The weekend before Christmas 2024, Dennis and I went to Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia for the Weihnachtsmarkt, the Christmas market. Germany is a master in Christmas markets. And a successful excursion to Bonn in 2023 left us wanting a sequel. On our way to Germany on Friday night, we learned about the 2024 Magdeburg Christmas Market car attack. That was all over the news. Would we notice anything different in Münster?
On our way back home from Münster, we wanted to include a stop. We set our sights on Gasometer Oberhausen, a piece of modernized industrial heritage in the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia. Every child in Belgium knows what the Ruhr is, as it was part of our history and geography lessons about industry.
The Gasometer Oberhausen, a former gas holder located in Oberhausen, has been transformed into an exhibition space. It has hosted numerous large-scale exhibitions, including two by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. As an industrial landmark, it serves as an anchor point on both the European Route of Industrial Heritage and the Industrial Heritage Trail. Built in the 1920s and reconstructed after World War II, the Gasometer remains a significant piece of industrial history.
In the 1920s, the coal and steel industries in the Ruhr area produced blast furnace gas and coal gas as by-products of iron production and coking. The steel industry and coking processes consumed substantial quantities of these gases or alternative fuels. To manage the fluctuations in supply and demand, the Gasometer was constructed as a buffer, storing excess gas and releasing it when demand exceeded production.
History
The Gasometer was built by Gutehoffnungshütte on the banks of the Rhine-Herne Canal. Construction commenced on 27 February 1927, at a cost of 1.74 million Reichsmarks.
It featured a framework of 24 steel girders set on a concrete base, with 5mm-thick sheet metal riveted to the framework. Inside, a 1,207,000 kg pressure disc was installed, which could move freely up and down, floating on the gas below to maintain constant pressure.
The Gasometer began operations on 15 May 1929, with a maximum capacity of 347,000 cubic metres, a height of 117.5 metres, and a diameter of 67.6 metres.
During the Second World War, the Gasometer sustained bomb damage but continued operating. When shelled by Allied forces, it did not explode; instead, the gas burned off as the pressure disc slowly descended. Operations ceased officially on 31 December 1944. On 10 June 1946, the Gasometer caught fire during repair work and was subsequently dismantled. Reconstruction began in 1949 using the original pressure disc and roof, and by 1 June 1950, it was back in operation.
In 1977, the Gasometer was repainted at a cost of 3.5 million Deutsche Marks. However, as many coking plants and ironworks shut down in the following decades, the supply and demand for gas diminished, and natural gas became a cheaper alternative. By 1988, the Gasometer was decommissioned by its owner, Ruhrkohle AG.
Debate over whether to dismantle or repurpose the Gasometer culminated in 1992 when the Oberhausen city council, by a narrow vote, decided to acquire and convert it into an exhibition space.
At the time, plans were also underway for the construction of the CentrO shopping mall nearby, and the Internationale Bauausstellung Emscher Park proposed using the Gasometer for exhibitions. Ownership was transferred to the city, with Ruhrkohle AG contributing 1.8 million Deutsche Marks in saved demolition costs.
From 1993 to 1994, Deutsche Babcock AG carried out the conversion and restoration work. The original pressure disc was repositioned at a height of 4.5 metres, creating a 3,000-square-metre exhibition area below it. The main exhibition space above the pressure disc was equipped with a stage and seating for 500 people. Lifts and stairs were installed to allow visitor access to the roof. The conversion project cost approximately 16 million Deutsche Marks.
Exhibitions
Gasometer Oberhousen has hosted an array of exhibitions over the years. Quite a few had a nature or discovery theme.
Planet Ocean
Until 30 November 2025, ‘Planet Ocean‘ (‘Planet Ozean‘) unveils the captivating beauty of the world’s oceans and their remarkable diversity of life. This innovative exhibition takes visitors on a journey into the largely unexplored depths of this intricate ecosystem.
The Gasometer presents the Earth’s oceans through large-format photographs and films, including some never before shown to the public. Visitors will encounter a blue shark in striking detail, a harlequin octopus joyfully dancing in Mayotte’s lagoon, and a curious sea lion observing a cleverly camouflaged leafy seadragon.
In stark contrast, Audun Rikardsen‘s photograph ‘Net Loss‘ depicts the haunting image of a torn fishing net releasing its catch, filling the water with dead fish and illustrating the impact of human exploitation of the oceans as sources of energy, transport, and food.
The exhibition also addresses critical topics in marine protection and research. This aspect of the show is supported by the German Oceanographic Museum, whose scientific expertise underpins its content.
Advances in technology now allow for detailed recording of the constant changes in our oceans. These findings are showcased in the ‘Ocean Twin‘an interactive globe developed by the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). This digital twin of the world’s oceans visualises the latest scientific data as a geographic information network.
The centrepiece of the ground floor, ‘Notes from the Seafloor‘, invites visitors to immerse themselves in a unique soundscape of the oceans. Here, they can hear the popping, crackling, crunching, and tapping sounds of tiny crustaceans, living coral reefs, and shoals of cod.
This sensory journey, which begins in the North Sea, was crafted by natural sound recording expert Chris Watson, sound artist Tony Myatt, and lighting artist Theresa Baumgartner.
The centrepiece of ‘Planet Ocean’ is the immersive production ‘The Wave‘, created by the team behind the Ars Electronica art and technology festival in Linz in Austria.
Enormous 40-metre-high and 18-metre-wide L-shaped screens in the Gasometer’s soaring gallery serve as canvases for a stunningly lifelike animated ocean. Visitors, without the need for diving suits or oxygen masks, can experience close encounters with life-sized whales, fish, and jellyfish, fully immersed in this mesmerising underwater world.
A visit
It was dreadful weather, that Sunday 22 December 2024. And it was chilly. Also inside the Gasometer. In the heat of the summer it must be very warm, I’m guessing.
‘Planet Ocean’ features very pretty images and data visualisations. I feel though it’s aimed at children. So while it was quite interesting, I didn’t learn that much.
The views from the rooftop must be spectacular on clear weather days.
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