www.gelsenkirchen.de

There’s no question about it: during the European Championships it will be football ruling the roost in Gelsenkirchen, the venue of the Serbia vs England, Spain vs Italy and Georgia vs Portugal group-stage games, and of one quarter-final game. But there is a lot more to Gelsenkirchen than just the Arena Auf Schalke, one of Europe’s most modern stadiums.

Still a relatively young city, Gelsenkirchen was born on coal. With the sinking of the shafts for coal mining, Gelsenkirchen grew from a village into the ‘city of a thousand fires’, where the flares of the coking plants and blast furnaces used to light up the night sky. And now? Now, nature has reclaimed the former industrial lands. Woodlands and parks have been created, with visitors now being attracted there by cultural offerings such as at the kulturgebiet.consol around the former Consolidation colliery. However, an impressive look back at the past is possible here too. To be found in the colliery’s southern machine building is Europe’s largest steam-driven hauling machine.

Visitors preferring to gaze into the distance are in precisely the right spot atop the Rungenberg mine heap. The heap was created from mining waste. A light installation shines out here at night. An especially good observation platform is offered by the former Nordstern colliery. Standing at the feet of the huge Herkules statue created by internationally famous artist Markus Lüpertz, you have a fantastic view out over Nordsternpark, set to be the venue of the International Garden Show in 2027. Looking around, however, it also gives you a view of the Rheinelbe mine heap in the south of the city. Simply climb up artist Herman Prigann’s ‘stairway to heaven’ and marvel at the view.

There's plenty to marvel at too on a journey around the world in a day. And that's possible in Gelsenkirchen at the ZOOM World of Adventure, one of Europe’s most popular zoos. Awaiting explorers young and old in the very heart of the Ruhr are the animal kingdoms of Alaska, Asia and Africa. On offer to those who can’t get enough of the thrills are further attractions such as the Alaska Ice Adventure.

Another highlight is without doubt the Musiktheater im Revier, the finest opera house in the Ruhr District with the famous blue sponge relief by artist Yves Klein. The colour blue is something you encounter a lot in the city, be it in the city emblem or, of course, in relation to football. Royal blue and white are the colours of FC Schalke 04. The colour blue is simply an integral part of Gelsenkirchen, and football and art come together here again and again. For example, in ‘Transferfenster’ (Transfer Window) from 13 June to 4 August at Gelsenkirchen Museum of Art. The history of Gelsenkirchen football is being presented here, using selected exhibits from the Schalke Museum, which are temporarily being transferred from the Arena Auf Schalke to the Museum of Art. On a permanent basis, the city's Museum of Art displays a collection of kinetic art unparalleled in Germany. In total there are 13 museums in Gelsenkirchen that cover a very wide-ranging spectrum.

Gelsenkirchen can also be explored beside and from the water. What was once a power station site is now a sought-after quarter beside the Rhine-Herne Canal with a marina as its centrepiece. It provides not only 75 berths for the boats of amateur mariners, but also a pier for the passenger boats of the Weiße Flotte.

For discovering the city by bike, the cycle path network of radrevier.ruhr offers multiple possibilities. Four of the multi-city radrevier.ruhr themed routes pass through Gelsenkirchen. Well away from road traffic along the paths of disused railway lines you can, for example, experience more of the area’s mining past and see other places of industrial culture on the ‘Grubenfahrt’ route.

Although Gelsenkirchen is still a young city, there are some impressive places that tell of pre-industrial times. Worthy of mention here are Schloss Berge and Schloss Horst. The former boasts estate gardens in English and French style, while the latter even counts as one of the most important Renaissance palaces of Westphalia. It has a museum that takes visitors on a journey through time.

For all who’d like to learn about Gelsenkirchen on a guided tour, there are all sorts of different possibilities - on four wheels and on foot. Out and about in the district that gave FC Schalke 04 its name, on the trail of industrial culture or in the evolving district of Ückendorf, which the creative scene has long since discovered for itself – there is hardly anything that you won’t find in Gelsenkirchen.

The first port of call for information on all aspects of what’s on offer for tourists is the City and Tourist Information centre in the Hans-Sachs-Haus, at 11 Ebertstraße, right in the city centre. The information centre can be reached by phone on 49209 169-3968 and by e-mail at touristinfo@gelsenkirchen.de.

The ultimate guide for everyone who wants to find out about the city, no matter whether they like football, historic stately homes or modern art, is the ‘Entdecke Gelsenkirchen’ (Discover Gelsenkirchen) podcast episode in English: www.gelsenkirchen.de/podcast 

On the Internet you can get an overview of the tourist sights, overnight accommodation, events and much more at https://visit.gelsenkirchen.de. The ‘Welcome to Gelsenkirchen’ brochure is available there to download in various languages. And when football is no longer holding court, Gelsenkirchen is still worth a visit, as there is also lots to experience and explore here aside from football.