Oberhausen (, ) is a city on the river

Emscher The Emscher () is a river, a tributary of the Rhine, that flows through the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia in western Germany. Its overall length is with an mean outflow near the mouth into the lower Rhine of . Description The Emscher h ...

in the

Ruhr Area 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 ...

, Germany, located between

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

and

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 ...

( ). The city hosts the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen and its

Gasometer Oberhausen The Gasometer Oberhausen is a former gas holder in Oberhausen, Germany, which has been converted into an exhibition space. It has hosted several large scale exhibitions, including two by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The Gasometer is an industrial lan ...

is an anchor point of the

European Route of Industrial Heritage The European Route of Industrial Heritage (ERIH) is a tourist route of the most important industrial heritage sites in Europe. This is a tourism industry information initiative to present a network of industrial heritage sites across Europe. The a ...

History

Oberhausen was named for its 1847 railway station which had taken its name from the Oberhausen Castle. The new borough was formed in 1862 following inflow of people for the local

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

mines 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 ...

mills. Awarded town rights in 1874, Oberhausen absorbed several neighbouring boroughs including Alstaden, parts of

Styrum Styrum (; sometimes spelled "Stirum") was an immediate lordship in the Holy Roman Empire, located in Mülheim an der Ruhr, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It held no seat in the Diet and was circumvened by the Lordship of Broich. The exact dat ...

and Dümpten in 1910. Oberhausen became a city in 1901, and they incorporated the towns of Sterkrade and Osterfeld in 1929. The Ruhrchemie AG synthetic oil plant ("Oberhausen-Holten" or "Sterkrade/Holten") was a bombing target of the oil campaign of World War II, and the US forces reached the plant by 4 April 1945. In 1973,

Thyssen AG Thyssen was a major German steel producer founded by August Thyssen. The company merged with Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp to form ThyssenKrupp in 1999. History On 29 September 1891, August Thyssen and his brother Joseph Thyssen came to be i ...

employed 14,000 people in Oberhausen in the steel industry, but ten years later the number had fallen to 6,000. In 1954 the city began hosting the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, and the 1982

Deutscher Filmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important ...

was awarded to a group that wrote the

Oberhausen Manifesto The Oberhausen Manifesto was a declaration by a group of 26 young German filmmakers at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia on 28 February 1962. The manifesto was a call to arms to establish a "new German featur ...

Demographics

Population development since 1862: The age breakdown of the population (2013) is: There were 12.5% non-Germans living in Oberhausen, as of 2014. The unemployment rate is 10.4% (Jul 2020). Migrant communities in Oberhausen as of 31 December 2017:

Politics

Mayor

The current Mayor of Oberhausen is Daniel Schranz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020. The most recent mayoral election was held on 13 September 2020, with a runoff held on 27 September, and the results were as follows: ! rowspan=2 colspan=2, Candidate ! rowspan=2, Party ! colspan=2, First round ! colspan=2, Second round , - ! Votes ! % ! Votes ! % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Daniel Schranz , align=left, Christian Democratic Union , 30,150 , 45.5 , 28,456 , 62.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Thorsten Berg , 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 ...

, 19,699 , 29.7 , 17,381 , 37.9 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Norbert Emil Axt , 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 ...

, 7,002 , 10.6 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Wolfgang Kempkes , 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 ...

, 4,521 , 6.8 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Jens Carstensen , align=left, The Left , 3,095 , 4.7 , - , , align=left, Urban Mülhausen , align=left, Open for Citizens , 1,378 , 2.1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, Claudia Wädlich , align=left,

The Violets The Violets were an English post punk/indie/ pop band from the New Cross area of London, England. Formed initially as a bassless garage punk trio, The Violets early gigs saw them playing stark, spiky and minimalist punk that evoked early art-sc ...

, 468 , 0.7 , - ! colspan=3, Valid votes ! 66,313 ! 98.7 ! 45,837 ! 99.2 , - ! colspan=3, Invalid votes ! 859 ! 1.3 ! 368 ! 0.8 , - ! colspan=3, Total ! 67,172 ! 100.0 ! 46,205 ! 100.0 , - ! colspan=3, Electorate/voter turnout ! 159,510 ! 42.1 ! 159,458 ! 29.0 , - , colspan=7, Source
State Returning Officer

City council

The Oberhausen 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, Christian Democratic Union (CDU) , 21,471 , 32.8 , 0.2 , 19 , 1 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(SPD) , 20,754 , 31.7 , 7.2 , 19 , 4 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Grüne) , 9,450 , 14.4 , 5.9 , 8 , 3 , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(AfD) , 4,995 , 7.6 , New , 4 , New , - , bgcolor=, , align=left, The Left (Die Linke) , 3,367 , 5.1 , 2.8 , 3 , 2 , - , 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) , 1,988 , 3.0 , 0.2 , 2 , ±0 , - , , align=left, Alliance of Obenhauser Citizens (BOB) , 1,913 , 2.9 , 5.7 , 2 , 3 , - , , align=left, Open for Citizens (OfB) , 1,153 , 1.8 , New , 1 , New , - , colspan=7 bgcolor=lightgrey, , - , bgcolor=, , align=left,

(Die Violetten) , 445 , 0.7 , 0.5 , 0 , ±0 , - ! colspan=2, Valid votes ! 65,536 ! 98.1 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Invalid votes ! 1,290 ! 1.9 ! ! ! , - ! colspan=2, Total ! 66,826 ! 100.0 ! ! 58 ! 2 , - ! colspan=2, Electorate/voter turnout ! 159,510 ! 41.9 ! 0.9 ! ! , - , colspan=7, Source
State Returning Officer

Sport

Oberhausen is home to Regionalliga West football team Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, who play at the

Niederrheinstadion Niederrheinstadion, Stadion Niederrhein is a multi-purpose stadium in Oberhausen, Germany. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. The stadium currently has a capacity of 21,318 spectator ...

situated on the banks of the

Rhine–Herne Canal The Rhine–Herne Canal (german: Rhein-Herne-Kanal) is a transportation canal in the Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with five canal locks. The canal was built over a period of eight years (5 April 1906 – 14 July 1914) and c ...

. The city had a professional ice hockey team between 1997 and 2007, the

Revierlöwen Oberhausen Reiverlöwen Oberhausen was an ice hockey team in Oberhausen, Germany. They played in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey Lea ...

. The team initially played at the

Arena Oberhausen The Rudolf Weber-Arena (originally the Arena Oberhausen) is a multi-purpose arena, located in Oberhausen, Germany. Opening in 1996, the arena is a part of leisure and shopping center, CentrO. The venue was built in Neue Mitte Oberhausen, a form ...

when playing in the top-flight

Deutsche Eishockey Liga The Deutsche Eishockey Liga (for sponsorship reasons called "PENNY Deutsche Eishockey Liga") (; English: ''German Ice Hockey League'') or DEL, is a German professional ice hockey league and the highest division in German ice hockey. Founded in ...

but later moved to the

Emscher-Lippe-Halle Emscher-Lippe-Halle is an indoor arena, indoor sporting arena located in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. It is used for various indoor events and is the home arena of the ice hockey team EHC Gelsenkirchen. It also hosted the annual Bofrost Cup on Ice f ...

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 ...

following financial woes. The

Rudolf Weber-Arena The Rudolf Weber-Arena (originally the Arena Oberhausen) is a multi-purpose arena, located in Oberhausen, Germany. Opening in 1996, the arena is a part of leisure and shopping center, CentrO. The venue was built in Neue Mitte Oberhausen, a form ...

has hosted many international indoor sporting events including

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorp ...

event UFC 122 in 2010 and the PDC Unibet European Championship of darts in 2020. The city has established itself as a popular destination for

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

in Germany, with

-based promotion Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) regularly running shows in Oberhausen's Turbinenhalle.Cagematch
Westside Xtreme Wrestling
/ref> wXw's 16 Carat Gold Tournament is considered one of the most prestigious independent wrestling tournaments in the world and is held in March every year in Oberhausen - attracting fans from around the world.

Twin towns – sister cities

Oberhausen is twinned with: *

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, England, United Kingdom (1974) *

Zaporizhzhia Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Запоріжжя) or Zaporozhye (russian: Запорожье) is a city in southeast Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. It is the Capital city, administrative centre of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. Zapor ...

, Ukraine (1986) *

Freital Freital is a town in the district of Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge in Saxony, Germany. The town is situated on a small river, the Weißeritz, and is southwest of Dresden. Geography Freital is located southwest of Dresden in the Döhlen Ba ...

, Germany (1990) * Carbonia, Italy (2002) * Iglesias, Italy (2002) *

Mersin Mersin (), also known as İçel, is a large city and a port on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey. It is the provincial capital of Mersin Province, Mersin (İçel) Province. It is made up of four municipalities and dis ...

, Turkey (2004) * Tychy, Polen (2020)

Notable people

Georg Schaltenbrand Georges Schaltenbrand (26 November 1897 – 24 October 1979 ) was a German neurologist known for his work on the organization and diagnostics of the motor system, to the physiology and pathology of the cerebrospinal fluid, and to multiple scle ...

(1897–1979), author, neurologist and Multiple Sclerosis specialist *

Martha Schneider-Bürger Martha Schneider-Bürger (21 October 1903 in Sterkrade (Oberhausen) – 25 September 2001 in Gelnhausen Gelnhausen () is a town, and the capital of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located approximately 40 kilometers east of Fra ...

(1903–2001), civil engineer and author *

Reni Erkens Renate "Reni" Erkens (later ''Küppers'', 24 June 1909 – 22 October 1987) was a German freestyle swimmer who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics. She was born in Oberhausen and was the wife of Ernst Küppers and the mother of Ernst- ...

(1909–1987), swimmer * Wilhelm Brinkmann (1910–1991), field handball player *

Erich Kempka Erich Kempka (16 September 1910 – 24 January 1975) was a member of the SS in Nazi Germany who served as Adolf Hitler's primary chauffeur from 1936 to April 1945. He was present in the area of the Reich Chancellery on 30 April 1945, when H ...

(1910–1975), SS-officer and Adolf Hitler's driver *

Werner Töniges Werner Töniges (7 January 1910 – 25 January 1995) was a ''Korvettenkapitän'' with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. He sailed with the Schnellboot "S 24", "S 2 ...

(1910–1995), naval officer * Willy Jürissen (1912–1990), footballer * Édouard Wawrzyniak (1912–1991), French footballer *

Will Quadflieg Friedrich Wilhelm "Will" Quadflieg (; 15 September 1914 – 27 November 2003) was a German actor from Oberhausen. He was the father of actor Christian Quadflieg. He is considered one of Germany's best post-war actors. One of his most widely rec ...

(1914–2003), actor *

Alf Marholm Alf Marholm (1918–2006) was a German actor. Partial filmography * ''Turtledove General Delivery'' (1952) - Benno Perlitz, Zeichner * '' No Way Back'' (1953) - Direktor Berger * ''Die goldene Pest'' (1954) * ''Viele kamen vorbei'' (1956) - Kre ...

(1918–2006), actor, radio plays, audio books and voice *

Arnulf Zitelmann Arnulf Zitelmann (9 March 1929 – 8 July 2023) was a German writer. Biography Arnulf Zitelmann was born in Oberhausen- Sterkrade on 9 March 1929. Zitelmann taught religion and was a freelance author in Ober-Ramstadt. He published numerous a ...

(born 1929), writer * Paul Lange (1931–2016), kayaker, Olympic champion *

Karl-Heinz Feldkamp Karl-Heinz Feldkamp (born 2 June 1934) is a German retired football manager and player. Feldkamp started coaching in 1968. In Germany, he coached Borussia Dortmund, 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and Eintracht Frankfurt, among others. He previously coac ...

(born 1934), football player and trainer *

Wilhelm Keim Wilhelm Keim (1 December 1934 – 30 September 2018) was a German chemist and professor of chemistry at the Technical Chemistry and former director of the ''Institute for Technical and Petrol Chemistry'' at RWTH Aachen in Germany. Wilhelm Keim was ...

(1934–2018), chemist and professor for technical chemistry *

Theo Vennemann Theo Vennemann genannt Nierfeld (; born 27 May 1937 in Oberhausen-Sterkrade) is a German historical linguist known for his controversial theories of a "Vasconic" and an "Atlantic" stratum in European languages, published since the 1990s. He was ...

(born 1937), linguist and professor of German and theoretical linguistics *

Siegfried Jerusalem Siegfried Jerusalem (born 17 April 1940) is a German operatic tenor. Closely identified with the heldentenor roles of Richard Wagner, he has performed Siegfried, Siegmund, Lohengrin, Parsifal, and Tristan to wide acclaim. Since the 1990s, he has ...

(born 1940), opera singer *

Hans Siemensmeyer Hans Siemensmeyer (born 23 September 1940) is a retired German football player and coach. Career As a player, he spent nine seasons in the Bundesliga with Hannover 96. He also represented Germany three times, including a UEFA Euro 1968 qualifie ...

(born 1940), football player and coach * Wolf-Dieter Ahlenfelder (1944–2014), football referee *

Tilman Spengler Tilman Spengler (born 1947) is a German sinologist, writer, and journalist. The author of more than a dozen books, including ''Lenin's Brain'' (1993), he has received several literary prizes throughout his career, including: * 1999 Mainzer Stadts ...

(born 1947), writer and journalist, author and co-editor of the magazine ''Kursbuch'' *

Eckhard Stratmann-Mertens Eckhard Stratmann-Mertens, formerly known as Eckhard Stratmann, (born 3 April 1948 in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a former politician and Green Party member of the German Bundestag. Before and after serving in the Bundestag, he taught ...

(born 1948), teacher and politician (Alliance 90/The Greens), Member of Bundestag *

Ditmar Jakobs Ditmar Jakobs (born 28 August 1953) is a German former footballer who played as a defender. He played as a centre-back, a classical libero in the mold of Franz Beckenbauer or Willi Schulz. Jakobs played 493 games from 1971 to 1990 for Rot-W ...

(born 1953), footballer *

Willi Wülbeck Wilhelm "Willi" Wülbeck (born 18 December 1954) is a retired German middle-distance runner. Competing in the 800 m he finished fourth at the 1976 Summer Olympics. He missed the 1980 Moscow Olympics due to the West German boycott and could not ...

(born 1954), athlete *

Achim Hofer Achim Hofer (born in 1955) is a German musicologist, music educator and University professor. Life Born in Oberhausen, Hofer studied music, German studies and educational science at the University of Paderborn. After the first and second Staatse ...

(born 1955), musicologist * Christoph Klimke (born 1959), writer * Michael Grosse-Brömer (born 1960), politician (CDU), Member of Bundestag * Christoph Schlingensief (1960–2010), film and theater director, radio play writer and performance artist * Dirk Balthaus (born 1965), jazz pianist and composer *

Esther Schweins Esther Schweins (born 18 April 1970 in Oberhausen) is a German actress and comedian who became famous through her appearances on the '' RTL Samstag Nacht'' show for which she won the Bayerischer Fernsehpreis in 1994. Schweins survived the 2004 ...

(born 1970), actress and comedian *

Markus Feldhoff Markus Feldhoff (born 29 August 1974) is a German football, who last managed VfL Osnabrück and former player. Club career Earlier in his career Feldhoff played for Bayer Uerdingen, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Borussia Mönchengladbach, VfL Wolfsbur ...

(born 1974), footballer * Mark Kleinschmidt (born 1974), rower *

Marcel Landers Marcel Landers (born 24 August 1984) is a German former professional footballer who coaches DJK Arminia Klosterhardt. Career Born in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Landers began his career at Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. After he had gone throu ...

(born 1984), footballer * Max Meyer (born 1995), footballer *

Davin Herbrüggen Davin Herbrüggen (born 25 August 1998) is a German singer who won the sixteenth season of '' Deutschland sucht den Superstar'' (the German version of ''Pop Idol'' and ''American Idol''). His winning song "The River" was produced by Madizin. L ...

(born 1998), singer

Gallery

Oberhausen bahnhof1.JPG, Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof Gasometer Oberhausen aussen.jpg, Gasometer Schloss Oberhausen-vom Gasometer.jpg, Oberhausen Castle as seen from the Gasometer Rheinisches Industriemuseum.jpg, Industrial Museum Amtsgericht vom Friedensplatz.jpg, Courthouse Baumeister Mühle Sterkrade.jpg, Baumeister-Mill Burg-Vondern-Westen-vom-Weg-2013.jpg, Vondern Castle Kastell Holten (2).jpg, Kastell Holten Ruhrauen bei Oberhausen - Alstaden - panoramio.jpg, Ruhr meadows in Oberhausen-Alstaden 2009-07-21 ob 08 aussicht centro.JPG, CentrO shopping mall Schloss Oberhausen01.jpg, Oberhausen Castle, inner courtyard with the ''Little castle'' Abwun2.jpg, AQUApark near CentrO in 2012 Oberhausen Snail Statue 2018.png, 'Shellakabookie' on Schwartzstraße Turbinenhalle_Oberhausen_Oct_2014.jpg,

Turbinenhalle Oberhausen The Turbinenhalle is a music and cultural venue on Mülheimerstraße in Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The complex opened in 1909 to generate power to the ''Gutehoffnungshütte'' coal and steel engineering company which was based ...

Oberhausen, afvalverwerkingsbedrijf GMVA IMG 8492 2018-09-01 15.21.jpg, Waste processing company GMVA in Oberhausen

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia Oil campaign of World War II Populated places established in 1862 1862 establishments in Prussia