Wed: It was a very hot cycling day not made any easier by the fact we planned to tackle 3 hills or slag heaps that are part of the Ruhrgebeit tour route. After the first hill we decided to do only 2 as it was hard, unrewarding work getting up with fully laden bikes on these routes that proved quite rough. Anyway, we could see 2nd hill with its art work from road quite well enough! Ended up cycling greater distance than planned i.e. 28 miles/44.8km.
Hill 1: Halde Haniel in Bottrop - halde meaning slag heap .... and these are huge hills, now becoming revegetated by many varied plant life not necessarily native to the area. On this one they had created an ampitheatre, used in the early to mid-2000s for opera and Shakespeare theatre, and also a series of coloured wooden poles along the ridge line. Strangely beautiful. Spent some time watching a mountain biker cycle up the side of the black slag while being filmed from different angles for a mtn biking feature. Hot work for the poor fellow!
Tried cycling back down a different route which was paved but missed the signs that indicated the route was a dead end - lead into the facilities for the present mining operations we could see from the top of the halde. Access verboten!
Hill 2: Tetrahedron on Halde Beckstrasse, also in Bottrop within an outdoor recreation site that included summer skiing and climbing walls. We cycled past this and stopped to look up to the Tetrahedron rather than cycle up yet another dirt track.
Hill 3: Halde Schurenbach was a tough wee winding climb. Became very sweaty & dusty. I stopped regularly to look at the stations of the cross art work along the way, beside each was a relic from the coal mining days. At the top stands a very tall, flat metal structure with quite a bit of grafitti on it - very stark but fitting with the landscape. Great views all around from the top - could see wind turbines as well as traditional power station, and many other industrial features amongst the trees and residential areas.
Back down the way we came up, following the signs at the bottom to lead us into Essen where we had booked to stay at the Ibis Banhof for 3 nights. We arrived about the time many people were leaving work & settling into the bars and cafes for apertifs so once we hit the pedestrianised area we decided to walk our bikes through rather than weave through the crowds. Then the trouble started - where was the Ibis Banhof exactly? Google maps seemed confused & sent us across a main arterial, under a bridge, up a bank, back again - still couldn't find it until we just put the address in, sorted out where we were by looking at street names & determined our own route. A friendly woman helped us in the last instance, pointing out that the hotel just in front of the building we were behind! Grrr - Google!
Once at the hotel the very efficient reception meant getting our gear off our bikes & storing them was fairly uncomplicated. We settled ourselves in then went out for walk to orientate ourselves and to eat dinner. Pretty easy to find way around the pedestrianised centre as the churches and statues provide great anchor points. We took photos of a number of the political party billboards that had recently gone up - Germany holding its elections at the same time as ours. [See separate blog page]
Finally decided on a Japanese restaurant for dinner - nice variety of veg foods we could enjoy. As usual, the Ibis beds were confortable so a good night's sleep was had.
Thur: We breakfasted in our room on our usual muesli with yoghurt followed by croissants & juice bought from a store close by. The Ibis breakfast offered was not to our liking.
We had decided to take different paths today, neither involving a bike. Caroline was to go out to Villa Huegel under her own steam whilst I would take the two hour Green bus tour to get a better handle on the transformation of Essen from dirty industrial city to the European Green Capital for 2017. The tour was really interesting and I took copious notes - see separate blog page. The driver seemed bemused that a non-German was booked on the tour as most visitors go on the city tour; he asked me twice if it was the Green Tour I wanted before giving me head phones so I could hear the commentary in English. The rest of the tour party, from what I could understand, was made up of a large party of local women and a few other Germans visiting from elsewhere wanting to get a handle on what the green city status means.
This DW link provides some background on the green transformation of Essen.
Caroline & I met up around 2.30 at the Museum Folkwang as this is where the most extensive collection of posters is held. One display at the time we went was San Francisco 1967: The Summer of Love exhibition showing the variety of styles used to promote music events during the hippie period. poster, RAF -Red Army Faction: No Evidence, and Peggy Buth's The Politics of Selection photos capturing the decline of cities, like Detroit and the loss of culture, in a post-industrial age.
I enjoyed the poster selection as they really demonstrated just how different promotional posters became during this early hippie period. One almost needed to be ‘in the scene’ to read them and the get the message – real cosmic man! It was great that the museum had the explanations in both English & German.
The RAF series was less easy to come to grips with. I vaguely remember the news reports about the Baader-Meinhof gang from in the late 1970s but as neither of us couldn’t read enough German to fully understand what the artist was trying to show in the collection of police photos and written material gathered it became a quick ‘look-see’ for us. [More from bbc]
Buth's’s photos were just depressing. They reminded us of some of the back streets of urban areas we’d cycled through in the UK. Yes, the loss of livelihoods and cultures of the people who once lived in these industrial heartlands have gone/ decayed but nature reclaims, firstly through weeds then the woodlands re-establish.
The permanent art collection of the Folkwang is extraordinary. They hold superb number of works by Monet, Van Gogh, Rodin, Manet, Cezanne, all housing a light purpose built museum opened in 2010. Much of the money came from the Krupp Foundation, which also means that entrance is free though one does have to get a wristband from the welcome desk to be allowed to wander freely. Not sure why that is necessary as they don’t check identity or ask for a donation. Unsurprisingly with such a collection there are plenty of security personnel in every room. As the collection is so extensive we broke our visit with a cuppa and cake in the attached cafe; needed to keep our energy levels up!
We walked back to the Ibis through the city park – lots of trees and an extensive children’s play area but also a few drunks hanging around that made it feel a little unsavoury. The steps leading into the hauptbahnhof were also a haunt of vagrants but it is to one of the churches they go in the evening for a meal, served, much as we see at home, from the back of a van by good-hearted people stepping in where government policies have meant people are without shelter or the mental health care they need.
Our meal that evening was at a noodle house – cheap, cheerful and delicious. Used fresh veges instead of the frozen variety one of the noodle houses in Christchurch tend to use. Back at the Ibis we had a cuppa & settled in for an evening of postcard writing.
Fri: Walked down to one of the Bio-cafes for breakfast, checked out the weather & decided not to bike to the Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage complex due to thunderstorm & heavy rain warnings. We took tram 107 out to the site and then just explored this stunning place for a good 3-4 hours. I wasn’t so keen on the escalator that took us up to the visitor centre on 24m Level where we could buy tickets – I could look neither up or down as I’m not flash where height is concerned! Caroline was brave enough to go out on to the viewing deck on 45m Level whilst I stayed ‘safely’ in the cafe.
Zollverein (check out more detail here) was once the largest coal washing, processing and coking facility in Europe and has been transformed into complex that includes an immensely interesting museum about the Ruhr region from pre-historic, through pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial periods . The permanent collection is over three floors, accessed via an architecturally designed orange stairway, and begins at 6m Level with the history exhibit then up to 12m Level for ‘Memory’ to 17m Level for ‘Present’. The architectural re-purposing of the coal washing facility is truly stunning & visionary - it feels just right for the varied exhibts housed there.
They also have temporary exhibitions – the two on while we were visiting were: 'Divided Heaven: Reformation & Religious Diversity in the Ruhr region', and Roman antiquities. Other buildings in the complex include a casino, three restaurants/cafes, theatres, design studios & Red Dot design museum, and a hireable exhibition place plus, plus. Whilst we were taking our lunch break in one of the cafes the predicted thunderstorm finally arrived – quite a downpour! Our subsequent walk round the greater part of the complex was therefore wetter underfoot than we would have liked.
Back in the centre we booked our train to Dusseldorf for the next morning; this would not only save us travel time but also mean we avoid the monotony of cycling through yet more high density urban areas often next to the motorway. Then back to the Ibis where we dropped our backpacks off, freshened up then headed out for dinner – this time to the vegan restaurant Sattgrun, we had found on Happy Cow that was tucked way in 'theatrepassage' in the Sparkasse complex. It was a smorgasbord of yummy food & one paid by the plate size. Their desserts and drinks were extra and were equally delicious.
Well fed and happy we returned to our hotel to complete our packing. Another good night's sleep was had.
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