Dortmund

City and industrial centre in the Ruhr, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 58 km/36 mi northeast of Düsseldorf; population (2003 est) 587,600. It is the largest mining town of the Westphalian coalfield and the southern terminus of the Dortmund–Ems Canal. The enlargement of the Wesel–Datteln Canal (1989), connecting Dortmund to the Rhine River, allows barges to travel between Dortmund and Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Industries include coal, iron, and steel (headquarters of Hoesch), mechanical engineering, and brewing (output exceeds that of Munich), a growing technology and research centre with several scientific institutes. There is also a modern university.

Features The city has three notable churches the Marienkirche (about 1175), the Reinoldikirche (1250), and the Propsteikirche (1354). The Westfalenhalle is one of the largest halls in Europe. In the Westfalen park there is a collection of over 1,600 varieties of roses, and a rotating restaurant on top of a 220-m/722-ft television transmitter tower.

History Lying along the ancient Hellweg (trade route) in the rich Börde district of Westphalia, Dortmund is first mentioned c. 885 as Throtmanni and became a free city of the empire and an important member of the Hanseatic League trade federation. Its fortunes declined in the 17th century, with those of the League, and at the beginning of the 19th century it was only a small provincial town. It rose to importance again with the development of the coal and iron industries of the Ruhr Basin in the middle of the 19th century, and the construction of the Dortmund–Ems and Rhine–Herne canals. The city sustained heavy aerial bombardment during World War II, and extensive rebuilding, including the restoration of many historic sites, subsequently took place.