virtual museum of modernism nrw

Duisburg

1815
The city of Duisburg, its origins dating to a royal court of 740 that becomes a palatinate in the 10th century, is given city rights in the 13th century. In the course of the Prussian Administration Arrangement it becomes part of the rural district of Dinslaken in the Prussian province Jülich-Kleve-Berg. The province is fused with the Grand Dukedom Niederrhein (Lower Rhine) and becomes the Rhine Province.

1818
The Alte Universität (Old University) of Duisburg, founded in1655, is closed.

1824
The sulfuric acid factory, named after Fr. W. Curtius, is built. Duisburg enters the age of industrialization.

1828
Franz Haniel opens a dockyard for steamships in Ruhrort.

1833
The last medieval city gates give way to increasing construction.

1846
Duisburg is linked to the Southern part of the Köln-Minden railway. In the following year the line is extended through the southern Ruhr District to Minden.

1854
The Catholic parish church St. Mathias is built around the old, 12th century West Tower, according to plans by Vincenz Statz.

1856
The "Ruhrort-Homberger Rhein Trajektanstalt" is founded, the 1854 tower of the rail traject is completed.

Large industrial plants are built around Duisburg in the 19th century. They decisively shape the city's development. There are new settlements around the old center, and the population grows quickly through the influx of workers from the German Reich, from Poland, Austria, and the Netherlands. The rise of the "Montanstadt" (a city whose economy is based on coal and steel) and the extensive construction of a harbor at the confluence of Rhine and Ruhr create the largest domestic harbor in the world.

1865
The newspaper "Bote vom Niederrhein" is founded.

1879
The Malakoffturm above the pit of the Homberg coal-mine Rheinpreußen – it is the first large coal-mine in the area – is completed.

1881
The sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881-1919) is born in Duisburg-Meiderich as the son of a miner.

The Duisburg Pferdebahn (race course) is opened.

1897
The first electric street car in Duisburg is built.

1902
The new Rathaus (City Hall) is finished according to plans of the Karlsruhe architect Friedrich Ratzel. The wings and a tower are erected around two courtyards. The decoration of the Rathaus with sculptures is based on the designs of Fritz Heinemann und Fridolin Deutsche. After its destruction in World War II, the Rathaus is rebuilt in a simpler form.

The Duisburger Stadtmuseum is founded and at first housed in the city hall. Renamed "Niederrheinisches Museum" at Kantpark (1969-1990), it expands its archeological focus and moves into a landmark storehouse and mill (formerly called "breadbaskets of the Ruhr District"). It is now called Kultur- und Stadthistorisches Museum and is located at the inner harbor. The museum contains a collection with an emphasis on city history; it includes antique art and everyday objects, a coin collection, a show room displaying the history of grain production, and the Gerhard-Mercator collection.

1905
The Museumsverein (museum society), founded in 1902, organizes a citizens' initiative for exhibitions. The later building of the Duisburger Kunstmuseum (1929) and the acquisition of contemporary art is also based on the activities of the museum society.

1912
The neoclassical building of the Stadttheater (Municipal Theater), planned by Martin Dülfer, is formally opened.

1914-18
The Rhine and Ruhr area suffers intense destruction in World War I. A shortage of supplies and wide-spread social misery lead to a lasting radicalization of the social groups affected. The British naval blockade intensifies the problems of the German economy that is heavily dependent on imports.

After the war there are strikes, riots, and armed clashes between extremist right- and left-wing groups. Inflation leads to immense social problems and to the dispossession of citizens.

1920
The Red Ruhr Army is founded. Its intense resistance against the economic and political conditions leads to a victory over the armed forces in the area. It seizes the entire Ruhr District until the end of March, but is defeated by an army of the Reichswehr and Freikorps (volunteer corps) in the same year. There are death sentences and mass shootings.

1921
Because of outstanding reparation payments, French troops advance into the cities of Duisburg and Düsseldorf – both part of the demilitarized zone. France takes control of the Duisburg-Ruhrort harbors and the entire export of coal and steel in the Ruhr District.

1923
The Ruhr District is occupied by French and Belgian troops. The freedom of assembly is suspended, and the Duisburg press is subjected to censorship.

The Duisburg separatist group "Rheinischer Unabhängigkeitsbund" proclaims the "Rheinische Republik" on October 22nd. After one month French and Belgian troops end separatist rule.

1923/24
Passive resistance of the population, sabotage, terrorist acts of former members of the "Freikorps" and of communists as well as progressive inflation lead to an escalation of violence and economic conflicts.

1925
After the acceptance of the Dawes-Plan by the German government, the occupying troops leave the city of Duisburg.

The critical housing situation of the 1920s leads to the planning of the Dinkelsbachsiedlung. With standardized and low-cost semi-detached houses it is a historically important early project of subsidized housing.

1929
After a short time of economic consolidation, the city suffers from a further recession, continuing until the world economic crisis in the early 1930s.

1934
The Duisburger Zoo is completed. It is closed again because of the war and is destroyed by bombs. In 1946 it is reopened.

1936
Duisburg becomes a garrison with a large military presence. Parts of the German air force are stationed there.

1938
National Socialists destroy the large Synagoge in Junkerstraße.

1939-45
In Duisburg-Ratingsee a concentration camp is built as an external branch of the concentration camp Buchenwald. It exists until 1945. A further camp, established in 1942 in Meiderich, is destroyed in a bomb raid in 1943.

The Ruhr District as a site of chemical and mining industry is heavily bombed. The city of Duisburg is almost entirely destroyed.

1945
American troops arrive in Duisburg.

After the monetary reform of 1949, coal and steel become the motor of economic reconstruction. The city is almost entirely rebuilt. Most of the historical buildings, however, disappear.

1954
The concrete skeleton structure of the Catholic parish church St. Anna is built according to drafts by architect Rudolf Schwarz.

1957
The concrete skeleton structure of the church St. Stephanus (Architect: W. Seidensticker) is completed.

By the end of the 1950s there is almost no unemployment in Duisburg. The economic power of the region provide a potential that is considerably above national average, and the city keeps growing. In 1961 Duisburg has 502.933 inhabitants.

1964
Despite the coal crisis, leading to the shut-down of coal mines, there is a boom in the steel industry in the 1960s which leads to an increased hiring of foreign workers.

The Wilhelm-Lehmbruck Museum, built by Manfred Lehmbruck, son of the sculptor Lehmbruck, is opened. As an institution, it succeeds the art museum, founded in 1929. The museum at the Kantpark is expanded in 1987. In 2000 it is turned from a city museum into a foundation. The Lehmbruck collection contains sculptural works by Wilhelm Lehmbruck, sculptures of the late 19th century, as well as paintings and sculptures of the 20th century.

1968
Die Pädagogische Hochschule (College of Education) is founded.

1972
The Universität Duisburg, closed in 1818, is reestablished.

1974
The Museum der Deutschen Binnenschifffahrt (Museum of German Inland Water Transportation) is opened in Duisburg-Ruhrort, the point of beginning of the Duisburg-Ruhrort harbors. In 1979 the museum is relocated to the former Ruhrort city hall, and in 1998 it moves to the former Ruhrort indoor swimming pool. The museum collection focuses on inland water transport and technological, economic, and social aspects of its history. It also includes two ships. Today it is part of the Route der Industriekultur (Route of Industrial Culture).

1975
The Dreigiebelhaus, mentioned for the first time in 1536, is restored and reopened as a house for artists' work shops.

1977
The steel crisis reaches its first peak and heavily impacts on large parts of the Ruhr District.

The culture festival "Duisburger Akzente" is founded. The festival is devoted to theater, the fine arts, literature, dance, and – along with scholarly symposia – current cultural and political themes.

With the "Duisburger Filmwoche" a festival of German documentary film is initiated.

1982
Protests of steel workers are directed against plans to shut down steel mills, anticipating large-scale layoffs.

1983
The town celebrates its 1100th anniversary.

1986
Because of the decline of the "Montanindustrie," Duisburg undergoes a pervasive structural change ("Strukturwandel"). With the steel industry still dominating, there are now new industries, such as electronics, service, and transport that take over the vacant industrial terrain as, for example, in the newly-founded "Tectrum."

Artists contribute concepts for the Stationen der neuen U-Bahnstrecken (underground stops) as part of the expansion of public transportation. Gerhard Richter and Isa Genzken as well as Eberhard Bosslet (2000) artistically design underground stations

1989
On the occasion of the "Internationale Bauausstellung Emscher Park (IBA)" (International Construction Fair) and linked to the Route der Industriekultur, the Duisburg Innenhafen is restructured and revived as a place of work, living, culture, and leisure. The project is completed in 1999. Following a 1994 comprehensive concept by Norman Forster, the historically important harbor buildings are preserved.

1990
The Duisburger Freihafen (Duisburg Free Port) is established. Its center is still located in the area of the mouth of the Ruhr, where the first Ruhrort harbor was created at the beginning of the early 19th century.

1991
Niki de Saint-Phalle's Lifesaver-Brunnen, designed together with Jean Tinguely (model is on exhibit at the Wilhelm Lehmbruck-Museum), is erected at the Königsstraße.

The city celebrates the 275th anniversary of the Duisburg harbor.

1992
Köln sculptor Lutz Fritsch mounts the orange-colored steel landmark Rheinorange at the confluence of Rhein and Ruhr. It is part of the Route der Industriekultur.

1994
Celebrating the 400th anniversary of mathematician and cartographer Gerhard Mercator – he worked in Duisburg between 1552 and 1594 – the year 1994 becomes the "Gerhard-Mercator Year." Duisburg University is renamed Gerhard-Mercator-Universität.

1999
The Museum Küppersmühle is opened in a grain storage at the inner harbor, redesigned by architects Herzog & de Meuron as an art museum. It contains the collection of Duisburg art collector Hans Grothe, comprising more than 800 works of the 20th and 21th century.

The new Jüdisches Gemeindezentrum (Jewish Community Center) with a Synagoge is opened at the inner harbor.

2001
In the Bruckhausen district the building of a Moschee (Mosque) is started.

2005
Duisburg is the venue of the "World Games 2005."