Dortmund: between industry, IT and Borussia

The home of the sports club Borussia Dortmund is famous not only as a football city but also as an industrial, workers' city. But Dortmund's economy no longer relies on coal, steel and beer, but has shifted to the service industry and technologies of the future. The city's universities are best known for their IT focus.

by Janna Degener

Dortmund at a glance

 

With 600,000 inhabitants, Dortmund is the biggest city in Westphalia. Located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr region, it was famous for many years for its coal furnaces and breweries. With the closure of these important production sites, industrial areas became wasteland and workers became unemployed. But as in many cities in Germany's Ruhr region, mines have now been converted into museums and factories have been replaced by universities. One prominent example of this is the ‘Dortmunder U’ in the former building of the Union-Brauerei in the city centre, which is used today as a cultural centre. If you're interested in breweries, blast furnaces, water towers, housing developments, barracks, mineshafts and smelting works, you can visit such sites from the city's industrial past on the Industrial Heritage Trail (route 6). Since the foundation of Dortmund's first university in 1968, now known as the Technical University, the city has also attracted students. Dortmund's universities are especially well-known for their focus on computer science: around 6000 students are enrolled here in IT-related courses alone. Europe's biggest technological park with around 280 companies also contributes to the city's academic reputation and is situated right next to the university campus. With the ‘dortmund-project’ initiative, representatives of the city, industry and science are trying to make Dortmund even more attractive as a centre for high-tech businesses. By redeveloping old industrial sites, the residential and recreational value of the city is also being revived. On the site of a former steelworks in the district of Hörde, for example, a new artificial lake is currently being laid out, and next to it, there are plans to build modern residential estates and office complexes.

Universities at a glance

 

Technical University Dortmund (TU Dortmund)

It takes just five minutes to get from Dortmund's main station to the S-Bahn stop ‘Universität’, and already you can see the modern architecture and expansive green areas of the university campus. To commute from the Campus Nord to Campus Süd, you can use the university's own H-Bahn, a suspended monorail service which continues to the neighbouring technology park. One Max Planck Institute and two Fraunhofer Institutes are located in the direct vicinity and contribute to the university's good academic reputation. Around 21,500 students are enrolled at the city's biggest university, every tenth comes from abroad. Each semester, new students are welcomed by the university's vice-chancellor in the city's biggest auditorium of all – the football stadium of Borussia Dortmund.

University of Applied Sciences and Arts (FH Dortmund) 
Next to the Technical University campus, the University of Applied Sciences and Arts occupies two more sites close to the city centre. With around 8,200 students, the FH is far smaller that the TU but it offers a broad spectrum of vocational and applied subjects from architecture and design via computer science and engineering to applied science and economics.

Hochschule für Ökonomie & Management University of Applied Sciences (FOM Dortmund)
A small private institution, the FOM Dortmund is aimed at people wishing to study for a Bachelor or Master's degree while working or completing an apprenticeship.

International School of Management Dortmund (ISM)
The private International School of Management in Dortmund has offered a variety of business administration-related courses since 1990. The IT Centre Dortmund (ITC) began training IT specialists for the business world in 2000.

Recreation in Dortmund

 

When you come to Dortmund for the first time, the best way to get an overview of the city and the surrounding area is from the 137-metre-high telecommunications tower ‘Florian’. And then you can chose from a variety of activities:
If you fancy a walk, stroll through the extensive Westfalenpark and take a look at around 2600 different varieties of roses along the Rosenweg. Green areas can also be found in the Fredenbaumpark in the north and the Rombergpark in the south of the city. For shopping, it's best to head straight for the city centre. There are lots of shops in the pedestrian precinct along Westenhellweg and Ostenhellweg or on Brückstrasse. In fact, Dortmund's pedestrian area is said to be one of the most popular shopping streets in Germany!
On a rainy day, pay a visit to one of the city's numerous museums, such as the former coking plant Hansa or the brewery museum. If this has whet your appetite – or your thirst – then why not head straight for Dortmund's night spots:
You'll find bars and cafés aplenty on campus, in the hip Kreuzviertel and also in the city centre. For dancing, there's Nightrooms and the zuHouse Club, and a popular venue for jazz lovers is Domicil. If you're not a fan of discos, then take in a performance at one of Germany's biggest theatres or immerse yourself in a sea of black and yellow football fans at a home match of Borussia Dortmund. To find out more about what's going on in Dortmund, check out the websites of Heinz, Coolibri or donight. And if you still haven't found what you're looking for, it only takes a few minutes by train to get to one of the many other Ruhr cities.

Interview with Ekaterina

 

Russian-born Ekaterina is studying social work in her 5^th semester at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts. She is currently completing a practical semester at the university's International Office.

What made you decide to study at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund?
I came to Germany three-and-a-half years ago as an au-pair because my boyfriend lives in Dortmund. I liked life in Germany so much that I decided I wanted to stay here. I already have a diploma in psychology from Russia but it isn't recognised here, so I decided to study again. What I particularly like about the FH is that it's more practice-oriented than a university.

What do you like about life in Germany?
I feel very much at home here. The people are very nice and open-minded, I like that a lot. I also think it's good that there are so many cultural things going on. For example, I went to an event that was part of the Ruhr.2010 project at the Zollverein in Essen. It's great there and really easy to get to from Dortmund. There are so many cities in the region, there's always something to do.

How do you spend your free time in Dortmund?
When I have visitors from Russia, I like showing them the Westfalenpark, because it's so well-tended and peaceful. I also like going to the Revierpark Wischlingen. It's not only a fun place to swim but you can also go skating or inline skating there. And when the weather's fine, you can just go for a walk through the park. I also really like the zoo – it's smaller and cosier than the zoos in Cologne and Wuppertal. And once I went to a football match at the Signal Iduna Park, the former Westfalenstadion. I was amazed at the size of the stadium and atmosphere during the match!

Can you recommend any other things to do in Dortmund?
The International Culture Café Between (IKC) at the FH organises lots of events, for example intercultural evenings on campus, where you can meet German and international students. Student life generally takes place on campus between the FH and Technical University, where student residences and bars are. Discos are in the city centre.

Useful Links

 

The city's website in English
Manual published by the TU for international students containing useful tips for everyday life in Dortmund and extensive information about recreational and cultural activitiesUseful tips about finding accommodation from the TU Dortmund and FH Dortmund