Museums in the Ruhr Area
This page provides an overview of the museums in the Ruhr region. With over 200 museums, the Ruhr region forms one of the largest and most extensive museum landscapes in Germany.[1]
The spectrum of museums and exhibitions in the Ruhr region ranges from archaeological collections to church treasures to contemporary art museums; from local history museums to natural history, technology and industrial museums, to special museums, mainstream and curiosities. The museums and exhibitions focus on the medieval and industrial past of the metropolitan region, as well as its post-industrial, cultural diversity today. In recent years – especially since the events of RUHR.2010 – European Capital of Culture, a more integrated museum landscape of the Metropole Ruhr has been formed. In addition, many industrial monuments without a fixed exhibition offer are accessible via the Route of Industrial Culture.
The Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Dortmund, which opened in 1883, is the oldest museum in the metropolitan region; the Museum Folkwang is now the largest museum in the region, with around 800,000 annual visitors. The main sponsors of the museums are the cities and municipalities of the Ruhr region, but also various federal agencies, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Regional Associations for Westphalia-Lippe (LWL) and the Rhineland (LVR), as well as numerous commercial enterprises and charitable foundations and associations. The museums are classified according to their main collection areas or focal points and the museum types defined by the Institute for Museum Research.[2]
Museums
Folklore and local history museums
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Historical site Humberghaus
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Open-air museum Hagen
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Strünkede Castle
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House Dellwig museum of local history
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010)
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Historical site Humberghaus | Jewish history site | Dingden | Dingden local history society | 1300 (year 2015) | |
LWL open-air museum Hagen | Open-air museum | Hagen | Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe | 144.000[3] | |
Emschertal Museum | Regional Museum | Herne | City of Herne | ||
Strünkede Castle | |||||
Municipal Gallery in Strünkede Castle Park | |||||
Museum of local history and natural history Wanne-Eickel | |||||
Ruhr Valley Museum | Regional Museum | Schwerte | City of Schwerte | ||
Museum of local history Lütgendortmund | Museum of local history | Lütgendortmund | Museum of local history Lütgendortmund 1988 e.V. | ||
Hellweg Museum | Regional Museum | Unna | Town of Unna | ||
Vestische Museum | Regional Museum | Recklinghausen | City of Recklinghausen | ||
Bergkamen City Museum | Museum of local history | Bergkamen | City of Bergkamen | ||
Museum of local history Breckerfeld | Museum of local history | Breckerfeld | City of Breckerfeld | ||
Museum of local history Bislich | Museum of local history | Wesel | City of Wesel | ||
Museum of local history Helfs Hof | Museum of local history | Bochum | City of Bochum | ||
Hermann Grochtmann Museum | Museum of local history | Dates | City of Datteln | ||
Museum Voswinckelshof | Museum of local history | Dinslaken | City of Dinslaken | ||
Museum of the city of Gladbeck in Wittringen Castle | Museum of local history | Gladbeck | City of Gladbeck | ||
Museum of the city of Lünen | Museum of local history | Lunen | City of | Lunen||
House of the city history | Museum of local history | Kamen | City of Kamen | ||
Hattingen town museum | Museum of local history | Hattingen | Town of Hattingen | ||
Marl town and local history museum | Museum of local history | Marl | City of Marl | ||
Karl Pollender City Museum | Museum of local history | Werne | City of Werne | ||
Waltrop local history museum | Museum of local history | Waltrop | Waltrop home association | ||
Mining Museum | Museum of local history | Lunen | Multicultural Forum e. V. |
Museums open irregularly or to visit only by appointment:
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Elfringhausen Ribbon Weaving Museum | Hattingen | Citizens’, local history and tourist office Elfringhausen and surroundings e. V. | |||
Miners’ Residential Museum | Lunen | Förderverein Bergarbeiter-Wohnmuseum e. V. | |||
Iron House | Hattingen | Local history society Hattingen-Ruhr e. V. | |||
Teacher’s house Friemersheim | Duisburg | Freundeskreis lebendige Grafschaft e. V. | |||
1.Lower Rhine Carnival Museum | Duisburg | Main committee Duisburger Karneval e. V. |
Art museums
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extended Museum Folkwang
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Osthaus Museum
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Staircase in the Dortmund U
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Exhibition space in the red-dot-design-museum
20 art museums in the Ruhr area together form the RuhrKunstMuseen.
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Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Folkwang Museum | Art Museum | Food | City of Essen | 800.000[4] |
German Poster Museum | |||||
Red Dot Design Museum | Product design | Food | Land North Rhine-Westfalia | 200.000[5] | |
Museum Ostwall | Art Museum | Dortmund | City of Dortmund | 110.000[6] | |
Hagen Art Quarter | Hagen | City of Hagen | 50.000[7] | ||
Osthaus Museum Hagen | |||||
Emil Schumacher Museum | |||||
Museum Bochum – Art Collection | Art Museum | Bochum | City of Bochum | 38.000[8] | |
Gelsenkirchen Art Museum | Art Museum | Gelsenkirchen | City of Gelsenkirchen | ||
Art Museum Mülheim an der Ruhr | Art Museum | Mulheim on the Ruhr | City of | Mulheim an der Ruhr||
Ludwig Gallery Oberhausen Castle | Oberhausen | Peter and Irene Ludwig Foundation | |||
Museum DKM | Art Museum | Duisburg | DKM Foundation | ||
Küppersmühle Museum for Modern Art | Art Museum | Duisburg | Foundation for Art and Culture e. V. | ||
Lehmbruck Museum | modern sculpture | Duisburg | City of Duisburg | ||
Gustav Lübcke Museum | Hamm | City of Hamm | |||
Sculpture Museum Glass Box | modern sculpture | Marl | City of Marl | ||
Museum of the Fair Trade | Witten | City of Witten | |||
Center for International Light Art | Light Art | Unna | Sponsoring association of the Centre for International Light Art e. V. | ||
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Art Collections of the Ruhr-University Bochum | art collections | Bochum | Land North Rhine-Westfalia | |
Collection of antiques | |||||
Coin collection | |||||
Collection of Modern Art | |||||
Situation art | |||||
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Collections of the Folkwang University of the Arts | art collections | Food | Land North Rhine-Westfalia | |
musicological collection | |||||
Icon Museum Recklinghausen | Recklinghausen | City of Recklinghausen | |||
Essen Cathedral Treasury | Church treasure | Food | Diocese of Essen | ||
Museum Kamp Monastery | Church treasure | Kamp-Lintfort | Geistliches Kulturelles Zentrum Kloster Kamp e. V. |
Museums open irregularly or to visit only by appointment:
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Young Museum Bottrop | Bottrop | City of Bottrop | |||
Otto Pankok Museum | Hünxe | Eva Pankok | |||
Museum Island Xanten | Xanten |
Castle and palace museums
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Villa Hill | Food | Ruhr Cultural Foundation | 145.000[9] | ||
Cappenberg Castle | Castle Museum | Selm | Unna district | ||
House Opherdicke | Castle Museum | Holzwickede | Unna district | ||
Lembeck Castle | Castle Museum | Dorsten | City of Dorsten | ||
Borbeck Castle | Castle Museum | Food | City of Essen | ||
Herten Castle | Castle Museum | Herten | City of Herten | ||
Hohenlimburg Castle | Castle Museum | Hagen | Hohenlimburg Castle gGmbH | ||
County Museum | Castle Museum | Moers | City of Moers | ||
Historical Museum | Castle Museum | Mulheim on the Ruhr | City of | Mulheim an der Ruhr||
Vondern Castle | Castle Museum | Oberhausen | City of Oberhausen | ||
House Martfeld | Castle Museum | Schwelm | City of Schwelm |
Museums open irregularly or to visit only by appointment:
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Heessen Castle | Hamm | Landschulheim Schloss Heessen e. V. | |||
Museum Saarn Monastery | Mulheim on the Ruhr | Association of Friends and Sponsors of the Saarn Monastery e. V. |
Museums of natural history
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Museum of Natural History | Natural History Museum | Dortmund | City of Dortmund | 54.000[10] | |
Natural Science Museum Duisburg | Natural History Museum | Duisburg | Studio der Heimat e. V. | ||
Geological Museum Kamp-Lintfort | geological museum | Kamp-Lintfort | |||
Aquarius Water Museum | Water Museum | Mulheim on the Ruhr | RWW Rheinisch-Westfälische Wasserwerksgesellschaft mbH | 48.000[11] | |
House Ruhr Nature | Water Museum | Mulheim on the Ruhr | RWW Rheinisch-Westfälische Wasserwerksgesellschaft mbH | ||
Sea Life Oberhausen | Display aquarium | Oberhausen | Merlin Entertainments Group Ltd | ||
Bee Museum Duisburg | Bee Museum | Duisburg | Beekeepers Association Rhineland e. V. |
Natural science and technical museums
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Winding tower of the German Mining Museum
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Henrichshütte at the ExtraSchicht 2011
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Machine hall of the Zollern colliery
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Underground mining equipment in the mining museum
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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German Mining Museum Bochum | Mining Museum | Bochum | German Mining Technology for Raw Materials, Energy, Environment e. V. | 370.000[8] | |
Zeiss Planetarium Bochum | Planetarium | Bochum | Carl Zeiss AG | 140.000[8] | |
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LWL Industrial Museum | Industrial Museum | Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe | ||
Zollern colliery | Dortmund | 92.000[3] | |||
Hanover Colliery | Bochum | 34.000[3] | |||
Nightingale Colliery | Witten | 42.000[3] | |||
Henrichenburg boat lift | Waltrop | 78.000[3] | |||
Henrichshütte | Hattingen | 104.000[3] | |||
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LVR Industrial Museum Oberhausen | Industrial Museum | Oberhausen | Rhineland Regional Council | 60.000[12] |
Zinc factory Altenberg | |||||
Museum St. Anthony Hut | |||||
St. Antony Industrial Archaeological Park | |||||
Museum Eisenheim in the settlement Eisenheim | |||||
Railway Museum Bochum-Dahlhausen | Railway Museum | Bochum | German Society for Railway History | 57.000[8] | |
Museum of German Inland Navigation | Maritime Museum | Duisburg | City of Duisburg | ||
RWE Technology Museum “Electricity and Life | Museum of Technology | Recklinghausen | RWE AG | ||
Radio Museum Duisburg | Museum of Technology | Duisburg | Friends of the Radiomuseum Duisburg e. V. | ||
Chainsmith Museum Fröndenberg | Museum of Technology | Fröndenberg/Ruhr | Friends of the Cultural Centre Fröndenberg/Ruhr e. V. | ||
DASA – Working World Exhibition | Museum of Technology | Dortmund | Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health | 200.000[13] | |
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Collections of the Ruhr-University Bochum | cultural and natural science collections | Bochum | Land North Rhine-Westfalia | |
Botanical Garden of the Ruhr-University Bochum | |||||
Herbarium | |||||
Medical History Collection of the Ruhr University Bochum | |||||
Mineralogical collections | |||||
Pre- and early history collection | |||||
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Collections of the Technical University Dortmund | art and natural science collections | Dortmund | Land North Rhine-Westfalia | |
A:AI Archive for Architecture and Civil Engineering NRW | |||||
Mining and History Museum Oer-Erkenschwick | Mining Museum | Oer-Erkenschwick | Mining and History Association Oer-Erkenschwick e. V. | ||
Museum for mining and industrial history Recklinghausen | Mining Museum | Recklinghausen | Association for Mining and Industrial History Recklinghausen e. V. | ||
Rheinhausen mining collection | Mining Museum | Duisburg | Rheinhauser Bergbausammlung e. V. | ||
Mining collection at the Volkshaus Rotthausen | Mining Museum | Gelsenkirchen | Karlheinz Rabas |
Museums open irregularly or to visit only by appointment:
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Dortmund car museum | Dortmund | Tridelta GmbH | |||
Magnet Museum | Dortmund | ||||
German Cold Rolling Museum | Hagen | ||||
Mine and light railway museum Theresia colliery | Witten | Working group Muttenthalbahn e. V. | |||
Industrial Museum Ennepetal | Ennepetal | Förderkreis Industriekultur Ennepetal e. V. | |||
Museum at the ore shaft Marl | Marl | ||||
Dortmund Museum of Local Transport | Dortmund | Station Mooskamp gGmbH | |||
Telephone Museum Bochum | Bochum | Telekom-Historik Bochum e. V. |
Closed museums or with former headquarters or location in the Ruhr area:
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Lower Rhine Motorcycle Museum | Moers | Anton and Käthe Schuth |
Historical and archaeological museums
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Archaeological Park Xanten
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Xanten Roman Museum
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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LVR-Archaeological Park Xanten | archaeological museum | Xanten | Rhineland Regional Council | 575.000[12] |
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LWL Museum for Archaeology | archaeological museum | Herne | Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe | 207.000[3] |
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LWL Roman Museum | archaeological museum | Haltern on the lake | Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe | 30.000[3] |
Museum for Prehistory and Early History | archaeological museum | Hagen | City of Hagen | ||
Prussia Museum Wesel | historic museum | Wesel | Prussia Museum Foundation North Rhine-Westphalia | ||
Stone Guard | Memorial | Dortmund | City of Dortmund | ||
Gelsenkirchen under National Socialism” Documentation Centre | Memorial | Gelsenkirchen | City of Gelsenkirchen |
Collecting museums with complex collections
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Ruhr Museum
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Ruhr Museum
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Ruhr Museum | museum of natural history and cultural history | Food | Ruhr Museum Foundation | 500.000[14] | |
Halbachhammer | |||||
Mineral Museum Essen-Kupferdreh | |||||
Museum landscape Deilbachtal | |||||
Show flat Margarethenhöhe |
Special museums of cultural history
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Museum for Art and Cultural History Dortmund | museum of Civil History | Dortmund | City of Dortmund | 121.000[10] | |
Museum Adlerturm | |||||
Brewery Museum Dortmund | |||||
German Cookbook Museum | |||||
Hoesch Museum | |||||
Westphalian School Museum | School Museum | Dortmund | City of Dortmund | 19.000[10] | |
Duisburg Museum of Culture and City History | Museum of local history and cultural history | Duisburg | City of Duisburg | ||
Museum of the prehistory of the film | Film Museum | Mulheim on the Ruhr | City of | Mulheim an der Ruhr||
mondo mio! | Children’s Museum | Dortmund | Association Action and Play Pedagogy Dortmund e. V. | ||
Borusseum | Club museum of Borussia Dortmund | Dortmund | Borussia Dortmund | ||
German Football Museum | Football Museum | Dortmund | German Football Association | 200.000 (2017)[15] | |
Jewish Museum Westphalia | museum of Civil History | Dorsten | Association for Jewish History and Religion e. V. | ||
Leather and Tanning Museum | museum of Civil History | Mulheim on the Ruhr | Sponsoring and Support Association Ledermuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr e. V. | ||
Haniel Museum | economic museum | Duisburg | Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH | ||
Founder and entrepreneur museum Mülheim an der Ruhr | economic museum | Mulheim on the Ruhr | Sponsoring and supporting association Gründer- und Unternehmermuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr e. V. | ||
Postal History Museum Recklinghausen | museum of Civil History | Recklinghausen |
Museums open irregularly or to visit only by appointment:
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Brandt Rusk Museum | Hagen | Brandt Zwieback-Schokoladen GmbH + Co. KG | |||
Bunker Museum Hagen | Hagen | Private museum Michaela Beiderbeck | |||
Bunker Museum Oberhausen | Oberhausen | Stat Oberhausen | |||
Market and showman museum | Food | Working Group Culture and Customs Essen e. V. | |||
Mill museum Dinslaken | Dinslaken | Mill Association Dinslaken-Hiesfeld e. V. | |||
Puzzleum Bochum | Bochum | Robinson | |||
School Museum Bochum | Bochum | City of Bochum | |||
Westphalian Fire Brigade Museum | Hattingen | Feuer.Wehrk – The Fire Brigade Museum e. V. | |||
Pharmacy Museum | Dortmund | Ulrich Ausbüttel |
Closed museums or with former headquarters or location in the Ruhr area:
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Atlantis Children’s Museum | Duisburg | Europa Museum gAG |
Museum complexes
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Bottrop square
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Bottrop square | Bottrop | City of Bottrop | |||
Josef Albers Museum Square | Art Museum | ||||
Sculpture Park Quadrat Bottrop | Sculpture Park | ||||
Museum for Prehistory and Local History | archaeological collection | ||||
Kemnade House | Castle and local history museum | Bochum | Friends of Haus Kemnade and the Grumbt Collection of Musical Instruments e. V. | ||
Branch of the Museum Bochum at Haus Kemnade | |||||
Farmhouse museum of the city of Bochum | |||||
Kemnade Treasury |
Art and exhibition halls
Logo | Museum | Type | Location | Carrier | Visitors (2010) |
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Oberhausen Gasometer | Oberhausen | City of Oberhausen | 961.000[16] | ||
Red Dot Design Museum | contemporary art, design and architecture | Food | Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen e. V. | ||
cubus art gallery | contemporary art | Duisburg | cubus kunsthalle e. V. | ||
artur | contemporary art | ||||
Flottmann Halls | Herne | City of Herne | |||
Dortmund House of Artists | Dortmund | Künstlerhaus e. V. | |||
Essen Art House | Food | Kunsthaus Essen e. V. | |||
Recklinghausen Art Gallery | Recklinghausen | City of Recklinghausen | |||
Halfmannshof artists’ residence | Gelsenkirchen | Artists’ Settlement Halfmannshof e. V. | |||
Gallery of the Bochum Cultural Council | contemporary art and culture | Bochum | Bochumer Kulturrat e. V. | ||
Hartware Media Art Association | Media Art | Dortmund | hARTware Projekte – Association for the Promotion of Contemporary Art with New Media e. V. | ||
Ewald Colliery | Herten | ||||
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Gallery on the Ruhr in the KuMuMü – Cultural Museum Mülheim on Ruhrstraße 3 | contemporary art and culture | Mülheim an der Ruhr | Art Association and Art Promotion Association Rhine-Ruhr (KKRR), based in Mülheim an der Ruhr |
See also
- List of museums in North Rhine-Westphalia
- Art and culture in North Rhine-Westphalia
- Long Night of the Museums
- Ruhr Art Museums
Literature
- Thomas Parent: The Ruhr Area. From the “golden” Middle Ages to industrial culture (= DuMontKunst-Reiseführer). 5. Edition. DuMont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2011, ISBN 978-3-7701-3159-4.
- Sabine Schütz, Regina Schultz-Möller, Karin Thomas: Modern Art in NRW. A Museum Guide. Ed.: Dietmar N. Schmidt. DuMont, Cologne 2003, ISBN 978-3-8321-7256-5.
- Julia-Katharina Mundt: Kulturkooperationen im Ruhrgebiet. Goals – Projects – Returns. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2008, ISBN 978-3-8370-6054-6, urn:nbn:de:101:1-200910081089 (dissertation on the forms of cooperation between the public and private sectors in cultural projects in the Ruhr region, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster).
- Achim Bourmer, Helmut Linde: Ruhrgebiet (= Baedeker-Allianz-Reiseführer). 1. Edition. Baedeker, Ostfildern 2010, ISBN 978-3-8297-1182-1.
Individual references
- ↑
Diverse museum landscape.In: MetropoleRuhr. Regionalverbund Ruhr, retrieved on 6 April 2012. - ↑
Bernhard Graf: Statistische Gesamterhebung an den Museen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland für das Jahr 2010. Ed.: Institut für Museumsforschung. Heft 65, Oktober 2011, ISSN 0931-7961(spk-berlin.de [ PDF; 669 kB; retrieved 6 April 2012]). - ↑ a b c d e f g h 2010 visitor figures of the LWL museums, Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe, 30 March 2011
- ↑ 800.000 visitors in the opening year (PDF; 63 kB), Museum Folkwang, 15 February 2011
- ↑ Press release(Memento of Originals december 25, 2015 on the Internet Archive) Info:The archive linkwas automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this note. (PDF; 51 kB), Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, January 2012
- ↑ U must remain capable of movement, WAZ Media Group, 24 January 2012
- ↑ 50.000 visitors at the Hagen Art Quarter(Memento of January 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive), WAZ Media Group, January 28, 2011
- ↑ a b c d Statistical Yearbook 2010 (PDF; 7.0 MB) p. 212, City of Bochum, 2010
- ↑ More than 145,000 visitors saw “Krupp. Photographs from two centuries”(Memento of the Originals of 27 August 2012 in the Internet Archive) Info:The archive linkwas inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this note. , Kulturstiftung Ruhr Essen, 11 December 2011
- ↑ a b c Annual report of the Kulturbetriebe Dortmund 2010(Memento of the Originals of 5 March 2016 in the Internet Archive) Info:The archive linkwas inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this note. (PDF; 2.2 MB) p. 21, City of Dortmund, 2011
- ↑ Water sign for the thirst for knowledge (page no longer available, search web archives ) Info: Thelink was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice., RWE Foundation, 13 February 2012
- ↑ a b LVR Culture Report 2010(Memento of the Originals of 11 March 2013 in the Internet Archive) Info:The archive linkwas inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this note. (PDF; 3.9 MB), p. 7, Landschaftsverband Rheinland (LVR), 2011
- ↑ https://www.dasa-dortmund.de/presse/aktuelle-pressemitteilungen/pressemitteilungen/article/besucherrekord_in_der_dasa_100006037/
- ↑ Press release(Memento of Originals of 23 December 2011 in the Internet Archive) Info:The archive linkwas inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this notice. , Stiftung Zollverein, 12 January 2011
- ↑ https://www.waz.de/staedte/dortmund/200-000-besucher-kamen-2017-ins-fussballmuseum-id213137353.html
- ↑ Participation Report 2010 (PDF; 3.3 MB) p. 176, City of Oberhausen, March 30, 2011
Web links
- Museum in the Ruhr Area
- List (museums by region)