Bochum

Bochum is a city in the Ruhr area of the state North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. This former mining town of 363,000 people (2021) is known for its university, which is one of the largest in Germany.

Understand
Bochum is part of the Ruhr Area (Ruhrgebiet), the centre of heavy industry in Germany. Its history is linked closely to that of the region. In 1850, Bochum was a small town of about 4500 inhabitants, its population increased in 1900 to 100 000, and in 1935 to 300 000. During World War II, its centre was nearly completely destroyed, which gave city planners an opportunity to test out their theory of the "automotive city" and build what were then considered to be modern buildings. With the end of the coal boom in the 1960s, a structural transformation began. Bochum got the first university of the Ruhr Area, which was opened in 1965. Today it is one of the largest universities of the country with about 35 000 students and excellent reputation. Also in the 1960s, the Opel car production plant became productive and offered jobs for miners who had lost their jobs in mining. Mining and steel production came to an end in the 1980s.

Today Bochum is a modern city with a job focus in the service sector.

Bochum is on the border between the flat Münsterland in the north and the highlands of Bergisches Land in the south. Therefore, the northern part of Bochum is quite flat, the highest hill is the Tippelsberg. The southern limits of Bochum touch the Ruhr valley with lake Kemnade.

In the 19th century, industrialization began in the valley of Ruhr and moved in the following years northwards. The valley of Ruhr is a recreation area for the population. The Ruhr is the water reservoir for the region, therefore the rules for keeping the water clean are quite strict. Swimming is forbidden in the Kemnade, while swimming in the Ruhr is permitted but not recommended because of the strong flow. Pleasure boats are allowed everywhere.

Like most cities in the Ruhr Area, the southern quarters are of high standard and are quite expansive while factories will be found mainly in the northern quarters.



By plane
The nearest international airport is Düsseldorf, about 50 km from Bochum. From Düsseldorf airport, you can get to Bochum by train S1 towards Dortmund or with some regional trains.

Regional airports nearby are Dortmund, Münster or Weeze.

By train
Bochum is served by DB trains and by Flixtrain.

Intercity
(Hauptbahnhof) is on the main line through the Ruhr Area, and is served by InterCity and ICE trains to all parts of Germany. Services include (2009):


 * ICE train to Hannover - Berlin, every hour
 * ICE train to Cologne - Frankfurt - Stuttgart - Munich, every two hours
 * IC train to Münster - Osnabrück - Bremen - Hamburg, every two hours
 * IC train to Kassel - Erfurt - Halle - Berlin, every two hours

There are also daily trains to Magdeburg - Leipzig and to Mannheim - Freiburg - Basel - Chur.

Regional trains
This is a list of regional trains. Most leave hourly.
 * RE 1  NRW-Express           Aachen - Hamm
 * RE 6  Westfalen-Express     Düsseldorf - Minden
 * RE 11 Rhein-Hellweg-Express Düsseldorf - Paderborn
 * RE 16 Ruhr-Sieg-Express     Essen - Siegen/Iserlohn
 * RE 40 Ruhr-Lenne-Bahn       Essen - Hagen
 * RE 41 Vest-Ruhr-Express     Bochum - Haltern am See
 * RE 46 Glückauf-Bahn         Bochum - Gelsenkirchen

Commuter train

 * Dortmund - Düsseldorf/Solingen, leaves every 15 minutes.

By car
Bochum is at the intersection of highway A40 (east/west) and A43 (north/south), with A448 (east/west) branching off A40 west of the city centre, forming the southern part of the highway loop around central Bochum, intersecting with A43 before continuing eastwards to A45 at Dortmund. The entire Ruhr Area is sprawling and decentralised and thus quite car-oriented, which also explains the heavily congested rush hour traffic. "Avoid the peak times at all costs" is not just some obvious hint, A40 is jokingly known locally as Ruhrschleichweg or Ruhr crawling way. Additionally, Bochum is covered extensively by a low-emission zone (Umweltzone), requiring many vehicles, including foreign ones, to have an appropriate sticker. This does not apply to through-traffic on the Autobahn.

By bus

 * The Intercity bus stop is on Wittener Straße, under the railway bridge to the left of the train station.

Get around
Public transport is arranged by "Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Straßenbahn AG" (BOGESTRA). It is a member of the transport association Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr VRR, which cares for fares and adequate connections between its members and S-Bahn and regional trains. So with the same ticket, you may use the bus, underground, tram, S-Bahn and regional Express within Bochum and within the rest of the Ruhr Area, depending on the price category (A, B, C or D) you have selected. Since 2019, only accessible low-floor vehicles operate, although at many stops wheelchair users will need the fold-out ramps operated by the driver to board, as many stops are merely signs on the side of the street. Stops are announced and shown on digital screens.

You will find customer service offices in the main subway station, and in the Bogestra Administration Building at Universitätsstraße 58.

Tickets
There are 4 price levels: for travelling within one city you need level A, for a ride to the next neighbour city pricing level B is needed, if you transit 3 tickets use level C and level D is for rides to any location within the area of VRR.

You can obtain tickets from the customer offices of Bogestra, from the ticket-machines at underground stations and major interchange stops, from bus drivers and tram drivers (only outside the tunnel sections) and from designated kiosks, as well from the official Mutti routeplanning and ticketing app available for download for free.

Do not forget to stamp your paper ticket before you enter a vehicle or underground platform. The orange or red stamp boxes are located at the entrance of the platforms.

Stadtbahn and tram

 * Stadtbahn (part-way between a tram and a proper U-Bahn) Line U35 leads from Bochum-Querenburg via Ruhr University, Bochum Main Station, Bochum-Riemke, Herne Station to Herne Strünkede.

The ordinary trams also run underground within the city centre. All lines except 309 intersect at Bochum Main Station (Bochum Hbf).
 * Linie 302 O-Werk or BO-Langendreer - Laer Mitte - Bochum Hbf - Wattenscheid - Gelsenkirchen Hbf - Veltins-Arena - Gelsenkirchen Buer Rathaus
 * Linie 305 Bochum-Langendreer - Laer Mitte - Bochum Hbf - Engelsburger Str. - Wattenscheid-Höntröp Kirche.
 * Linie 306 Bochum Hbf - Hordeler Str. - Hannibal-EKZ - Wanne-Eickel Main Station
 * Linie 308 Bochum-Gerthe - Nordbad - Ruhrstadion - Bochum Hbf - Weitmar - Linden - Hattingen.
 * Linie 309 Bochum-Langendreer - Witten Rathaus - Witten-Heven (Does not travel through central Bochum!)
 * Linie 310 Witten-Heven - Witten Rathaus - Bochum-Langendreer - Laer Mitte - Bochum Hbf - Engelsburger Str. - Wattenscheid-Höntrop Kirche.
 * Linie 316 Heinrichstraße - Ruhrstadion - Bochum Hbf - Hordeler Str. - Hannibal-EKZ - Wanne-Eickel, during school holidays only to Hordeler Straße.
 * Linie 318 Bochum-Gerthe - Nordbad - Ruhrstadion - Bochum Hbf - Weitmar - Linden - Bochum-Dahlhausen.

VRR Night-Express
"Night-Express" buses, trams and trains travel on weekends and on holidays once per hour to the suburbs, having a scheduled transfer at the Main Station.

Regional transport
Regional trains may be used with tickets of VRR within the VRR area. For a catalogue of regional trains refer to item 'Train' above.

Tip: A ride with RB46 offers views onto 'the old Ruhr', a view onto industry and suburbs that look like they did 50 years ago.

By taxi
Going by taxi is quite expensive. Basic charge is €4.50 and charge per kilometer is €2.40 at daytime and €2.50 at nighttime (July 2023).

See
There are some flyers explaining the highlights of Bochum published by the marketing office. They are named "Blaue Linie" (blue line) and are available at the tourist office at Huestraße 9 or on the web. A monthly calendar of events is also available there. You can also get the guide Route der Industriekultur (Industrial Heritage Trail), which can be downloaded as a PDF file.

Art in public spaces

 * Left side of main station there is the sculpture called "Terminal" by Richard Sierra. It consists of four steel-plates with a height of 12 m. In spite of their weight the visitor becomes a vision of lightness in a different way on every side.


 * Memorial of the herdsman at Massenberg-Boulevard: shown is the historical person "Fritz Kortebusch", the last herdsman of the town. In 1870, he guided the cattle of the citizens the last time to the "Vöde", a grassland outside the town limits, which is today the municipal park.


 * Josiade-fountain at Husemann-Square. Shown is a scene of the examination of Hieronymus Jobs, the main character of the "Jobsiade", a comical poem of the poet Carl Armold Kortum.
 * "The Envolvement of the City", sculpture of Professor Karl Henning Seemann at Schützenbahn street
 * Collection of sculptures inside the municipal park.
 * The bell in front of the city hall reminds of the improvement of steel-casting in Bochum. The bell was built in 1867 for the world exhibition in Paris.
 * So called stumbling stones, little brass plates in the pavement with the names of Jewish citizens arrested and murdered during the period of National-Socialist dictatorship.
 * Cenotaph for the victims of the mine disaster at "Vereinigte Präsident" in 1936. The sculpture was created by Wilhelm Wulff. In spite of the strict guidelines for artworks during the National-Socialist dictatorship, only parts of the sculpture follow those guidelines. Also the legend avoids typical National-Socialist terms.

Administration, residential buildings, monuments



 * While standing before the city hall, have a look into the Stadtbahn station too. The south platform is quite impressive: self-supporting ceiling of the concourse: no pillars, light-wells lead daylight underground, and a bridge for line 306 crosses the concourse.
 * The old Amtshaus des Landkreises Bochum-Nord (Administrative House) at Brückstraße has a façade in style of Westphalian Renaissance. It was built in 1884. Such façades rich in contrast made by red brickstones and white freestone are often fount at moated castles. The little shop beside the stairs was originally made for the coach of the bailiff.

Industrial heritage

 * Station Dahlhausen refer to Museum
 * Mine Hannover - Malakow-Tower refer to Museum


 * Beside the Am Rübenkamp settlement, there are 3 houses in original outfit. They show daily life of miners. They are under control of the Mine Hannover industrial museum.
 * In the district of Wattenscheid at Alter Markt square, there are still some houses left from times before industrialisation. They give an impression how most towns at the Ruhr looked like 100 years ago.
 * In the district of Wattenscheid at Alter Markt square, there are still some houses left from times before industrialisation. They give an impression how most towns at the Ruhr looked like 100 years ago.

Parks and lakes



 * The Botanic Garden, opposite of the Ruhr, University offers plants from allover the world, a warmhouse (humid) and a cactus house (dry). Entry admission free.
 * River Ruhr and are at the southern limits of Bochum. The lake offers walking- and biking-tracks, a boat rental, boat trips and some leisure equipments. The course around the lake has a length of about 10 km. On weekends and on holy days, the area is often crowded. The paths beside river Ruhr are excellent for jogging or biking. Also there are guided canoe-tours on the river.
 * Lake Uemmingen, small lake nearby the district of Langendreer. The path around the lake has an extension of about 2 km. You will find a playing ground for children, a halfpipe for skaters, a training ground for inliners and a beer garden. Sometimes you will find there guys with model ships.
 * Municipal Park at the northern end of Kortumstraße with Bismarck-Tower and zoo, very old trees, 2 ponds, rosarium
 * West-Park, situated at Alleestraße about 1 km beyond the city hall. It is not a park with pretty flowers and arranged nature. His charm is his history as a ground of the steel mill "Bochumer Verein". After the buildings had been pulled down nature has recaptured the area. Still left is the surface of the ground, some walls, waterponds and the Hall of the Century. All this was integrated in the newly created park which offers also some grassland and much space. Joggers like the area. At his northern end begins the Ore-Route, a 10 km walking and biking trail without street crossings.
 * Forrest Weitmarer, a small, but the biggest one inside of Bochum, forest nearby the districts of Weitmar and Sundern.
 * Kortumpark is on Wittener-Str. next to the main station. It is a very old park with graves of some famous citizens which offers a good view onto the city at some locations.
 * Gysenberg Park, leisure park between Bochum und Herne. You will find there a bath, leisure equipments, a little zoo, playing grounds for children and a small forest.
 * Mont Tippelsberg is the highest hill at the northern limits of Bochum. According to a legend, long time ago the giant Tipulus settled down there, and when he removed the soil from his boots, the Tippelsberg formed. A visit of Tippelsberg is highly recommended, the view from top onto the middle part of the Ruhr Area being excellent. Information boards advise of the landmarks around.
 * Castle Hardenstein nearby, an about 15 minutes walk aside river Ruhr. According to legends gnome Goldemar have lived there 700 years ago.
 * Kortumpark is on Wittener-Str. next to the main station. It is a very old park with graves of some famous citizens which offers a good view onto the city at some locations.
 * Gysenberg Park, leisure park between Bochum und Herne. You will find there a bath, leisure equipments, a little zoo, playing grounds for children and a small forest.
 * Mont Tippelsberg is the highest hill at the northern limits of Bochum. According to a legend, long time ago the giant Tipulus settled down there, and when he removed the soil from his boots, the Tippelsberg formed. A visit of Tippelsberg is highly recommended, the view from top onto the middle part of the Ruhr Area being excellent. Information boards advise of the landmarks around.
 * Castle Hardenstein nearby, an about 15 minutes walk aside river Ruhr. According to legends gnome Goldemar have lived there 700 years ago.
 * Castle Hardenstein nearby, an about 15 minutes walk aside river Ruhr. According to legends gnome Goldemar have lived there 700 years ago.

Events



 * Fiege Kino Open Air cinema outside in the yard of Fiege Brewery next to main station.
 * Sparkassen Giro please refer to the Sport section
 * Bochum7up in Bochum Lagendreer - festival in suburb 7, that began when "7" was used as a postal code was valid
 * Kemnader See in Flammen
 * Kemnader See- und Hafenfest
 * Ruhr International Festival of World Culture
 * Kemnader See- und Hafenfest
 * Ruhr International Festival of World Culture
 * Ruhr International Festival of World Culture
 * Ruhr International Festival of World Culture
 * Ruhr International Festival of World Culture
 * Ruhr International Festival of World Culture


 * Bochumer wine-market during September
 * Oktober-market
 * Oktober-market

Bars

 * The Bermuda3eck (Bermude-Triangle) is the trendy district in Bochum and at the Ruhr as well. About 75 bars, restaurants, cafes and bistros are located here. They offer 10,000 seats, in summertime 3,000 of them open air. The Bermuda-Triangle is located around the Engelbert-Square.

Bathing and wellness

 * Stadtbad swimming pool on Massenberg Boulevard: sauna, massage, water gymnastics
 * Sauna, fitness and massage in the Meditheme at Ruhrpark (ehem. Aquadrom)
 * Hallenfreibad Höntrop, Am Südpark 1, Tel +49 2327 73167
 * Hallenfreibad Langendreer, Eschweg 50, Tel +49 234 287547
 * Hallenfreibad Linden, Brannenweg 10, Tel +49 234 494257
 * Hallenbad Querenburg,
 * Hallenfreibad Linden, Brannenweg 10, Tel +49 234 494257
 * Hallenbad Querenburg,

Sunbathing

 * Municipal Park, grassy area below the park's restaurant - they do not like but accept it
 * Westpark, situated at Alleestraße near downtown, much space, admission free, see item Parks also
 * Lake Kemnade, northwest bank at the hillside, sun position adverse in the afternoon, admission free
 * Grassy Area at the Ruhr in Dahlhausen, clean, much space, admission free. Not recommended is the area at lake Uemmingen, much dirt by ducks and swans.

Sport

 * Football: VfL Bochum play soccer in Bundesliga, Germany's top tier. Their home ground Vonovia-Ruhrstadion (capacity 28,600) is on Castroper-Straße 2 km northeast of town centre, take the tram towards Schürbankstraße.
 * Mountain biking: There is a training ground in Bochum-Weitmar at An der Holtbrügge, admission free.
 * Inline skating: use the bitumized road (shared with cyclists, separated from walkers) around lake Kemnade, ~ 11 km, or the towpath beside river Ruhr

Cycling and jogging

 * Erzbahnschwinge.jpg Ore-Route (Erzbahntrasse) is a 10-km walking, jogging and cycle trail starting at West-Park and ending at canal-harbour Grimberg in Gelsenkirchen with connection to the Emscher-Trail. It has no street-crossing (except one with a small farm-track), highways, roads, rivers and railways are crossed by bridges, some of them quite impressive. It is one of the best routes within the Ruhr Area. Many sections of the route are situated on a 15-meter-high ridge, so you have a fine view onto settlements, pithead-towers, industry grounds, rock-dumps but also onto parks, fields, forests - for short onto the typical surroundings of the Ruhr.
 * The Kray-Wanner-Route deverges from the Ore-Route about 6 km behind the starting point and leads westwards to world heritage site Zollverein. Unfortunately, it has 4 street crossings. It passes rock-dump Rhein-Elbe which is between the district of Wattenscheid and the city of Gelsenkirchen. You should climb up, it is quite easy on well constructed paths and the view from top is excellent.

Learn



 * Drama School Bochum Study Course Drama Bochum of Folkwang-Hochschule Essen, Lohring 20
 * Drama School Bochum Study Course Drama Bochum of Folkwang-Hochschule Essen, Lohring 20
 * Drama School Bochum Study Course Drama Bochum of Folkwang-Hochschule Essen, Lohring 20
 * Drama School Bochum Study Course Drama Bochum of Folkwang-Hochschule Essen, Lohring 20
 * Drama School Bochum Study Course Drama Bochum of Folkwang-Hochschule Essen, Lohring 20

Buy
The main shopping-streets in Bochum downtown are Kortumstraße and Huestraße.
 * Kortumstraße, main pedestrian street, runs north-south trough centre.
 * Huestraße, starts directly opposite the entrance of Bochum Main Station, here you'll also find the tourist information.
 * Massenberg Boulevard
 * City-Point/Drehscheibe complex, small shopping centre oriented horizontally due to small footprint, daily needs for small budget, grocery store, directly accessible indoors from underground subway station.

Souvenirs
Beside the standard articles like beer glasses and t-shirts, available at the ticket shop at Huestraße, a pitlamp is a good tip.

Cuisine
The cuisine of Bochum is the cuisine of the Ruhr. That was a Westphalian cuisine with strong East-Prussian and Rhenish impact. That means good and solid meals with much fat. Eaten was much cabbage, meat of rabbit, goat, pork and sometimes pigeons. The cuisine has changed and is still changing. On one hand, people do not have to labour so hard any more, but, on the other hand, people have more money to spend. Also are the immigrants. They brought their own cuisine with them. Today there is Turkish, Polish, sometimes Russian and most of all Mediterranean influence.


 * To Bochum belongs "The Original" of butcher "Dönnighaus". That is a light sausage. It is well known even outside Bochum's limits and is the basis of a real good curried Sausage. Every visitor should taste it. You can get it all over the city at snack bars.
 * One long weekend in summer there is Bochum kulinarisch. Chefs from and around Bochum conjure up delicacies of their cuisine for low budget to taste. It takes place at Massenberg Boulevard, ask at the tourist office for the exact date.
 * September to February, blue mussels will be offered which are treated as a delicacy.
 * During May, there are Dutch "Matjes". These are salted herrings but with gentle taste.
 * Also during May is the period of asparagus. It exists as white and green one, mainly from France (first) and Germany. The German white asparagus is the best one.
 * Many Turkish and Arabic shops offer little sweets made from puff pastry, almonds, coconut flakes, honey and a lot of sugar (the Turkish name is tatle´). The Turkish ones are extremely sweet. The Arabic ones are similar to the European taste. They are both worth a try.

Budget
All these are in the city centre:



Drink
The Ruhr people drink beer. Of course, every restaurant has a wine card, but in pubs and during relaxed getting-together, they prefer beer. All beer in Germany and at the Ruhr as well is brewed according to the German purity law: only water, hop and malt. If you visit Bochum, you should taste one (or more) of the local products!
 * There is only one big brewery left in Bochum: Fiege. You can get its beer everywhere but mainly in Fiege's Stammhaus.
 * Fiege Pils: the taste is comfortable bitter and hoppy, the colour is strong yellow.
 * Fiege Gründer: due to the original recipe, the taste is more smooth
 * Bläck Mäck: a dark beer with strong taste
 * Bockbier (only during May): a beer with double alcohol (7%)
 * Bockbier (only during May): a beer with double alcohol (7%)

Stay safe
The cities within the Ruhr area are among the safest in Germany. Since the Ruhr is until now not a tourist region, it is not in the focus of pickpockets. But it is a good idea to take the usual precautions. Don't leave you camera unattended, don't flash around a fat wallet. Since many citizens have a migration background, the acceptance of strangers is high and the possibility of encountering racism or other prejudices is low.

Cope

 * Self-Service Laundromat, Nordring 71. Open M-Sa 06:00-23:00, at northern end of Kortumstraße, within walking distance to Bochum Rathaus. 5 kg from €4.50.

Go next

 * Düsseldorf  is a city on the river Rhine in western Germany and is the capital city of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
 * Köln is a city on the Rhine River in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the fourth largest city in Germany with around one million residents.
 * Münster is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region.
 * Münsterland is mostly notable for its more than 100 castles and manors, resulting in its byname "Land of hundred castles".
 * Sauerland is characterised by rolling hills and (low) mountain ranges, making Sauerland and the Rothaar Mountains one of Germany's northernmost skiing areas.
 * Bergisches Land are dominated by woods, rivers and grasslands and a large number of artificial lakes. Its lush green setting has long been a popular day trip and short stay destination for the city dwellers of Bonn, Düsseldorf, Cologne and other large cities in the region.
 * Solingen is world famous for its century-old tradition of making knives and swords.