The roof construction of the gasholder [August 1928].
Gasometer Oberhausen
117.5 meters high, 67.7 meters in diameter: When it was inaugurated in 1929, this disc gas tank was Europe's largest gasometer. Today, the landmark of Oberhausen, visible from afar, is a reminder of the heavy industry that distinguished the Ruhr region from other industrial landscapes such as South Westphalia, and attracts thousands of visitors as one of the most unusual exhibition halls on the continent ...
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… This "Industrial Cathedral" is amazing for its unique spatial effect: the circular vaulted ceiling seems as far away as the stars, and the multiple echoes inside the immense metal cylinder provide unexpected sound experiences. With the 1994 exhibition "Fire and Flame – 200 Years of Ruhr History", the "Giant on the Canal" celebrates its spectacular debut as an outstanding location.
"Christo – Big Air Package", "Wonders of Nature", "The Mountain Calls": large letters on the ribbed outer skin of the Gasometer reveal the current exhibition. In historical times, it bears the GHH logo of the Gutehoffnungshütte, to which the gasometer is assigned. „Gehört Hauptsächlich Haniel“ – "belongs mainly to Haniel" – "belongs mainly to Haniel" is what people make of it, since the industrial pioneers from the Haniel family are the main shareholders of GHH Oberhausen AG. The Maschinenfabrik Augsburg Nürnberg (M.A.N.), part of the GHH Group since 1921, is commissioned to construct the Oberhausen Gasometer for the eponymous "Gute Hoffnung" steelworks in Oberhausen-Sterkrade. With a capacity of 347,000 cubic metres, it serves as an intermediate storage facility for blast furnace gas and later also coke oven gas. The former is generated when smelting and used, among other things, by the Ruhr coking plants to fire their coke ovens. Sometimes, however, the gas transfer is delayed, and in order to prevent the blast furnaces from flaring their gas unused, gasometers step in as buffer tanks. The Oberhausen example follows the disc-type principle: the gas enters the cylinder at the bottom and hits a 1,207-tonne gas pressure disc at the top, which "floats" on the gas and drifts up and down the cylinder's oil-lubricated walls depending on the amount of gas stored.
After the gas holder's shutdown in 1988, demolition looms. Thanks to the Emscher Park International Building Exhibition (IBA), it is saved as an industrial monument and converted into an exhibition hall. With a total of 7,000 square metres on three levels, the gasometer proves particularly well-suited for large-scale exhibitions.
Steel Time Travel Destinations Nearby
The "Steel Time Travelers" Luise & Alfred: Gasometer Oberhausen
Lu:
We could launch paper boats on the Emscher, Alfred! ...
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Lu: We could launch paper boats on the Emscher, Alfred!
Al: I'm thinking rather big! If it were up to me, a deep moat would be created here, parallel to the dreamy Emscher, a canal - and finally the barges could sail from the Rhine in Ruhrort to Herne or even further.
Lu: Mr. Visionary! And what other lofty fantasies do you have?
Al: Oh yes - high and higher! There are blast furnaces galore here. And with them blast furnace gas, which is senselessly flared off. But we need coke for the blast furnaces - because of the heat ... you know!
Lu: ... and you want to collect the gas in a huge tin can?
Al: ... and "supply" the coking plants at any time! That's really ingenious, Lu! Gas in a barrel! A barrel - so big that a church steeple or even the Swiss Matterhorn would fit in it.
Lu: You really are a megalomaniac - Alfred the Great - unbelievable!
Visitor information
Address:
Arenastr. 11
46047 Oberhausen
Phone: 0208/21295
info@gasometer.de
www.gasometer.de
Opening hours:
Tue-Sun: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Holidays also Mon: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
The Oberhausen Gasometer in pictures
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Excess blast furnace gas from the GHH blast furnaces was stored in the gasometer from 1929 onwards
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Main warehouse of the Gutehoffnungshütte
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The Gasometer in 2018
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Gigantic dimensions: the Oberhausen Gasometer
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Impressive panoramic photo wall: surroundings of the gasometer in the industrial era
