Recklinghausen: Ruhrfestspiele, Vestischer Kreis, and the Northern Ruhr's Cultural Counterweight
Recklinghausen has a population around 122,000 and sits at the northern edge of the Ruhr area in Nordrhein-Westfalen. The Ruhrfestspiele, founded in 1946 through a barter between Hamburg theatre companies and local coal miners, is one of Europe's oldest theatre festivals and runs every May through June. The city calls itself "Festspielstadt" on its signs. The Vestisches Museum and Ikonenmuseum (Icon Museum), with the largest collection of Orthodox icons outside the Orthodox world, are housed in former church buildings.
Recklinghausen was the administrative centre of the Vest Recklinghausen, a territory that belonged to the Archbishopric of Cologne for centuries, giving it a Catholic character distinct from the Protestant regions to the north. Coal mining defined the 20th century but the last mine closed in 2001. The Palmkirmes, held annually since 1445, is one of the oldest and largest funfairs in the Ruhr. King Ludwig 1/2 colliery's headframe on Haldenstrasse is a listed industrial monument. The city lies between Gelsenkirchen to the south and Muensterland to the north, a transitional zone between heavy industry and agricultural landscape. Adult services follow NRW's regulatory approach.
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Recklinghausen has a population around 122,000 and sits at the northern edge of the Ruhr area in Nordrhein-Westfalen. The Ruhrfestspiele, founded in 1946 through a barter between Hamburg theatre companies and local coal miners, is one of Europe's oldest theatre festivals and runs every May through June. The city calls itself "Festspielstadt" on its signs. The Vestisches Museum and Ikonenmuseum (Icon Museum), with the largest collection of Orthodox icons outside the Orthodox world, are housed in former church buildings.
Recklinghausen was the administrative centre of the Vest Recklinghausen, a territory that belonged to the Archbishopric of Cologne for centuries, giving it a Catholic character distinct from the Protestant regions to the north. Coal mining defined the 20th century but the last mine closed in 2001. The Palmkirmes, held annually since 1445, is one of the oldest and largest funfairs in the Ruhr. King Ludwig 1/2 colliery's headframe on Haldenstrasse is a listed industrial monument. The city lies between Gelsenkirchen to the south and Muensterland to the north, a transitional zone between heavy industry and agricultural landscape. Adult services follow NRW's regulatory approach.
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