Oberhausen

Introduction

Oberhausen sits on the river Emscher in Germany's Ruhr Area, between Duisburg and Essen. It is a city with an industrial heritage, and the Gasometer Oberhausen serves as an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage.

If you time your visit around one of its festivals, you can take in the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen or The Static Roots Festival.

Getting there

Most visitors arrive by air via Düsseldorf, the closest airport to the city. By rail, Oberhausen has three stations, with Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof acting as the central station and served by long-distance and regional trains. Long-distance coverage is limited, so you will most likely need to change trains in Duisburg, roughly six minutes away by train. The Hauptbahnhof has wheelchair-accessible platforms reached by lifts, and the station building holds a small convenience store, toilets, an information booth and places to eat.

Oberhausen-Sterkrade is a small commuter station for the Sterkrade district at the northern end of the bus and tram route from the city via Neue Mitte; it is served by regional trains from Arnhem and Düsseldorf, and some regional services from the south terminate here early when the line further north is blocked or badly delayed. The third stop, Oberhausen-Holten, only serves a residential neighbourhood. By road, the city is well connected to the dense Autobahn network, though rush-hour congestion can be quite bad, and drivers leaving the highway need a green pollution sticker on their windshield. Local bus lines connect seamlessly to neighbouring cities, and tram line 112 runs from Oberhausen-Sterkrade via the exclusive bus and tram road past Neue Mitte, serves the central station and city, and continues south to Mülheim on low-floor trams. Intercity buses serve the city and other destinations across the Ruhr area, and near the Centro Mall there is a small marina where private watercraft can dock.

Getting around

Oberhausen's public transport network is operated by the local company STOAG under VRR tariffs, and it's the practical way to cover longer distances between districts. The backbone of the system is streetcar line 112, whose stretch between the central station and Sterkrade doubles as a bus rapid transit line on a former industrial railway. Services along this transitway run every few minutes, so if you miss one you can usually already see the next bus or tram approaching in the distance. The trams are low-floor, which makes boarding with luggage or a stroller easy. To reach the CentrO shopping mall, board any service from platform 1 at the central station tram stop and get off at Neue Mitte. Buy your ticket before boarding at the transitway stops; customer service offices are at the central station, at the Neue Mitte stop next to the shopping mall, and at Oberhausen-Sterkrade station. Local bus lines fill in the rest of the city and connect to neighbouring cities, with intercity buses also serving the region.

Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof is the main rail gateway, served by long-distance ICE and IC trains as well as regional services, with direct long-distance connections from Amsterdam, Utrecht, Arnhem, Cologne and Frankfurt. If your train doesn't stop in Oberhausen, change at Duisburg, only a short ride away, or connect via Regional Express or S-Bahn from other ICE stations in the Ruhr area. The city has three stations in total: Hauptbahnhof, with wheelchair-accessible platforms reached by lifts and a station building with a convenience store, toilets, an information booth and places to eat; Oberhausen-Sterkrade, a small commuter station for the Sterkrade district at the northern end of the bus and tramway via Neue Mitte, served by regional trains from Arnhem and Düsseldorf; and Oberhausen-Holten, which serves a residential neighbourhood. From the Netherlands, VIAS Rail operates RE 19 trains from Arnhem to Holten, Sterkrade and Hauptbahnhof. Central Oberhausen is walkable in its core areas, especially around the main station and Neue Mitte, and the city is generally flat, which makes walking and cycling comfortable. Taxis are typically found at the main station and other central locations, but they're mainly useful for late-night trips or destinations away from the main lines.

Where to stay

Oberhausen's accommodation is split between the station area and Neue Mitte. If you want to be within a short walk of Oberhausen Hbf, the NH Oberhausen on Düppelstraße is a four-star option roughly 500 metres from the platforms, handy for arriving by train and for connections onward.

• NH Oberhausen, Düppelstraße 2 — four-star hotel, about a 500-metre walk from Oberhausen Hbf.
• Oberhausen Neue Mitte affiliated by Meliá, Centroallee 280 — four-star hotel next to the Centro, served by the Neue Mitte stop.
• Holiday Inn Express, Centroallee 266 — three-star hotel in the same Neue Mitte area.
• In Hostel Veritas, Essener Straße 259 — hostel accommodation.
• Zur Bauernstube, Lothringer Straße 162 — guesthouse-style stay.
• Residenz, Hermann-Albertz-Straße 69.
• Zum Eisenhammer, Zum Eisenhammer 8.

Staying around Neue Mitte puts you beside the Centro and its surrounding attractions, while the Essener Straße and Lothringer Straße addresses suit those who prefer a quieter, less central base. Book ahead if your visit coincides with a major event at the arena.

Food & drink

Oberhausen keeps its eating options modest in scope, but you can sit down to a proper meal at Il Carpaccio in der Baumeister-Mühle on Homberger Straße, an Italian restaurant set inside a converted mill building. That combination of cuisine and setting is the city's most distinctive dining address, and it makes a reasonable anchor for an evening out.

Beyond that, the source material offers no further guidance on where to drink, so plan your evenings around your meal rather than expecting a documented bar or nightlife scene to build an itinerary from.

What to see and do

Oberhausen's industrial past is the thread running through its most distinctive sights. The Gasometer, a vast disc-type gas holder beside the CentrO, is an anchor point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage and stages changing exhibitions for a general audience, often with light and sound installations; a panoramic lift takes you up inside, and from there an outside stairway leads to three platforms on the roof, with a separate lift giving step-free access to one of them. The LVR-Industriemuseum surveys heavy industry in the Ruhr across two sites, the Altenberg zinc factory and the St Antony steel mill, while the MWO Modellbahnwelt recreates the Ruhrgebiet at its industrial zenith in a large H0 model railway. Across the Rhein-Herne Canal behind Schloss Oberhausen, the "Slinky springs to fame" is a stress-ribbon bridge that doubles as a landscape sculpture, its spirals and bright colours lit at night by LED fields. Schloss Oberhausen itself, the manor-like castle that gives the city its name, houses an art gallery, and the Sea Life Centre near Neue Mitte is the former home of an oracle octopus.

For live culture, the Turbinenhalle is a former industrial complex turned music and cultural venue near the centre, mostly catering to rock and metal but occasionally hosting other styles, with nightclubs in the surrounding area. The International Short Film Festival, founded in 1954, is one of the oldest of its kind and runs for six days in late spring. The Metronom musical theatre and Theater Oberhausen cover the stage. Much of the activity clusters around Neue Mitte, reachable by car, bus, tram or boat via the Rhein-Herne-Kanal; its centrepiece is the CentrO complex with a shopping mall, a children's theme park and a promenade of restaurants and pubs. At the Gasometer you can also take on the Tree2Tree high rope course, open from March to November.

Festivals & events

Oberhausen's event calendar is anchored by the International Short Film Festival, held each April. If your visit coincides with it, plan around the screenings rather than treating the festival as a side attraction.

Three days in Oberhausen

Day one: Arrive at Oberhausen Hauptbahnhof, the city's main rail hub, with Intercity and ICE services linking it to Amsterdam, Utrecht, Arnhem, Düsseldorf and Essen. From the Hauptbahnhof, use STOAG and VRR services to reach Neue Mitte, the heart of the city's modern centre, where you can spend the day at CentrO, the large shopping and leisure complex. Nearby stands the Gasometer Oberhausen, a landmark of the Industrial Heritage route and one of the most striking structures in the Ruhr Area.

Day two: Travel out to Sterkrade to see a different side of Oberhausen, then follow the Emscher, the river that runs through this part of Germany and shaped the industrial landscape of the Ruhr. If your visit coincides with the International Short Film Festival or the Static Roots Festival, build your day around screenings and performances. Otherwise, use the Autobahn and rail connections to make an easy side trip to Duisburg, Essen or Mülheim, all close at hand in the Ruhr.

Day three: Take a final morning in Neue Mitte, returning to CentrO for anything you missed, before heading back to the Hauptbahnhof. Long-distance trains run from here towards Düsseldorf and onward to the Netherlands, with Amsterdam and Utrecht reachable by ICE or IC. If you are driving, the Autobahn puts Arnhem and the European Route within reach, making Oberhausen a practical last stop before leaving Germany.