Duisburg Things to Do

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Just by the Salvatorkirche, archaeologists have dug down to expose the floor of a 16th century market building, about 2.5m below the current ground surface.

In a simple but effective display, the ground level at various points in time is indicated on the steps leading down to the excavated floor, indicating how the ground level has risen over the centuries. Given the proximity to the river, some of this rise is likely to be due to major flood events, which would have deposited alluvium over the adjacent flood plain, but the major contribution is likely to come from human activity, and particularly raising of the land surface to lift buildings and their foundations above the flood zone. And of course debris from buildings as a result of Bomber Harris' repeated forays over the area in World War II would have made a significant contribution, since the Salvatorkirche was decimated by bombing.

I confess that the geologist in me particularly appreciated the cross sectional profile that has been preserved in one of the sidewalls!

I must say that I wasn't expecting too much from the uncatchily titled Kultur- und Stadthistorisches Museum, and was very pleasantly surprised to discover that it was a small but excellently presented resource that was well worth the time and effort.

The museum is effectively split into two parts: one section devoted to the history of the town from prehistoric times to present, and the other dedicated to the city's favourite son, cartographer Gerhard Mercator.

The Mercator exhibit is excellently presented in a purpose built wing of the museum with a state-of-the-art audio visual presentation structured in several episodes which details different aspects of his life and work. My major quibble is that this is only in German, and there appears to be no translation into other languages - even a laminated hard copy of the text would be better than nothing. I speak rudimentary German, and although the presentation was well put together, discussion of navigation and cartographic techniques was way beyond my language competence. Similarly, the gallery next door which houses some of Mercator's maps and equipment also has no English signage, which seems a strange oversight in such a well resourced exhibit that has such an obvious appeal for foreign visitors, and the website below has no English option. Even more confusingly, this is inconsistent with the rest of the museum as there are English captions for all the displays in the section of the museum that deals with the town's history.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the exhibits on the town's history, which were imaginatively presented, and gave an excellent overview of the town's development, particularly through the Industrial Revolution and Germany's troubled 20th century history. The displays work on several levels, and would be enjoyable for quite young kids, yet provide enough detail to satisfy adults.

There are also some temporary displays: when I visited, there was a moderately interesting exhibit of South American ceramics.

The museum is attractively located on the banks of the river, just by the Salvatorkirche and the Rathaus, adjacent to a section of the old city wall and the former market square, and just a short stroll from the pedestrian shopping precinct.

Not many people would associate Duisburg with culture, but like many heavily industrialised cities, captains of industry have invested significantly in developing cultural attractions such as theatres and museums in an attempt to 'rehabilitate' the grimy reputation of the city.

Duisburg's Opera House is one of the two homes of the world-renowned Deutsche Oper am Rhein (a distinction that it shares with its neighbour Duesseldorf).

The theatre is a striking building with a dazzlingly white classical facade: the theatre originally dates from 1912, but was reconstructed in 1950 (presumably to repair war damage). It is located within easy walking distance of the Koenigstrasse pedestrian precinct, to which it is linked by a long, attractive lawn.

The website below contains a link to the programme of events at the Opera House (unfortunately only in German, but it shouldn't be too much of a stretch for culture vultures to work out).

I think it's fair to say that you either love or hate Nikki de Saint-Phalle's sculptures, and 'The Livesaver', located smack bang in the middle of Duisburg's bustling pedestrian shopping precinct of Koenigstrasse (somewhat fancifully known as the 'Fountain Mile') is no exception!

It reminds me of the sort of character that might leap out of the pages of one of those action comics that my small son pesters me to buy him, and - call me an uncultured peasant - I struggle to recognise either its artistic merit or the relevance of its name. Having said that, the value of art is in the eye of the beholder, and I'm no expert, so who am I to judge!

On a positive note, it is bright and cheerful, especially on a grey March afternoon, and you're certainly unlikely to be ambivalent about it - and, after all, isn't art all about provoking a reaction?

I like city walls, even when they're in ruins: to me, they convey a sense of cosy security, which is probably totally misleading given how often most of these places were invaded and ransacked! In Duisburg's case, they are a reminder of the days before Bomber Harris when all you needed to defend a town was a stout wall and some well placed archers.

Duisburg's city walls are some of the oldest in the Rheinland and date back to the 13th century, although archeologists have demonstrated that these were built on top of older fortifications that date back to the 10th century. The wall was sucessful in repelling an attack by the Archbishop of Koeln as early as 1445, and a city plan indicates that the city wall was still complete as late as 1850. By this time, most of the gates had been demolished to allow access to carriages.

Sections of this wall are still clearly visible throughout the city, probably the most accessible being located along the river bank just by the Salvatorkirche.

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The Salvatorkirche is an uncompromisingly imposing piece of architecture that dominates the Duisburg skyline.

There has been a church on this site since at least 1316, but it was extensively extended and reworked over the centuries before being bombed to smithereens during World War II. The church took 15 years to rebuild in the neo Gothic style of its most recent 19th century remodelling, although the spire was never reconstructed.

The interior of the Salvatorkirche is surprisingly light and simply decorated. It apparently houses the tomb of Gerhard Mercator, although I didn't have time to verify this as I visited just before closing time and didn't have time to look around properly.

The church hosts services and choral concerts, but is probably recently more famous as the venue for the memorial service for the Love Parade stampede victims in 2010.

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For me, the architectural highlight of Duisburg was the delightful Rathaus, an unexpectedly charming building.

The first mention of a Rathaus on this site dates back to 1361, although there is mention of city councillors dating back almost a century earlier. Over the centuries, the Rathaus has been extended and remodelled on several occasions to meet the changing needs of the city, and the current building dates back to 1902. In addition to accommodating the city's administrative functions, the new building was designed to house the municipal archives, museum, fire service and even the police station!

In hindsight, I wish that I had done my research on this building before I visited Duisburg, as I now discover that the figure on the left hand side of the main door is Charlemagne: given that the theme of my spare time on this trip was to walk in Charlemagne's footsteps (in Paris and Aachen), I seem to have unwittingly stumbled across the Great Man again in Duisburg!

The Rathaus is located adjacent to the Salvatorkirche and the Mercator fountain. Guided tours of the Rathaus can be organised using the e-mail addresswebsite below. If you are sufficiently illustrious, you may even be invited to sign Duisburg's "Golden Book' - even the Queen couldn't escape signing during her visit on 25 May 1965!

My favourite part of the Rathaus is its distinctive bell tower with characteristically curly Dutch-inspired gables, which is visible from across the city and an excellent point of reference for navigational purposes!

Before I started to research my trip to Duisburg, I had no idea that it was the adopted home of Gerhard Mercator, the father of modern cartography, and by far the city's most illustrious son.

Mercator was born Gerardus de Kremer in Flanders, but subsequently Latinized his name ('Mercator' meaning 'merchant', the meaning of his Flemish surname). He started his career manufacturing mathematical equipment, and this provided him with an ongoing income throughout his career (especially once he found a method of 'mass producing' globes). He is, however, best know for his services to cartography, through developing a means of representing the spherical earth on a flat surface (the so called 'Mercator projection').

Fascinatingly he was imprisoned for heresy for over six months in 1544, due to his strongly held Protestant beliefs: this may have informed his later move to Duisburg in the more liberal duchy of Cleves a few years later, and once he established in the city, he didn't leave again for the remaining 40 years of his long life.

Mercator is commemorated in a lovely fountain outside the Rathaus which was commissioned to mark the 300th anniversary of his groundbreaking map's publication and depicts him as the epitome of 16th century prosperity . The base of the fountain is wittily decorated with stylised dolphins which spout water and closely resemble the illustrations on maps of this period.

For those interested in learning more about Mercator's life and work, the Mercator exhibit at the uncatchily titled Kultur- und Stadthistorisches Museum occupies a purpose built wing of the museum with a state-of-the-art audio visual presentation structured in several episodes.

My major quibble with this otherwise excellent facility is that this is only in German, and there appears to be no translation into other languages - even a laminated hard copy of the text would be better than nothing. I speak rudimentary German, and although the presentation was well put together, discussion of navigation and cartographic techniques was way beyond my language competence. Similarly, the gallery next door which houses some of Mercator's maps and equipment also has no English signage, which seems a strange oversight in such a well resourced exhibit that has such an obvious appeal for foreign visitors. A terrible pity and a missed opportunity which I hope that the museum will soon rectify.