Hans-Sachs-Haus

Musiktheater im Revier (MiR) (Music Theatre in the Ruhr) is the venue for performing opera, operetta, musical theatre and ballet in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. It opened on 15 December 1959; it is listed since 1997 as a protected cultural monument. The building offers two performance spaces: the Large House (Großes Haus) with 1,008 seats and about 200 performances per year, and the Small House (Kleines Haus) with 336 seats and about 120 annual performances. In contrast to the building's outside cubic appearance, the auditoria use a more curved design.

Gelsenkirchen (UK: , US: , German: [ˌɡɛlzn̩ˈkɪʁçn̩] (listen); Westphalian: Gelsenkiärken) is the 25th most populous city of Germany and the 11th most populous in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with 262,528 (2016) inhabitants. On the Emscher River (a tributary of the Rhine), it lies at the centre of the Ruhr, the largest urban area of Germany, of which it is the fifth largest city after Dortmund, Essen, Duisburg and Bochum. The Ruhr is located in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, one of Europe's largest urban areas. Gelsenkirchen is the fifth largest city of Westphalia after Dortmund, Bochum, Bielefeld and Münster, and it is one of the southernmost cities in the Low German dialect area. The city is home to the football club Schalke 04, which is named after Gelsenkirchen-Schalke. The club's current stadium Veltins-Arena, however, is located in Gelsenkirchen-Erle. 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, 6,000 inhabitants lived in Gelsenkirchen; in 1900 the population had increased to 138,000. In the early 20th century, Gelsenkirchen was the most important coal mining town in Europe. It was called the "city of a thousand fires" for the flames of mine gases flaring at night. In 1928, Gelsenkirchen was merged with the adjoining cities of Buer and Gelsenkirchen-Horst. The city bore the name Gelsenkirchen-Buer, until it was renamed Gelsenkirchen in 1930. The city remained a center of coal mining and oil refining during the Nazi Era, so it was often a target of Allied bombing raids during World War II. There are no longer colliers in Gelsenkirchen with the city searching for a new image, having been hit for decades with one of the highest unemployment rates in 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 m).

Gelsenkirchen Hauptbahnhof is a railway station in the German city of Gelsenkirchen. It connects the city to the regional and long-distance rail service of Deutsche Bahn and other railway companies in Germany.

Gelsenkirchen-Schalke is a quarter of Gelsenkirchen. In its current boundaries, it has an area of 2.968 square kilometres and 21,510 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2022). Thanks to the local football club FC Schalke 04, the district is at least as well known nationally as the city of Gelsenkirchen. However, Schalke 04 has played its matches in the Erle district since 1973 (first in the Parkstadion, since 2001 in the Arena AufSchalke).

Gelsenkirchen-Rotthausen is a railway station on the Essen–Gelsenkirchen railway situated in Gelsenkirchen in western Germany. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 6 station. It is served by Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn line S 2 and by bus route 381 (Gelsenkirchen – Erle – Resse/Buer) operated by BOGESTRA.

Glückauf-Kampfbahn is a multi-use stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was initially used as the stadium of FC Schalke 04 matches. It was replaced by Parkstadion in 1973. The capacity of the stadium is 11,000 spectators.

Trabrennbahn Gelsenkirchen, also known as GelsenTrabPark, is located in the Feldmark quarter of Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The track, built in 1912, is used for harness racing and is the largest harness racing track in Germany, with a capacity for 30,000 spectators. The grandstand was built in 1965 and expanded in 1979, owns 9,600 seats on four floors and has a length of 112 meters. In 2002 the grandstand was renovated and a VIP-lounge called "Abano As Club" was installed. The track length is 1,200 meters and it is a right-handed course. The highlight of the racing year is the "Bild-Pokal" on 1 May. Every year, a charity race day called "Schalke hilft!" is held in cooperation with the world famous local football club FC Schalke 04.

Leithe is the northwesternmost part of the city of Bochum in the Ruhr area in North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The population used to speak Westphalian, but now standard German is the norm. Leithe borders onto a part of the city of Essen also bearing the name of Leithe. Leithe belongs to the Stadtbezirk (district of the town) of Wattenscheid. When the last census was held in 1987, Leithe had the third highest share of Roman Catholics in Wattenscheid and Bochum overall.

The Lohrheidestadion is a multi-use stadium in Bochum-Wattenscheid, Germany. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of SG Wattenscheid 09. The stadium is able to hold 16,233 people and opened in 1954. It is used for athletics by the local club TV Wattenscheid.

ZOOM Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen, founded on April 14, 1949, as "Ruhr-Zoo", is one of the most modern zoological gardens in Germany. It was founded on a heavily shelled area in Gelsenkirchen adjacent to a port on the Rhine–Herne Canal. It initially encompassed 15.5 hectares. During its first years, there was a large turnover of animals as an animal trader provided them. Today the park is owned by the city of Gelsenkirchen via GEW – Gesellschaft für Energie und Wirtschaft mbH (society for energy and business), a holding of municipally owned concerns. After 2004 the park was enlarged to the present size. It is incredibly well known for its panoramas and cultural approach. The main attractions are big animals, mostly mammals; the zoo has no aquarium house, insectarium or other facilities for smaller animals. The numbers before 2005 reflect average visitor numbers for the old Ruhr-Zoo.

The Rhine–Herne Canal (German: Rhein-Herne-Kanal) is a 45.6-kilometre-long (28.3 mi) transportation canal in the Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with five canal locks. The canal was built over a period of eight years (5 April 1906 – 14 July 1914) and connects the harbour in Duisburg on the Rhine (51°26′59″N 6°46′1″E) with the Dortmund-Ems Canal near Henrichenburg (51°37′1″N 7°19′19″E), following the valley of the Emscher. It was widened in the 1980s. The Rhein-Herne canal ship was designed specifically for this canal; normally of about 1300–1350 ton capacity, it has a maximum draft of 2.50 metres (8.2 ft), a length of approximately 80 metres (260 ft), and maximum beam of 9.50 metres (31.2 ft). Originally the Rhine-Herne canal ended in Herne, where it met a branch of the Dortmund-Ems-Kanal running from Henrichenburg to Herne, the intersection situated just above the East Herne lock. After the closure of the last part of the Henrichenburg to Herne canal, the Henrichenburg-Herne section of the Dortmund-Ems was added to the Rhein-Herne Canal.

Essen-Kray Nord is a railway station on the Essen–Gelsenkirchen railway situated in Essen in western Germany. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 6 station. It is served by Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn line S 2 and by bus routes 144 (Steele – Annental – Stadtwaldplatz), 146 (Leithe Wackenberg + Essen Hbf – Stadtwald – Heisingen), 147 (Porscheplatz – Haarzopf Erbach + Grimbergstr), 170 (Steele + Schonnebeck – Katernberg – Altenessen – Borbeck) and 194 (Gelsenkirchen Hbf + Steele – Stadtwald – Haarzopf) operated by Ruhrbahn.