Gelsenkirchen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the Ruhr area. Its population as of 31 December 2002 was 274,926.

Gelsenkirchen was first documented in 1150, but it remained a tiny village until the 19th century, when the Industrial Revolution led to the growth of the entire area. In 1840, when the mining of coal began, 6000 inhabitants lived in Gelsenkirchen; in 1900 the population had increased to 138,000.

Even before the economic boom generated by the coal industry, buildings were constructed in the region which still attract visitors to Gelsenkirchen today: the Lüttinghof mansion (1308), the city’s oldest historical building, the Schloss Berge, a palace boasting 73 hectares of parkland, the Berger Reservoir or the Schloss Horst, an expensively restored palace which also serves as a registry office, attracting countless young couples each year.

In the early 20th century Gelsenkirchen was the most important coalmining town in Europe. It was called the "city of a thousand fires", for all its smoking stacks. In 1928 Gelsenkirchen was merged with the adjoining cities of Buer and Horst. The city bore the name Gelsenkirchen-Buer, until it was renamed Gelsenkirchen in 1930. During the Nazi era Gelsenkirchen remained a centre of coal production and oil refining, and for this reason it was bombed by Allied air raids in World War II. Today in Gelsenkirchen there are no collieries any more and Gelsenkirchen is searching for a new image, having been hit for decades with one of the highest unemployment rates of Germany. Today Germany's largest solar power plant is located in the city. In Gelsenkirchen-Scholven there is a coal fired power station with the tallest chimneys in Germany (302 metres).

The lights in the solar city do not go out after the final whistle. Lovers of the stage, ballet and opera will be perfectly at home in the Musiktheater im Revier (MiR). In fact they will be spoilt for choice, for no other European city can boast so many theatres and museums in such a concentrated area as that in the Ruhr between Duisburg and Hamm.

But nothing brings the people of Gelsenkirchen together more so than football. Gelsenkirchen is home of the football club FC Schalke 04. Schalke's home ground, Veltins-Arena, is generally regarded as one of the most innovative stadiums built in recent years. The sport enjoys both a great tradition – with FC Schalke 04 having brought many titles to the city – and passionate supporters. The Aufschalke Arena is regularly sold out at home games.

Transport

Gelsenkirchen lies on Bundesautobahnen A 2, A 40, A 42 and A 52, as well as on Bundesstraßen (Federal Highways) B 224, B 226 and B 227. Gelsenkirchen's main railway station lies at the junction of the Oberhausen-Gelsenkirchen-Herne-Dortmund and Essen-Gelsenkirchen-Recklinghausen-Münster lines.

As for waterways, Gelsenkirchen can be reached along the Rhine-Herne Canal, where a commercial-industrial harbour is to be found. The harbour has a yearly turnover of 2 000 000 t and a water surface area of about 1.2 km², one of Germany's biggest and most important canal harbours, and is furthermore connected to Deutsche Bahn's railway network.

Local transport in Gelsenkirchen is afforded by trams and buses run by the Bochum-Gelsenkirchener Straßenbahn AG (BOGESTRA), as well as by Vestische Straßenbahnen GmbH in the city's north end (despite its name, it nowadays runs only buses). There is also a Stadtbahn service connecting Buer to Essen which is operated by EVAG. Tram lines connect the city to Bochum and Essen. All these services have an integrated fare structure within the VRR. There are three tram lines, one light rail line, and about 50 bus routes in Gelsenkirchen.

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