DORTMUND

Dortmund population: 531.000

Dortmund came into my life for the first time in 2005 when I read about the Dortmund Project. Facing the decadence of the industrial economy, because of globalisation process, the city of Dortmund together with private company ThyssenKrupp AG hired consulting McKinsey to design a new future for the city. It was done around the year of 2000 and the target was to create 70.000 new job positions until the year of 2010 and attract investment to develop new economies focused on Information Technology (IT), Micro-Electronic-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) and electronic logistic (e-log). At that time I got to know about the Dortmund Project it really impressed me how an industrial (old economy) city wanted to become in some years in a reference as modern high tech economy.


Five years later I ended up visiting Dortmund at the deadline of the project. The reason of my trip to Dortmund though wasn't to check if the Germans were following the deadline and making things happen, but my passion for football which I will explain later.



Before writing about Dortmund it's indispensable to write about the Ruhr area in which Dortmund is located.





The Ruhr region has a population over 7 million people making it the biggest urban agglomeration in Germany and one of the biggest in Europe. It had a key role on the economic development of Germany and was the heart of the industrial revolution with the coal and iron mines and development of siderurgy.
The Ruhr area was the base of Germany's industrialization hosting the heavy industry and as a result 27 of the 100 Germany's largest companies are based in this area.
The main cities in the Ruhr Area are: Dortmund, Essen, Bochum, Gelsenkirchen.

Winding tower of shaft 12 at Zollverein is the symbol of the Ruhr area

The Ruhr Museum is located at the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex at the city of Essen, an UNESCO World Heritage Site. A former industry plant that was closed and almost sold to China, but now attracts turists with culture.

North Rhine-Westphalia is the name of the German state in which the Ruhr area is included and concentrate important cities like Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bielefeld and Bonn. And also it is the German state that host the highest number of the biggest German companies, like Lufthansa airline, Deutsch Post, Deutsch Telekom, Bayer, E.On, Henkel, RWE, ThyssenKrupp.

Dortmund itself is a big city (for European standards) with more than half a million people, although it doesn't feel like a metropolis. With a history connected with coal mining and siderurgy it's not a typical tourist destination even inside Germany.

Dortmund U-Tower, former Dortmund Union brewery building, now a museum

Central square

Even though it sounds pretty much a grey city filled with abandoned siderurgies plant and coal mines, Dortmund and the Ruhr area nowadays present an appearence full of trees, parks and colors. Full of life and creativity expressed in the small details like the symbol of the city, a rhino with wings. Heavy, gangling, but always colorful, artistic and with a pinch of humor.

Bakery operating since 1848!!! Bread and more bread.

Dortmund, the city of endless flying Rhinos

One of those small details of Dortmund that got my attention was the architecture of the city. A tuned mix of the old and the new. The traditional in harmony with the modern. Somehow Dortmund could, maybe, be a portrait of nowadays' Germany. Preserving history and at the same time building up the future challenged by globalization and the modern economy.

Reinoldikirche on the left, from the 13th century. In the center a stylish subway station.

Old German architecture

Modern Glass+Steel architecture

Cool subway station

Skate park

FOOTBALL DAY - FUSSBALL TAG / BUNDESLIGA

When in Vienna, Austria, during my first trip in Europe, I met a German that recommended me: "if you like football, you have to go to Dortmund to watch a match of the local team!".
Dortmund's local team is one of the most popular, if not the most popular, in Germany. It is called Ballspielverein Borussia Dortmund 1909, or simply BVB.
As the name says the club was founded in 1909 in a local pub.



The German national league (Bundesliga) is the one with the highest average attendance in the world. Football is very popular in Germany and it couldn't be different in the Ruhr region.
Actually it's so big that it's part of the Ruhr culture. The birth and development of the football teams happened along with the regional economic development. Schalke 04 from Gelsenkirchen for example, the archi-rival of BVB, was founded by local miners on 1904. Although Gelsenkirchen has a population around 250.000, the club itself has more than 100.000 members and they play at the Veltins Arena frequently full with its 61.673 capacity and many fans all over the country.



In the North Rhine Westphalia State 5 teams are on the main league, Bundesliga, out of 18 teams making it the State of the country with the highest number of teams. An incrible rate of 28% of the main German teams!
1. Bayer Leverkusen
2. FC Köln

3. Borussia Dortmund

4. Borussia Mönchengladbach

5. Schalke 04

The same happen on the 2. Bundesliga, the second league, with 5 out of 18 teams from the State of North Rhine Westphalia.
1. Alemannia Aachen (2)
2. Fortuna Düsseldorf (2)
3. MSV Duisburg (2)
4. SC Paderborn 07 (2)
5. VfL Bochum (2)

Football jerseys at the Ruhr Museum

BVBmobile

Ballspiel Verein Borussia (BVB) / Borussia Dortmund

Old stadium and pitch side by side with the employed nowadays

Signal Iduna Park is the name of BVB stadium, formerly known as Westfalenstadion before selling the naming rights. It is the largest football stadium in Germany and has the picturesque "Südtribune" (South tribune), a sector in the stadium where 24.454 supporters watch the match standing, making it the largest terrace in Europe and also known as the "Yellow Wall". During international matches it is converted to seating places reducing the stadium capacity. Playing in the Bundesliga it has an average attendance over 75.000, the highest in Germany and one of the highest in the world. Because of the history and football environment it has some nicknames like "the Temple" or "Colosseum".

The football temple - Westfalenstadion / Signal Iduna Park

One of the entraces - everything organized even with the high attendance

First view inside the temple

The match I went was the opening first round of the 2010/2011 season against the good team of Bayer Leverkusen. Expectations were high for the beginning of the new season, for the debut of Michael Ballack at Leverkusen and on the Dortmund side a very young team.

The attendance of this match against Bayer Leverkusen for the first round of the Bundesliga was 73.300 and an average over 77.000 along this season.

Leverkusen won by 2:0 and curiously BVB ended the season as the German champion and it was its only home defeat.

Before

Later

Before

Later

Video: overview inside Signal Iduna Park before the match with Brazilian soundtrack

Show time

Video: BVB supporters singing you'll never walk alone before the match start

Songtext:

When you walk through a storm

hold your head up high

and don't be afraid of the dark.

At the end of the storm there's a golden sky

and the sweet silver song of the lark

Walk on through the wind...walk on through the rain

through your dreams be tossed and blown.

Walk on...walk on...with hope in your heart

and you'll never walk alone

you'll never walk alone

Walk on...walk on...with hope in your heart

and you'll never walk alone

you'll never walk alone

Video: BVB line up

Video: teams entering in the pitch

Video: BVB supporters singing

Leverkusen won by 2 and it was the only home defeat!

Some very good German food in the meanwhile.

HAMBURG

Some landscape of north Germany.





Population: 1.769.117 (city itself)
4.300.000 (metropolitan area)

 

Hamburg flag

'Burg' in German means 'castle'. Ham castle, built to defend the important site at the river Elbe against invaders, is the origin for the name of this German city. Though the precise location of the castle is unknown it became the symbol in the coat of arms and flag.

According to some sources Hamburg, German city located in the north of the country, is the land of the creation of the hamburger meal. What I was expecting was an endless reference to this tasty meal. Those who born in this city are called Hamburger. The city of tasty citizens.

But actually Hamburg seems to be way more proud about other things.
For example, the history of the city.
One of the main component of the Hanseatic League, an economic alliance of trading cities during Middle Ages, Hamburg was so powerful city that once was called as Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg. Actually this is still the official name of Hamburg. With the adoption of the tax-free policy trading business flourished and let it powerful enough to call itself independent and free city. Later it decided to join Germany and gradually gave up on it's independence, but nothing changed about the vocation of trading city that only kept growing becoming one of the most important harbor in the world.

Hamburg Rathaus, the city hall.

The heritage of this history of trading city can be seen on the architecture of some buildings that wasn't bombed and destroyed during World War II. Influence also easy to be seen on the new buildings.

Sprinkenhof building with very interesting facade.

Wall full of maritime symbols.

Ships on the top of the buildings used to indicate that was a headquarter of a trading company.

Chilehaus, 1922 brick building in the shape of a ship.

New steel-glass building with ship shape.

Nowadays the port of Hamburg is the third largest port in Europe and eighth in the world. Key to the German economy, 4th world's biggest economy and 2nd exporter.

The city is the born place of companies like:

- Hamburg Süd (shipping company, mainly Europe-South America route, which containers can be easily seen in Brazil)
- Hapag-Lloyd (worldwide cargo and passengers transportation company)
- Blohm + Voss (shipbuilding company that built the biggest motor yacht in the world, like Roman Abramovich's Eclipse)

It also host an Airbus factory and media giants' headquarters.

Hamburg history is written with many disasters and rebuilding.
Many fire episodes destroyed relevant part of the city, the big one known as the Great Fire was in 1842 and burned most of the city buildings and left thousands of people homeless.
Deceases like the Black Death (bubonic plague) and epidemic Cholera killed thousands too.
The most recent chapter of destruction and reconstruction happened with the air raids bombing during World War II.
After all tragedies, destruction and deaths Hamburg is nowadays the richest city in Germany, one the most rich and developed country in the world.

Starting point of the 1842 Great Fire!

One of the biggest metropolitan area in Germany, Hamburg has more than 2.300 bridges making it the city with the highest number of bridges in the world, more than Amsterdam. I didn't see so many bridges, it doesn't feel there is so many, though they are Germans and there's so much bridges that even they don't know the exact number, better not doubt. 






Hamburg is something like the German capital of musical shows attracting tourists from all over the country and even neighbors. The Lion King, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Dirty Dancing and Tarzan are some of the many musicals plays that makes Hamburg a reference .
Talking about musicals, Elb-Philharmonie, a new concert hall expected to be completed by 2012. Actually it should already be completed. It started to be built by 2007 and expected to be complete by 2010 at the cost of 241 million euros. Later on 2008 the cost estimation went up to 480 million euros, from which the public sector is responsible for EUR 323 millions and the conclusion postponed to later than 2010.
And it was really interesting to see that this happen even in a place like Germany!! No doubt that it will become one of the most beautiful concert hall in Europe and maybe one of the most beautiful modern buildings in Europe too attracting a lot of tourists and money.

The Elbe Philharmonic hall under construction.

But at the same time it remembers me about Maracanã stadium at the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Historical stadium that hosted the final of the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, probably will host the next final of the FIFA World Cup at 2014 and was for many years the biggest stadium in the world. The attendance of the final of 1950 World Cup was impressive 199.854 fans.
For the Pan American Games at Rio in 2007 R$ 196 millions were invested in renovations. At that time they said the renovation would make it ready for the 2014 World Cup. But years later it's not good anymore. 2010 a new renovation for Maracana on the way. Initial costs would be of R$705 millions (around EUR 320 millions), some months later new estimates concludes the costs can reach 1 billion reais (around EUR 456 millions). And there is still 4 years on the way for new costs estimations...
The difference between Maracana and the Elbe Philarmonic hall is that Brazilian public sector take 100% of the costs without private sector investing a cent.

So good to discover that maybe Brazilians and Germans aren't so different at all.

Hamburg is twin-sister with São Paulo, though this would be more reasonable to be linked to another Brazilian city: Nova Hamburgo (Portuguese for New Hamburg), located in the south of the country and with a lot of German immigrants' influence. 

The very busy Hamburger Hauptbanhof, one of the busiest in Europe

The Elbe Philharmonic is located at the brand new HafenCity (Harbour city). Former deteriorated harbor area HafenCity is the biggest project of urban development in Europe. While most of the buildings are still under construction walking in this brand new area just feel like walking in a pier filled with modern buildings. It's going to be like a new city inside a city. Apartments, offices, university, business, all the infrastructure of an entire city in a district.  It feels like walking inside the video game SimCity.
That's architects' playground.

Lots of brand new buildings still under construction

Pier feeling, remembers a bit Copenhagen's Nyhavn 

Interesting shape buildings

Reeperbahn at the Sankt Pauli district is the largest red light area in Europe.

An entertainment district filled with bars, dance clubs, sex shops, theaters, prostitutes.

Girls standing on the street "fishing" if you know what I mean.

Other good things from Hamburg:

Ikea is backpacker's paradise: food for 1 euro!

1 euro for 1 hot dog and unlimited soft drink!!! Ikea sounds like a good place to live.

Cool Lego store in the center of Hamburg.

Football day / Fußball tag - First round of the German Bundesliga

Getting ready for a HSV's Bundesliga match.

Step by step for a match of Hamburger Sport Verein (HSV).
The ticket I bought the day before the match, at the HSV fanshop in the center of Hamburg. There a girl helped me to get the cheapest ticket for the opening of the season. Though it wasn't cheap, the customer service was very helpful and good.
Guaranteed ticket, ready to go to the stadium. HamburgerSV stadium, called Imtech Arena, was one of the stadiums of the FIFA World Cup 2006. There's many signs indicating where to go, but in doubt just go to the metro and follow the crowd wearing blue. Quite organized, fast and very easy to get to the stadium by metro.

Metro crowded with HSV supporters

Some minutes walking between trees in the area of the Volkspark.

And finally get to the modern Imtech Arena

Overview inside Imtech Arena before the match.

     

                                 

                                          

Video: Players line up.

Brazilian player of Hamburg, Zé Roberto

Video: match action.

Match ended with a fantastic HSV 2 x 1 Schalke

Video: First goal scored by Ruud Van Nistelrooy!

Video: Van Nistelrooy, one more time!

Sundown time from Imtech Arena