , 6.1 , 0.1 , 5 , ±0 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...
(AfD) , 7,774 , 5.6 , 2.1 , 5 , 2 , - , , align=left, UWG: Free Citizens (UWG) , 4,673 , 3.4 , 0.9 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,
Free Democratic Party Free Democratic Party is the name of several political parties around the world. It usually designates a party ideologically based on liberalism. Current parties with that name include: *Free Democratic Party (Germany), a liberal political party in ...
(FDP) , 4,517 , 3.3 , 0.4 , 3 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Die PARTEI (PARTEI) , 3,223 , 2.3 , New , 2 , New , - , , align=left, The Citymakers (Die Stadtgestalter) , 2,387 , 1.7 , 0.6 , 2 , 1 , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , , align=left, Social List Bochum (SLB) , 814 , 0.6 , 0.2 , 0 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, National Democratic Party (NPD) , 429 , 0.3 , 0.6 , 0 , 1 , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 138,334 ! 99.0 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 1,447 ! 1.0 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 139,781 ! 100.0 ! ! 86 ! 2 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 287,203 ! 48.7 ! 0.2 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
State Returning Officer


History

Bochum dates from the 9th century, when Charlemagne set up a royal court at the junction of two important trade routes. It was first officially mentioned in 1041 as ''Cofbuokheim'' in a document of the archbishops of Cologne. In 1321, Count Engelbert II von der Marck granted Bochum a town charter, but the town remained insignificant until the 19th century, when the coal mining and
steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
industries emerged in the Ruhr area, leading to the growth of the entire region. In the early 19th century it was part of the
Grand Duchy of Berg The Grand Duchy of Berg (german: Großherzogtum Berg), also known as the Grand Duchy of Berg and Cleves, was a territorial grand duchy established in 1806 by Emperor Napoleon after his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz (1805) on territories bet ...
, a client state of France, then it passed to Prussia following the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, and in 1871 it became part of the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
. The population of Bochum increased from about 4,500 in 1850 to 100,000 in 1904. Bochum acquired city status, incorporating neighbouring towns and villages. Additional population gains came from immigration, primarily from Poland. Bochum was the main center of the Polish community of the Ruhr, being the seat of various Polish organizations and enterprises. The Poles were subjected to
anti-Polish Polonophobia, also referred to as anti-Polonism, ( pl, Antypolonizm), and anti-Polish sentiment are terms for negative attitudes, prejudices, and actions against Poles as an ethnic group, Poland as their country, and their culture. These incl ...
policies aimed at
Germanisation Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, German people, people and German culture, culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationa ...
, and the Central Office for Monitoring the Polish Movement in the Rhine-Westphalian Industrial District (''Zentralstelle fur Uberwachung der Polenbewegung im Rheinisch-Westfalischen Industriebezirke'') was established by the German authorities in Bochum in 1909.


The Nazi era and World War II

On 28 October 1938, 250 Polish or stateless Jews were expelled from Bochum to Poland. On 9 November 1938, Kristallnacht, the Bochum
synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
was set on fire and there was rioting against Jewish citizens. The first Jews from Bochum were deported to Nazi concentration camps and many Jewish institutions and homes were destroyed. Some 500 Jewish citizens are known by name to have been killed in the Holocaust, including 19 who were younger than 16 years old. Joseph Klirsfeld was Bochum's rabbi at this time. He and his wife fled to Palestine. In December 1938, the Jewish elementary school teacher
Else Hirsch Else Hirsch (29 July 1889 – 1942 or 1943) was a Jewish teacher in Bochum, Germany, and a member of the German Resistance against the Third Reich. She organized transports of Jewish children to the Netherlands and England, saving them from N ...
began organising groups of children and adolescents to be sent to the Netherlands and England, sending ten groups in all. Many Jewish children and those from other persecuted groups were taken in by Dutch families and thereby saved from abduction or deportation and death. On 15 July 1939, the Gestapo entered the headquarters of the
Union of Poles in Germany Union of Poles in Germany ( pl, Związek Polaków w Niemczech, german: Bund der Polen in Deutschland e.V.) is an organisation of the Polish minority in Germany, founded in 1922. In 1924, the union initiated collaboration between other minorities, ...
in Bochum, searched it and interrogated its chief Michał Wesołowski, however, it did not obtain the desired lists of Polish activists, which had been previously hidden by Poles. Increased Nazi terror and persecutions of Poles followed, and in response, many Poles from the region came to Bochum for organizational and information meetings. During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the Nazis carried out mass arrests of local Polish activists, who were then sent to concentration camps. Local Polish premises and seats of organizations were looted and expropriated by Nazi Germany. During the war, Germany operated a prison in the city with three
forced labour Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
subcamps within present-day city limits, an additional detention center, a camp for Romani people in the present-day Wattenscheid district, and three subcamps of the
Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or su ...
. A report from July 1943 listed 100 forced labour camps in Bochum. Because the Ruhr region was an area of high residential density and a centre for the manufacture of weapons, it was a major target in the war. Women with young children, school children and the homeless fled or were evacuated to safer areas, leaving cities largely deserted to the arms industry, coal mines and steel plants and those unable to leave. During the Holocaust, in 1942–1943, local Jews were deported to German-occupied Czechoslovakia,
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
and Poland. Bochum was first bombed heavily in May and June 1943. On 13 May 1943, the city hall was hit, destroying the top floor, and leaving the next two floors in flames. On 4 November 1944, in an attack involving 700 British bombers, the steel plant, Bochumer Verein, was hit. One of the largest steel plants in Germany, more than 10,000 high-explosive and 130,000 incendiary bombs were stored there, setting off a conflagration that destroyed the surrounding neighbourhoods.70 000 Obdachlose in Bochums Zentrum
History of Bochum, World War II. "70,000 homeless in downtown Bochum" (4 November 1944) Accessed 7 March 2010
An aerial photo shows the devastation. The town centre of Bochum was a strategic target during the Oil Campaign. In 150 air raids on Bochum, over 1,300 bombs were dropped on Bochum and
Gelsenkirchen Gelsenkirchen (, , ; wep, Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies ...
. By the end of the war, 38% of Bochum had been destroyed. 70,000 citizens were homeless and at least 4,095 dead. Of Bochum's more than 90,000 homes, only 25,000 remained for the 170,000 citizens who survived the war, many by fleeing to other areas. Most of the remaining buildings were damaged, many with only one usable room. Only 1,000 houses in Bochum remained undamaged after the war. Only two of 122 schools remained unscathed; others were totally destroyed. Hunger was rampant. A resident of neighbouring
Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...
was quoted on 23 April 1945 as saying, "Today, I used up my last potato... it will be a difficult time till the new utumnpotatoes are ready to be picked – if they're not stolen." The US army ground advance into Germany reached Bochum in April 1945. Encountering desultory resistance, the US 79th Infantry Division captured the city on 10 April 1945. After the war, Bochum was occupied by the British, who established two
camps Camps may refer to: People *Ramón Camps (1927–1994), Argentine general *Gabriel Camps (1927–2002), French historian *Luís Espinal Camps (1932–1980), Spanish missionary to Bolivia *Victoria Camps (b. 1941), Spanish philosopher and professor ...
to house people displaced by the war. The majority of them were former Polish ''Zwangsarbeiter'', forced labourers, many of them from the Bochumer Verein. Allied bombing destroyed 83% of the built up area of Bochum during World War II. More than sixty years after the war, bombs continue to be found in the region, usually by construction workers. One found in October 2008 in Bochum town centre led to the evacuation of 400 and involved hundreds of emergency workers. A month earlier, a buried bomb exploded in neighbouring Hattingen, injuring 17 people.


Post-war period

After the war, Bochum was part of West Germany and the newly established state of North Rhine-Westphalia, consisting of the Rhineland and Westphalia. In the postwar period, Bochum began developing as a cultural centre of the Ruhr area. In 1965, the
Ruhr University The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...
was opened, the first modern university in the Ruhr area and the first to be founded in Germany since World War II. Since the seventies, Bochum's industry has moved from heavy industry to the service sector. Between 1960 and 1980, the coal mines all closed. Other industries, such as automotive, compensated for the loss of jobs. The Opel Astra was assembled at the Opel Bochum plant; however, by 2009, the factory was in serious financial difficulties and in December 2012, Opel announced that it would stop vehicle production at the Bochum plant in 2016. In the course of a comprehensive community reform in 1975, Wattenscheid, a formerly independent city, was integrated into the city of Bochum. A local referendum against the integration failed. In 2007, the new synagogue of the Jewish community of Bochum, Herne und Hattingen was opened. In 2008, Nokia closed down its production plant, causing the loss of thousands of jobs, both at the plant and at local suppliers. 20,000 people showed up to protest against the closing. Within months, the Canadian high-tech company, Research in Motion, announced plans to open a research facility, its first outside Canada, adding several hundred jobs."Blackberry maker RIM to set up R&D site in Bochum, add 300 jobs – report"
''Forbes Magazine,'' 14 April 2008. Accessed 1 March 2010


Places of interest


Architecture

* Bochum City Hall was built from 1927 to 1931 and was designed by architect Karl Roth as a modern office building, but in the Renaissance style, reflecting the industrial era's middle class, inventions and discoveries. There were statues of bronze and stone, and in the city council chambers, a bell tower. The ornate décor gave the Nazis an excuse to hound the then-mayor, who was of Jewish descent, driving him to suicide in 1933. Most of the bronze statues were melted down for the war effort and the stone carvings were damaged by the war, save for some small lion's heads over the entrance. Also left undamaged are two themed courtyard fountains made by August Vogel, the "Fountain of Beauty" and the "Fountain of Happiness", as well as Augusto Vasaris' florentine main entrance, which displays the motto, ''In Labore Honos'' (In labour lies honour). In 1951, a set of 28 chimes was installed, manufactured in Bochum. Known for their clarity of tone, they are the first cast steel chimes in the world. In front of the city hall is a large bell that was made by the Bochum "Verein für Bergbau und Gusstahlfabrikation AG" (Association for Mining and Cast Steel Manufacturing). Displayed at the 1867 Paris World's Fair, it has a diameter of and weighs . It was damaged during World War II and can no longer be rung. * Altes Brauhaus Rietkötter, the Old Rietkötter Brewing House is one of the oldest houses in Bochum, dating from 1630. Originally a private home, it became a brewery in 1777. After nearly being torn down after the war, it now has preservation status and today houses a restaurant, where they still brew their own beer. * The Kaufhaus Kortum department store dates from 1913 and was built as one of the nearly 20 regional stores owned by Alsberg Bros. (Gebr. Alsberg, AG) of Cologne. During the Nazi era, these stores were taken away from their Jewish owners and put into non-Jewish hands. Today, the "Kaufhaus Kortum" building has preservation status and houses an electronics store. * The Friedrich Lueg Haus was built in 1924–1925 as the first high-rise building in Bochum. Contracted by the Lueg Company, the seven-story building was designed by the architect Emil Pohle. It suffered a fire during a bombing raid in 1944 and was renovated after the war. Today, the upper floors are small offices and internet companies. The seven-theatre Bochum Union Cinema rents the ground floor, showing a variety of domestic and international films. * Mutter Wittig is a baroque-style building in the town centre, originally opened as a bakery and inn in 1870. Damaged in World War II, its façade is protected by preservation status. It houses a restaurant and its windows are decorated with displays of old Bochum. * Sparkasse Bochum (Bochum Savings Bank) is a town landmark designed by the architect
Wilhelm Kreis Wilhelm Kreis (17 March 1873 – 13 August 1955) was a prominent German architect and professor of architecture, active through four political systems in German history: the Wilhelmine era, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, and the founda ...
. It opened in 1928 and was emblematic of the modern era. It was heavily damaged during the war, but was afterwards restored to its former appearance. * The Schlegel Tower is the only remaining structure of the once-important Schlegel brewery, which closed in 1980. * The Jahrhunderthalle (Hall of the Century) is the former gas and power station of a steel mill built at the turn of the 20th century. With the closing of the mill, the plant was renovated and turned into a three-hall concert and event site with an industrial ambiance. * Dahlhauser Heide is an example of social welfare provided by wealthy German industrialists for their workers. Built in the early 1900s by the
Krupp The Krupp family (see pronunciation), a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, is notable for its production of steel, artillery, ammunition and other armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG (Friedrich Krup ...
family for their coal mine workers, the modest and tastefully designed two-family houses were to enable self-sufficiency by providing gardens and a stall for a pig or a goat, "the miner's cow". The estate, which has the appearance of a small, rural town, gained preservation status in the 1970s. * Blankenstein Castle was built in the 13th century by Count
Adolf I of the Mark Adolf I, Count de la Mark (German: ''Adolf I. Graf von der Mark und Krickenbeck''; c. 1182? – 28 June 1249), until 1226 also known as Adolf I, Count of Altena-Mark. He was son of Frederick I, Count of Berg-Altena and Alveradis of Krickenbeck, d ...
. Though located in Hattingen, it is owned by Bochum and has a significant history. On 8 June 1321, Count Engelbert II of the Mark granted Bochum its town charter there. Today, only the gate and one tower remain. * Haus Kemnade is a moated castle. Though located in the town of Hattingen, the castle is property of the city of Bochum in 1921. Documents regarding its earliest dates of construction have been lost; it is first mentioned in 1393. Parts of the castle were built during the Renaissance and baroque periods. The castle's location on the banks of the Ruhr river was changed when the flood of 1486 receded on the opposite side, cutting the castle off from the neighbouring village. The castle remained in private hands till 1921, when it was deeded to the city of Bochum. In 1961, a museum of local history was installed, including a large collection of 16th to 20th century musical instruments. A collection of East Asian objects is also now located there, as well as a satellite of the Bochum Museum and an art exhibition space. There is also a restaurant on site. Behind the castle is a timber-framed farmhouse from 1800, now a museum exhibiting farm life from the past. * The
Exzenterhaus The Exzenterhaus is a commercial office building in Bochum, Germany. Designed by architect Gerhard Spangenberg, the building was constructed on top of an air raid shelter built during the World War II era. Overview The cylindrical bomb shelter ...
is a commercial office building which is the tallest building in Bochum at 90.5 metres. It was constructed on top of World War II era bunker, with the more modern section of the building rising 15 storeys above the top of the bunker. The top 15 floors are split into three, five storey sections, each which cantilever up to 4.5 metres, giving the impression of twisting structure.


Religious architecture

* Propsteikirche St. Peter und Paul is the oldest church in Bochum, built between 785 and 800 by Charlemagne. It was rebuilt in the 11th century, but was severely damaged by fire in 1517. In 1547, it was again rebuilt, this time in the late Gothic style. The 68-metre (223 ft) high bell tower is one of the landmarks of Bochum. The interior includes a baptismal font from 1175, the reliquary shrine of St.
Perpetua Perpetua and Felicity ( la, Perpetua et Felicitas) were Christian martyrs of the 3rd century. Vibia Perpetua was a recently married, well-educated noblewoman, said to have been 22 years old at the time of her death, and mother of an infant son s ...
and her slave Felicitas, and a high altar with a crucifix from 1352. * Pauluskirche is the main Protestant church of the city. After the Reformation, both Catholics and Lutherans shared the Propsteikirche, often contentiously. In 1655, the Lutherans began to build their own church with the help of donations from the Dutch Republic,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
,
Courland Courland (; lv, Kurzeme; liv, Kurāmō; German and Scandinavian languages: ''Kurland''; la, Curonia/; russian: Курляндия; Estonian: ''Kuramaa''; lt, Kuršas; pl, Kurlandia) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. ...
and Denmark. The church was heavily damaged in a bombing raid on 12 June 1943 and was later rebuilt after the war. Next to the church is a monument to peace. A statue of an old woman searching for a loved one, it is also a memorial to the 4 November 1944 bombing raid on Bochum.
Hans Ehrenberg Hans Philipp Ehrenberg (; 4 June 1883 – 21 March 1958) was a German Jewish philosopher and theologian. One of the co-founders of the Confessing Church, he was forced to emigrate to England because of his Jewish ancestry and his opposition to ...
served as minister here, until he was arrested and sent to
Sachsenhausen Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...
by the Nazis. * The Christuskirche, built in the neo-Gothic style, opened in 1879 and was among the most beautiful churches in Europe. In 1931, the room in the steeple was extended to a cenotaph for those killed in World War I. During an air raid in 1943, the church was destroyed, except for the steeple. After the war, the ruins were integrated into a new, modern structure and the steeple became a memorial dedicated to peace and understanding among nations. * The neo-Gothic Marienkirche, built between 1868 and 1872, was heavily damaged in World War II (see photo above), but was rebuilt after the war. It is now closed and scheduled for demolition. The stained glass windows have been removed and it has fallen victim to vandalism. * Stiepeler Dorfkirche is over 1000 years old and was commemorated by a stamp in 2008. A small church consisting of one room was built by Countess Imma von Stiepel. Between 1130 and 1170, the old church was replaced by a Romanesque basilica. Today, the steeple and transept remain. Between 1150 and 1200, the interior walls and ceiling were decorated with a number of Romanesque paintings. * The new synagogue, which opened in 2007, consists of a white cube and stands in contrast to the round shape of the planetarium next door. The façade shows overall a variation on the Solomon's Seal achieved by relocated brickstones. The interior is graced with a gold-coloured canopy.


Parks and gardens

Bochum has a municipal zoo, a large municipal park and a number of other gardens and parks. The Ruhr University Botanical Gardens has thousands of plants from all over the world. Among others there is a tropical garden, a cactus garden, and a
Chinese garden The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the Chinese emperors and members of the imperial family, built for pleasure and to impress, and the more intimate ...
designed in the southern Chinese style, the only one of its kind in Germany. The Geological Garden was the first of its kind in Germany. The nearly park is the site of an old coal mine, the Zeche Friederika, which operated from 1750 to 1907. In 1962, the property came under environmental protection and a decade later was turned into a geological garden. Other scenic areas include the West Park, Lake Kemnade, Lake Ümmingen and the municipal forest, Weitmarer Holz.


Society and culture


Leisure and entertainment

Bochum is a cultural centre of the Ruhr region. There is a municipal theatre, the Schauspielhaus Bochum, and about 20 smaller theatres and stages. The musical '' Starlight Express'', which opened in 1988, is the longest-running musical in Germany.


Bermudadreieck

The Bermudadreieck (Bermuda Triangle), in the city center of Bochum, functions as the town's nightlife hub. Around sixty different bars and restaurants are located there, serving multicultural cuisine such as Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Italian, Spanish and German gastronomic specialties. Close to the Bermudadreieck is the
Anneliese Brost Musikforum Ruhr The Anneliese Brost Musikforum Ruhr is a music hall for classical music. It is located in Bochum, Germany. It was opened on 28 October 2016. The building consists of three parts: an auditorium holding up to 1026 people, the entrance area in the mi ...
, opened in 2016.


Annual events

* ''Jumble Sale'' – on the third Saturday of the month, in front of city hall * April/May: ''Maiabendfest'' – local festival, hundreds of years old * May: Steam Festival (every other year ven or odd? * June events: ::''Rubissimo'', Ruhr University's summer festival :: ''Kemnade International'' :: ''Extraschicht'' – Night of Industrial Heritage (many locations all over the Ruhr area) * June/July: ''VfL for Fun'' – summer festival for Bochum's football (soccer) team, VfL Bochum 1848 * July: ''Bochum Total'' (Rock Music Festival) – starts on the first weekend after school lets out * July or August: ''Bochum kulinarisch'' – culinary treats from various cuisines, held the last weekend of summer vacation * August: ''Bochumer Musiksommer'', Bochum's Summer of Music * September: ''Open Flair'' – international cabaret and street theatre * October: ''Oktobermarkt'' – October Market * October/November: ''Bochumer Bachtage'' – music of composer Johann Sebastian Bach * October/November: ''Ruhrgebiets-Antiquariatstag'' – used and antique book sale * November: Children's and Teenagers' Theatre * December: ''Weihnachtsmarkt'' – Christmas Market – month-long open air market spread over the heart of downtown Bochum, includes performance stages


Museums

* The ''Bergbaumuseum'' is a museum about mining technology, complete with pithead tower. * '' Railway Museum'' and ''Station Dahlhausen'' in the borough of Dahlhausen. Dr.-C.-Otto-Straße 191 * Zeiss Planetarium * At the city's border with Herne-(Röhlinghausen), is the former mine ''Zeche Hannover'' with the Malakow Tower and engine hall. There is a steam-powered winding engine, which is operated at events. * ''Zeche Knirps'' ("Small Boy Mine") located on the ground of Mine Hannover. It gives children the opportunity to experience the processes in a mine. * Museum of local history ''Helf's Farm'', Address: In den Höfen 37 * ''Farmhouse Museum'' located on the grounds of moated Kemnade Castle * ''Museum of historic medical tools'' in the Malokos-Tower of former Mine Julius-Philipp from 1875. Address: Malakowturm, Markstraße 258a, 44799 Bochum * ''Telefonmuseum'', Karl-Lange-Str. 17 * ''Kunstmuseum Bochum'', Kortumstraße 147, 44787 Bochum


Art galleries

* Museum of Art: The collection's focus is central and eastern European avant garde art, German expressionism, surrealism and outsider art. Kortumstraße 147, Bochum * Ruhr University art collection: Modern art meets the classical. Marble and bronze portraits of Greek and Roman emperors, collection of antique Greek vases from the 9th to 4th century, B.C. Universitätsstraße 150, Bochum * Schlieker House: In the former apartment and studio of German painter
Hans-Jürgen Schlieker Hans-Jürgen Schlieker (April 8, 1924 – March 12, 2004) was a German abstract painter, grouped in importance with Hans Hartung, Bernard Schultze and Emil Schumacher. Biography Schlieker was born in 1924 in Schöningen (today Grędziec, Pol ...
(1924–2004); changing exhibitions. Paracelsusweg 16, 44801 Bochum * Situation Kunst: (Situation Art) Located at "Haus Weitmar" park. Indoor permanent exhibition with works by Gianni Colombo, Dan Flavin, Gotthard Graupner,
Norbert Kricke Norbert Kricke (30 November 1922 – 28 June 1984) was a German sculptor. Born in Düsseldorf, Kricke was a student of Richard Scheibe and Hans Uhlmann at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Berlin. He started creating abstract sculptures from ...
,
Lee Ufan Lee Ufan (Korean: 이우환, Hanja: 李禹煥, born 1936 in Haman County, in South Kyongsang province in Korea) is a Korean minimalist painter and sculptor artist and academic, honored by the government of Japan for having "contributed to the ...
,
François Morellet François Morellet (30 April 1926 – 10 May 2016) was a French contemporary abstract painter, sculptor, and light artist. His early work prefigured minimal art and conceptual art and he played a prominent role in the development of geometrical a ...
, Maria Nordman,
David Rabinowitch David Rabinowitch (born March 6, 1943) is a Canadian visual artist who exhibits internationally and is best known for his non-representational steel constructionsA Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 ( ...
,
Arnulf Rainer Arnulf Rainer (born 8 December 1929) is an Austrian painter noted for his abstract informal art. Rainer was born in Baden, Austria. During his early years, Rainer was influenced by Surrealism. In 1950, he founded the ''Hundsgruppe'' (''dog gro ...
, Dirk Reinartz,
Ad Reinhardt Adolph Dietrich Friedrich Reinhardt (December 24, 1913 – August 30, 1967) was an abstract painter active in New York for more than three decades. He was a member of the American Abstract Artists (AAA) and part of the movement centere ...
,
Robert Ryman Robert Ryman (May 30, 1930February 8, 2019) was an American painter identified with the movements of monochrome painting, minimalism, and conceptual art. He was best known for abstract, white-on-white paintings. He lived and worked in New York C ...
, Richard Serra, Jan J. Schoonhoven; also the Africa and Asia Room. Nevelstraße 29c, 44795 Bochum * Musical Instrument Collection, Hans and Hede Grumbt: Large collection of musical instruments, also the clarinet collection of Johan van Kalker. An der Kemnade 10, 45527 Hattingen * Ostasiatika Collection Ehrich: Kurt Ehrich's east Asian collection of Japanese ''netsuke'', belt buckles, a display of the seven "lucky gods" and other additional objects. An der Kemnade 10, 45527 Hattingen, * ER MindArts: Contemporary Art online Gallery was established in Bochum in 2014. www.ermindarts.com


Public art

* Richard Serra's sculpture, "Terminal" is located in the town centre, near the central station. It consists of four 12-metre (over 39 feet) tall steel plates. * Ulrich Rückriem's sculpture, "Ohne Titel" (titled "Untitled"), in front of the Kunstmuseum Bochum (Museum of Art). * Memorial of the herdsman at Massenberg-Boulevard: Memorial for "the good old times", when Bochum was a farmers town. The herdsmans of the town guided until 1870 the cattle of the citizens to the "Vöde", a grassland outside the town limits, a part of it is today the municipal park. Local legends say it is "the last herdsman Fritz Kortebusch". But he died 1866, nevertheless he done this job for a long time. * Engelbert statue in the front of the Propsteikirche. In former times it was a fountain with statue at the Kortumstrasse. It is for memory of Earl Engelbert III, who founded the so-called Maiabendfest. It is often assumed that the statue shows his grandfather Engelbert II, who granted extended market rights to Bochum in 1321. * Jobsiade-fountain at Husemann-Square. Shown is a scene of the examination of Hieronymus Jobs, the main character of the "Jobsiade", a comical poem of the poet Carl Armold Kortum. * "The envolvement of the City", sculpture of at Schützenbahn street. * Collection of sculptures inside the municipal park. * The bell in front of the city hall serves as a reminder of the improvement of steel-casting in Bochum. The bell was built in 1867 for the Paris World's Fair. * Stolpersteine (literally, "stumbling stones") are small, cobblestone-sized, brass commemorative plaques which are set in sidewalks all over Europe, marking the homes or work places of Jews and others who were arrested and murdered during the Nazi era. There are 38 stolpersteine in Bochum. * Cenotaph for the victims of the mine disaster at "Vereinigte Präsident" in 1936 at the graveyard in Bochum-Hamme. The sculpture was created by Wilhelm Wulff. Strict guidelines for artwork were in effect during the Nazi dictatorship, yet the sculpture follows only a few of them. The inscription also avoids typical Nazi phraseology.


Sports

* The
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club
VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seas ...
played in the first Division from 1971 to 1992, and from 1992 to 2010 was alternating almost every year between first and second Division, but mostly first. From 2010 to 2021 it played in the second Division (
2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...
) before being promoted back to the first Division for the 2021–2022 season. * Sparkassen Giro Bochum – annual road bike race.


Located companies

*
ARAL AG Aral may refer to: People * Cahit Aral (1927–2011), Turkish engineer, politician and former government minister * Coşkun Aral (born 1956), Turkish photo journalist and war correspondent * Göran Aral (born 1953), Swedish footballer * Meriç Ar ...
(Head Office), an enterprise of the Deutsche BP AG * Bochumer Eisenhütte Heintzmann GmbH & Co. KG – Mining, tunnelling and heat treatment * Bochumer Verein – formerly the "Inoxum" part of the ThyssenKrupp enterprise, now
Outokumpu Nirosta Outokumpu Nirosta is a business segment of Outokumpu, headquartered in Krefeld, Germany. It produces flats of stainless steel. Prior to January 2012, it was named ThyssenKrupp Nirosta and part of ThyssenKrupp AG. The unit has a plant in Bochum. The ...
* Bogestra (Head Office) – Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Straßenbahnen AG, local traffic firm * Sparkasse Bochum – public-law bank * Vonovia – Germany's largest residential property company (headquarters) * Dr. C. Otto & Comp. – fire-proof materials *
Faber Lotto-Service GmbH Faber may refer to: People * Faber (surname) Companies * Faber and Faber (also known as "Faber and Gwyer"), publishing house in the United Kingdom * Faber-Castell, German manufacturer of writing instruments * Faber Music, British sheet mus ...
* G Data CyberDefense AG (Head Office) – contractor of IT security solutions. well-known product: G Data AntiVirus * GEA Group AG founded in Bochum, headquarter moved to Düsseldorf in 2011 * Gebr. Eickhoff Maschinenfabrik und Eisengießerei GmbH * GLS Bank * I.S.T. Services * Johnson Controls, just-in-time industry supplier for parts of the car, especially for Opel * Meteomedia GmbH (Head Office) – private weather service, German subsidiary of the Swiss
Meteomedia ag Meteomedia is a company founded by Jörg Kachelmann, which operates a large network of Weather stations in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. The company's services include weather forecasts, severe weather warnings and meteorological consultancy. I ...
* Möbel Hardeck – furniture shop * Privatbrauerei Moritz Fiege, middle-large regional beer brewery *
QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network, and flagship shopping channel specializing in televised home shopping, owned by Qurate Retail Group. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Chester, Penn ...
– call centre *
Roeser Medical Roeser Medical Group is a German trading and service company in the healthcare sector. The company is a leading German distributor of medical supplies to hospitals. History Roeser Medical was founded by Leonhard Hermann Josef Roeser in Esse ...
* ThyssenKrupp *
United Cinemas International UCI Cinemas (''United Cinemas International'') is a brand of cinema, currently operating in Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Brazil, which has been owned since 2004 by Odeon Cinemas Group, whose owner is now AMC Theatres, except for the UCI Cinemas ...
* USB Umweltservice Bochum GmbH – municipal disposal firm (100% subsidiary of the Bochumer Stadtwerke) * Wollschläger Gruppe (Head Office) – trading house in the sector tooling equipment and machines (bankrupt)


Transport


Roads

Bochum is connected to the Autobahn network by the A 40, A 43 and A 44 autobahns. In addition, Bochum has a ring road, built to expressway standards, consisting of four segments; the Donezk, Oviedo, Nordhausen and Sheffield-Ring roads. It serves as a three-quarter loop around central Bochum and begins and ends at Autobahn A40.
Ruhr University Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...
is also served by an expressway running from the Nordhausen-Ring to Autobahn A43. Until 2012, a new interchange (Dreieck Bochum-West) between the Donezk-Ring and Autobahn A40 is being constructed within tight parameters due to the existence of a nearby factory. Apart from the autobahns and expressways, there is also a small ring road around the centre of Bochum, where most roads radiating out of Bochum begin. Most main roads in Bochum are multi-lane roads with traffic lights. Bochum is also served by the
Bundesstraße 51 The Bundesstraße 51 (translates from German ''Federal road'', abbreviated as B 51) runs from Bremen in south-west direction though Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, and ends at the French border in the tow ...
and
Bundesstraße 226 ''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways. Germany Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km. German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...
. B51 runs to Herne and Hattingen, and B226 runs to Gelsenkirchen and Witten.


Railways

Bochum has a central station situated on the line from Duisburg to Dortmund, connecting the city to the long-distance network of
Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...
as well as to the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn network.


Bus, tram, underground

Local service is supplied mainly by BOGESTRA, a joint venture handling transportation between the cities of Bochum and Gelsenkirchen. The Bochum Stadtbahn is a single underground line connecting the University of Bochum to Herne, and the Bochum/Gelsenkirchen tramway network is made up of several lines, partially underground, connecting to Gelsenkirchen, Hattingen and Witten. Public transport in the city is priced according to the fare system of the VRR transport association.


Waterways

As one of the few Ruhr area cities, Bochum is not directly connected with the German waterway net; the closest link is in the more northern located Herne at the Rhine-Herne Canal. In the south the border of Bochum is marked by the
Ruhr The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
. Up to the first half of the 19th century it was one of the most-travelled rivers in Europe and was mainly used for coal departure. Aside from cruise ships, it is no longer used for commercial navigation.


Air

The closest airports are Essen/Mülheim Airport (27 km),
Dortmund Airport Dortmund Airport is a minor international airport located east of Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It serves the eastern Rhine-Ruhr area, the largest urban agglomeration in Germany, and is mainly used for low-cost and leisure charter flight ...
(31 km) and Düsseldorf Airport (47 km). To reach the airport in Düsseldorf, there are ICE, InterCity, RE and S railway lines. Other reachable airports are the Cologne Bonn Airport, the Weeze Airport, the
Münster Osnabrück International Airport Münster Osnabrück International Airport , ''Flughafen Münster/Osnabrück'' in German, is a minor international airport in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located near Greven, north of Münster and south of Osnabrück. The ...
and the Paderborn Lippstadt Airport.


Education


Higher education

*
Ruhr University Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...
, founded 1965 * Bochum University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Bochum, formerly ''Fachhochschule Bochum'') * Georg Agricola University of Applied Sciences (TH Georg Agricola) * Protestant University of Applied Sciences, Rheinland-Westphalia-Lippe (Evangelische FH Rheinland-Westfalen-Lippe) *
Schauspielschule Bochum Schauspielschule Bochum is the informal name of a drama school in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which is now part of the Folkwang University of the Arts. It has a long tradition, being founded in 1939 as Westfälische Schauspielschu ...
(Bochum drama school) * College of the Federal Social Security, Department of Social Insurance for Seafarers (Fachhochschule des Bundes der Sozialversicherung, Abteilung Knappschaft-Bahn-See) * University of Health Sciences (Hochschule für Gesundheit)


Elementary and secondary schools

There are 61 primary schools, 9
Hauptschule A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...
n ("general schools") and 14
special school Special education (known as special-needs education, aided education, exceptional education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, or SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates th ...
s. In addition, there are 11 preparatory (British: grammar) schools (" Gymnasien"), 5
comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...
s ("Gesamtschulen"), 8 Realschulen and 2 private Waldorf schools. "Gymnasien" – preparatory schools (British: grammar school): * Goethe-Schule Bochum *
Graf-Engelbert-Schule Graf-Engelbert School is an urban high school for boys and girls in Bochum, Germany. Near the center of the city and the tree-lined Königsallee, it is located on Else-Hirsch-Straße. Else Hirsch was a teacher in Bochum during the Nazi era and o ...
* Heinrich-von-Kleist-Schule * Hellweg-Schule * Hildegardis-Schule * Lessing-Schule * Märkische Schule * Neues Gymnasium Bochum (school formed by merger of the former Albert-Einstein-Schule and Gymnasium am Ostring) * Schiller-Schule * Theodor-Körner-Schule "Gesamtschulen" –
comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...
s: * Erich Kästner-Gesamtschule Schule * Heinrich-Böll-Gesamtschule * Maria Sibylla Merian-Gesamtschule * Willy-Brandt-Gesamtschule * Matthias-Claudius-Schulen Realschulen – high schools: * Anne-Frank-Schule * Annette-von-Droste-Hülshoff-Schule * Franz-Dinnendahl-Schule * Hans-Böckler-Schule * Helene-Lange-Schule * Hugo-Schultz-Schule * Pestalozzi-Schule * Realschule Höntrop * Freie-Schule Bochum (with elementary school) Waldorf schools: * Rudolf Steiner Schule Bochum * Widar Schule Wattenscheid


Twin towns – sister cities

Bochum is twinned with: * Sheffield, England, United Kingdom (1950) *
Oviedo Oviedo (; ast, Uviéu ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located ap ...
, Spain (1980) * Donetsk, Ukraine (1987) *
Nordhausen Nordhausen may refer to: * Nordhausen (district), a district in Thuringia, Germany ** Nordhausen, Thuringia, a city in the district **Nordhausen station, the railway station in the city * Nordhouse, a commune in Alsace (German: Nordhausen) * Narost ...
, Germany (1990) *
Tsukuba is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 244,528 in 108,669 households and a population density of 862 persons per km². The percentage of the population aged over 65 was 20.3%. The total ar ...
, Japan (2019) There is a major road in Bochum named Sheffield-Ring after its sister city Sheffield, England. There is also a long section of dual carriageway on the south-western edge of Sheffield, between the suburbs of Meadowhead and Gleadless, named Bochum Parkway.


Notable people

*
Lore Agnes Lore Agnes (4 June 1876, Bochum, Westphalia – 9 June 1953, Cologne) was a German politician. A house-wife from Düsseldorf, Agnes was a leading figure in the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the socialist women's movement in th ...
(1876–1953), politician and women's rights activist *
Kurt Biedenkopf Kurt Hans Biedenkopf (; 28 January 1930 – 12 August 2021) was a German jurist, academic teacher and politician of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU). He was rector of the Ruhr University Bochum. Biedenkopf made a political career firs ...
(1930–2021), politician (CDU), 1967–1969 Rector of the
Ruhr University The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...
*
Jochen Borchert Jochen Borchert (born 25 April 1940 in Nahrstedt, Stendal (district), Stendal) is a German politician and member of the Christian Democratic Union (Germany), CDU. He was Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, minister of Fo ...
(born 1940), politician (CDU), 1993–1998 Federal Minister of Food, Agriculture and Forestry *
Willi Brokmeier Willi Brokmeier (born 8 April 1928) is a German operatic lyric tenor. He focused on operetta roles, with an expressive voice and great acting talent, also appearing in several operetta films. He participated in world premieres and revivals, and ...
(born 1928), operatic tenor * Elmar Budde (born 1935), musicologist *
Wolfgang Clement Wolfgang Clement (7 July 194027 September 2020) was a German politician and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). He was the 7th Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 27 May 1998 to 22 October 2002 and Federal ...
(1940–2020), politician (SPD), former Minister of Economy and Labour *
Hans Ehrenberg Hans Philipp Ehrenberg (; 4 June 1883 – 21 March 1958) was a German Jewish philosopher and theologian. One of the co-founders of the Confessing Church, he was forced to emigrate to England because of his Jewish ancestry and his opposition to ...
(1883–1958), theologian, Nazi critic, and co-founder of the Confessing Church * Manfred Eigen (1927–2019), 1967 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry * Tommy Finke (born 1981), songwriter and composer *
Josef Franke Josef Franke (12 March 1876 – 16 January 1944) was a German architect. He created a number of sacred and secular buildings in the Ruhrgebiet, particularly in Gelsenkirchen. He is noted for his work in the 1920s in the brick-expressionist ...
(1876–1944), architect *
Kuno Gonschior Kuno Gonschior (10 September 1933 in Wanne-Eickel – 16 March 2010 in Bochum) was a German painter. From 1957 to 1961, Gonschior studied painting at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. In 1959, he was one of the first students of Karl Otto Götz, ...
(1935–2010), painter and university professor *
Frank Goosen Frank Goosen (born 31 May 1966) is a German cabaret artist and author. Biography Goosen was born on 31 May 1966 in Bochum, West Germany. He went the Ruhr University Bochum majoring in history, German studies and political science graduating i ...
(born 1966), cabaret artist and author, wrote ''
Learning to Lie ''Learning to Lie'' (german: Liegen lernen) is a German film released in 2003. It is based on the novel of Frank Goosen from the year 2000. Plot Beginning in West Germany in 1982, 18-year-old school boy ''Helmut'' falls in love with fellow pup ...
'' *
Herbert Grönemeyer Herbert Arthur Wiglev Clamor Grönemeyer (born 12 April 1956) is a German singer, musician, producer, composer and actor, popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Grönemeyer starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Pete ...
(born 1956), actor ('' Das Boot''), singer, songwriter of the song ''"Bochum"'' *
Claus Holm Claus Holm (4 August 1918 – 21 September 1996) was a German film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1943 and 1979. He was born in Bochum, Germany and died in Berlin, Germany. Selected filmography * ''Floh im Ohr'' (1943) - Knecht Han ...
(1918–1996), actor, born in Bochum *
Else Hirsch Else Hirsch (29 July 1889 – 1942 or 1943) was a Jewish teacher in Bochum, Germany, and a member of the German Resistance against the Third Reich. She organized transports of Jewish children to the Netherlands and England, saving them from N ...
(1889–1943), Jewish teacher who organised 10 Kindertransports to England and the Netherlands * Max Imdahl (1925–1988), art historian *
Rolf Kanies Rolf Kanies (born 21 December 1957) is a German actor who played many high-profile roles on the stage before switching to a career in film and television in 1997. Since then Rolf has specialized in German and international film and television. M ...
(born 1957), actor, studied at
Schauspielschule Bochum Schauspielschule Bochum is the informal name of a drama school in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which is now part of the Folkwang University of the Arts. It has a long tradition, being founded in 1939 as Westfälische Schauspielschu ...
and performed at Schauspielhaus Bochum *
Heinz Kaminski Heinz Kaminski (15 June 1921 – 17 February 2002) was a German chemical engineer and space researcher. Heinz Kaminski founded and later directed the Bochum Observatory. He also busied himself with environmental research. Although Kaminski was ...
(1921–2002), chemical engineer and space scientist * Alfred Keller (1882–1974), general in the Luftwaffe during the Second World War *
Gershon Kingsley Gershon Kingsley (born Götz Gustav Ksinski; October 28, 1922 – December 10, 2019) was a German-American composer, a pioneer of electronic music and the Moog synthesizer, a partner in the electronic music duo Perrey and Kingsley, founde ...
(1922–2019), Broadway musical director and composer, most notably of the electronic hit ''
Popcorn Popcorn (also called popped corn, popcorns or pop-corn) is a variety of corn kernel which expands and puffs up when heated; the same names also refer to the foodstuff produced by the expansion. A popcorn kernel's strong hull contains the se ...
'' * Thomas Köner (born 1965), multimedia artist *
Carl Arnold Kortum Carl Arnold Kortum (July 5, 1745 – August 15, 1824) was a German physician, but best known for his writing and poetry. Born in Mülheim, Kortum studied medicine and was from 1771 physician in Bochum, where he died in 1824. Kortum wrote severa ...
(1745–1824), physician and writer *
Christine Lang Christine Lang (born 23 December 1957, in Bochum, West Germany) is a German microbiologist and entrepreneur. She is an adjunct professor of microbiology and molecular genetics and teaches genetics in biotechnology at Technische Universität Be ...
(born 1957), German microbiologist *
Norbert Lammert Norbert Lammert (born 16 November 1948) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as the 12th President of the Bundestag from 2005 to 2017. Early life and education The son of a baker, Lammert attended gymnasium ...
(born 1948), politician (CDU), president (Speaker) of the Bundestag (German parliament) *
Karl-Heinz von Liebezeit Karl-Heinz von Liebezeit (born 10 July 1960 in Karlsruhe, West Germany) is a German television actor. Selected filmography * Derrick A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articu ...
(born 1960), actor, went to grammar and drama schools in Bochum * Hans Matthöfer (1925–2009), politician (SPD) *
Ingo Naujoks Ingo Naujoks is a German actor. He was born on 1 March 1962 in Bochum, West Germany. He won the German Comedy Award for his performance in the TV series '' Bewegte Männer''. He is also known for his performance in Rick And Olli. He is als ...
(born 1962), actor *
Hans Werner Olm Hans Werner Olm (Born Hans Olm, 1 February 1955 in Bochum) is a German television and film comedian.Römhild, Gerhard (2011)Ickern sagt herzlich willkommen, derwesten.de, 12 July 2011, retrieved 2011-07-31 His career began in 1975, when Olm t ...
(born 1955), comedian * Andrei Osterman (1686–1747), Bochum-born Russian statesman. * Bastian Pastewka (born 1972), actor and comedian *
Konrad Raiser Konrad Raiser (born 25 January 1938) is a former General Secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC). Biography Born in Magdeburg, Germany on 25 January 1938, Raiser spent his childhood in Schwerin, Göttingen and Bad Godesberg. After gra ...
(born 1938), former General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, taught theology in Bochum *
Christian Redl Christian Redl (born 20 April 1948) is a German actor and singer. Life Christian Redl is the son of a teacher. He grew up in Kassel, trained from 1967 to 1970 at the Schauspielschule Bochum and was then engaged in theatres in Wuppertal, Frankf ...
(born 1948), actor, studied at
Schauspielschule Bochum Schauspielschule Bochum is the informal name of a drama school in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which is now part of the Folkwang University of the Arts. It has a long tradition, being founded in 1939 as Westfälische Schauspielschu ...
* Armin Rohde (born 1955), actor * Gerhard Charles Rump (born 1947), art historian and art dealer * Otto Schily (born 1932), lawyer, politician (first The Greens, now SPD), former Minister of the Interior *
Hans-Jürgen Schlieker Hans-Jürgen Schlieker (April 8, 1924 – March 12, 2004) was a German abstract painter, grouped in importance with Hans Hartung, Bernard Schultze and Emil Schumacher. Biography Schlieker was born in 1924 in Schöningen (today Grędziec, Pol ...
(1924–2004), painter *
Peter Scholl-Latour Peter Roman Scholl-Latour (9 March 1924 – 16 August 2014) was a French-German journalist, author and legendary reporter. Biography Peter Scholl-Latour, who was born in the Province of Westphalia and grew up in Lorraine, was the son of dermat ...
(1924–2014), German-French journalist and writer *
Paul Sethe Paul Sethe (12 December 1901 – 21 June 1967) was a German writer and journalist. Life and work Sethe studied history, German and art history at the University of Bonn. In 1932 he received his doctorate with thesis about the British naval comm ...
(1901–1967), journalist * André Tanneberger (born 1973), also known as "ATB", electronic music producer, began his career in Wattenscheid * Jing Xiang (born 1993), actress at Schauspielhaus Bochum


Sport

*
Albert Bollmann Albert Bollmann (5 October 1889 – 26 January 1959) was a German international footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association footba ...
(1889–1959), football player * Hermann Gerland (born 1954), football player and coach * Leon Goretzka (born 1995), football player, Olympic silver medalist * Mark Warnecke (born 1970), breaststroke swimmer, won the world title at the age of 35 *
Lirim Zendeli Lirim Zendeli (born 18 October 1999 in Bochum) is a German racing driver of Macedonian-Albanian descent who is set to compete in the 2023 USF Pro 2000 Championship with TJ Speed Motorsports. He last competed as a substitute driver for Campos ...
(born 1999), racing driver


See also

* VfL Bochum: personnel and celebrities *
Kruppwerke Kruppwerke is a part of the city of Bochum in the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europ ...
, part of the city of Bochum *
Südinnenstadt Südinnenstadt is a statistical area of the city of Bochum in the Ruhr area, an agglomeration of about 5 million residents in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the s ...
, part of the city of Bochum


References


External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia Ruhr Holocaust locations in Germany Members of the Hanseatic League