Ruhr the Duisburg Mercatorhalle, the Saalbau Essen or the Dortmunder Philharmoniker. Each year in spring time, there is the Klavier-Festival Ruhr in the Ruhr area with 50 to 80 events of classical and jazz music. With more than 50 museums, Ruhr has one of the largest variety of museums in Europe. Industrial Museum The city of Essen (representing the Ruhr) was selected as European Capital of Culture for 2010 by the Council of the European Union. The Ruhr region has with 22 universities and colleges and more than 250,000 students, the highest density of further education establishments anywhere in Germany. These
History of the Ruhr the rivers Weser and Elbe. The most important towns of the region were concentrated along the Hellweg. As a result of the Congress of Vienna the entire area came under the control of Prussia (the state had already gained possessions there). This event was almost concomitant with developments which would eventually make the region one of the most important industrial areas in the world. In 1946 the state of North Rhine-Westphalia came into being, centred on the Ruhr. Nowadays, its hitherto important coal and steel industries have drastically declined and the region is in a state of re-adjustment. During the