Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

Economy | Transport | Media | Education and science

🇩🇪 Gelsenkirchen is the 11th largest city of Germany's most populous federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is situated on the Emscher River, and lies at the centre of the Ruhr, the largest urban area of Germany, of which it is the fifth largest city. The Ruhr is located in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, one of Europe's largest urban areas. Gelsenkirchen is the fifth largest city of Westphalia in the Low German dialect area. The city is home to the football club Schalke 04, which is named after Gelsenkirchen-Schalke. The club's current stadium Veltins-Arena, however, is located in Gelsenkirchen-Erle.

Gelsenkirchen was first documented in 1150, but it remained a tiny village until the 19th century, when the Industrial Revolution led to the growth of the entire area. In 1840, when the mining of coal began, 6,000 inhabitants lived in Gelsenkirchen; in 1900 the population had increased to 138,000. In the early 20th century, Gelsenkirchen was the most important coal mining town in Europe. It was called the "city of a thousand fires" for the flames of mine gases flaring at night. In 1928, Gelsenkirchen was merged with the adjoining cities of Buer and Gelsenkirchen-Horst . The city bore the name Gelsenkirchen-Buer, until it was renamed Gelsenkirchen in 1930. The city remained a centre of coal mining and oil refining during the Nazi Era, so it was often a target of Allied bombing raids during World War II. There are no longer colliers in Gelsenkirchen with the city searching for a new image, having been hit for decades with one of the highest unemployment rates in Germany. Today Germany's largest solar power plant is located in the city. In Gelsenkirchen-Scholven there is a coal-fired power station with the tallest chimneys in Germany (302 m).

Economy Gelsenkirchen presents itself as a centre of solar technology. Shell Solar Deutschland GmbH produces solar cells in Rotthausen. Scheuten Solar Technology has taken over its solar panel production. There are other large businesses in town: THS Wohnen Gelsenwasser, e.on, BP Gelsenkirchen GmbH, Shell Solar Deutschland GmbH and Pilkington. ZOOM Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen is a zoo founded in 1949 as "Ruhr-Zoo" which is now operated by the city.

Transport Gelsenkirchen lies on autobahns A 2, A 40, A 42 and A 52, as well as on Bundesstraßen (Federal Highways) B 224, B 226 and B 227. Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof (central station) lies at the junction of the Duisburg–Dortmund, the Essen–Gelsenkirchen and the Gelsenkirchen–Münster lines.

The Rhine–Herne Canal has a commercial-industrial harbour in Gelsenkirchen. Gelsenkirchen Harbour  has a yearly turnover of 2 million tonnes and a water surface area of about 1.2 square km (0.5 square miles), one of Germany's biggest and most important canal harbours, and is furthermore connected to Deutsche Bahn's railway network at Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof.

Local transport in Gelsenkirchen is provided by the Bochum/Gelsenkirchen tramway network and buses run by the Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Straßenbahn AG (BOGESTRA), as well as by buses operated by Vestische Straßenbahnen GmbH in the city's north (despite its name, it nowadays runs only buses). Some Stadtbahn and tram lines are operated by Ruhrbahn . All these services have an integrated fare structure within the VRR. There are three tram lines, one light rail line, and about 50 bus routes in Gelsenkirchen.

Media Gelsenkirchen is the headquarters of the Verband Lokaler Rundfunk in Nordrhein-Westfalen e.V. (VLR) (Network of Local Radio in North Rhine-Westphalia Registered Association). REL (Radio Emscher-Lippe) is also headquartered in Gelsenkirchen.

Among newspapers, the Buersche Zeitung was a daily till 2006. The Ruhr Nachrichten ceased publication in Gelsenkirchen in April 2006. Now, the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung is the only local newspaper in Gelsenkirchen. The local station Radio Emscher-Lippe  also reports the local news.

There is also a free weekly newspaper, the Stadtspiegel Gelsenkirchen, along with monthly, or irregular, local publications called the Familienpost and the Beckhausener Kurier.

Education and science The Institute for Underground Infrastructure, founded in 1994 and associated with the Ruhr University Bochum, provides a wide range of research, certification, and consulting services. The science park created in 1995 by Internationale Bauausstellung Emscher Park, Wissenschaftspark Gelsenkirchen provides a pathway to restructure the local economy from coal- and steel-based industries to solar energy and project management.

Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany 
<b>Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany</b>
Image: Adobe Stock Marcus Retkowietz #361076860

Gelsenkirchen has a population of over 262,528 people. Gelsenkirchen also forms part of the wider Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan area which has a population of over 12,190,000 people. Gelsenkirchen is the #446 hipster city in the world, with a hipster score of 0.2248 according to the Hipster Index which evaluates and ranks the major cities of the world according to the number of vegan eateries, coffee shops, tattoo studios, vintage boutiques, and record stores.

To set up a UBI Lab for Gelsenkirchen see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Gelsenkirchen has links with:

🇹🇷 Büyükçekmece, Turkey 🇩🇪 Cottbus, Germany 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Newcastle upon Tyne, England 🇵🇱 Olsztyn, Poland 🇷🇺 Shakhty, Russia 🇧🇦 Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license | Hipster Index

Antipodal to Gelsenkirchen is: -172.942,-51.578

Locations Near: Gelsenkirchen 7.05812,51.5777

🇩🇪 Marl 7.099,51.656 d: 9.2  

🇩🇪 Gladbeck 6.967,51.567 d: 6.4  

🇩🇪 Dorsten 6.95,51.65 d: 11  

🇩🇪 Recklinghausen 7.193,51.614 d: 10.2  

🇩🇪 Essen 7,51.45 d: 14.8  

🇩🇪 Bottrop 6.925,51.525 d: 10.9  

🇩🇪 Herne 7.22,51.54 d: 11.9  

🇩🇪 Bochum 7.215,51.482 d: 15.2  

🇩🇪 Oberhausen 6.855,51.469 d: 18.5  

🇩🇪 Velbert 7.043,51.34 d: 26.4  

Antipodal to: Gelsenkirchen -172.942,-51.578

🇹🇴 Nuku'alofa -175.216,-21.136 d: 16624.4  

🇦🇸 Pago Pago -170.701,-14.279 d: 15862.9  

🇼🇸 Apia -171.76,-13.833 d: 15816.7  

🇵🇫 Papeete -149.566,-17.537 d: 15707.5  

🇺🇸 Hilo -155.089,19.725 d: 11898  

🇺🇸 Maui -156.446,20.72 d: 11816.6  

🇺🇸 Maui County -156.617,20.868 d: 11803.7  

🇺🇸 Wailuku -156.505,20.894 d: 11798.7  

🇺🇸 Kahului -156.466,20.891 d: 11798.2  

🇺🇸 Honolulu -157.85,21.3 d: 11778.7  

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