This stands in a stark contrast with nearly a hundred years of extensive coal mining and steel milling in the past, which created a rich Gründerzeit architectural heritage.

In the Middle Ages 1389, when the city had withstood the siege of 1,200 knights under the leadership of the Archbishop of Cologne, it chose as its motto a saying that is still upheld today by traditional societies: So fast as Düörpm (High German: "as firm as Dortmund").

In the years leading up to 1344, the English King, Edward III, even borrowed money from well-heeled Dortmund merchant families Berswordt and Klepping, offering the regal crown as security.

Also, the Aplerbeck Hospital in Dortmund transferred mentally and/or physically disabled patients to the Hadamar Killing Facility as part of Aktion T4, where they were murdered.

The following cities border Dortmund (clockwise starting from west): Bochum, Castrop-Rauxel, Waltrop, Lünen, Kamen, Unna, Holzwickede, Schwerte, Hagen, Herdecke, and Witten.

The Ruhr forms the reservoir on the Hengsteysee next to the borough of Syburg in the south of Dortmund between the cities of Hagen and Herdecke, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Towns along the Emscher take in Dortmund, Castrop-Rauxel, Herne, Recklinghausen, Gelsenkirchen, Essen, Bottrop, Oberhausen, and Dinslaken, where it flows into the Rhine.

Precipitation evenly falls throughout the year; steady rain (with some snow), prevails in the wintertime, isolated showers dominate the summer season.

Dortmund is often called the Herzkammer der SPD (roughly translated as "heartland of the Social democrats"), after the politically dominant party in the city.

Historic buildings like Altes Stadthaus or the Krügerpassage rub shoulders with post-war architecture like Gesundheitshaus and concrete constructions with Romanesque churches like the Reinoldikirche and the Marienkirche.

The northern downtown part of Dortmund called Nordstadt, situated in a territory of 14.42 km2 (5.57 sq mi) is shaped by a colorful variety of cultures.

As the largest homogeneous old building area in Ruhr the Nordstadt is a melting pot of different people of different countries and habits just a few steps from the city center.

The Nordstadt is an industrial urban area that was mainly developed in the 19th century to serve the Westfalenhütte steelworks, port and rail freight depot.

This developed into the youngest population of Dortmund is living and created a district with art house cinemas to ethnic stores, from exotic restaurants to student pubs.

Companies with agencies and offices on the lakefront include: The finished sole is primarily fed by groundwater and unpolluted rainwater from the new building sites.

Connections to more distant parts of Germany are maintained by Autobahn routes A1 and A2, which traverse the north and east city limits and meet at the Kamener Kreuz interchange north-east of Dortmund.

The local carrier, Dortmunder Stadtwerke (DSW21), is a member of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr (VRR) association of public transport companies in the Ruhr area, which provides a uniform fare structure in the whole region.

[64] The airport serves the area of the Ruhrgebiet, Sauerland, Westphalia and parts of the Netherlands and features flights to Munich, London, Vienna, Porto and a lot of eastern European city and leisure destinations.

[68] Dortmund is home to many insurance companies e.g. Signal Iduna, Continentale Krankenversicherung, Bundesinnungskrankenkasse Gesundheit (BIG direkt), and Volkswohl Bund.

[69] Tourism in Dortmund is a fast-growing economic factor every year: new overnight records can be announced, new hotels open and new visitor magnets are added.

[70] Starting in the mid-1990s, Dortmund, formerly an industrial centre, saw rapid development that expanded its cultural and tourism possibilities, and transformed it into a newly vibrant city.

[73] The top 5 most visited attractions were the Christmas market, with more than three and a half million visitors, Signal Iduna Park, Deutsches Fußballmuseum, Dortmund U-Tower, Zollern II/IV Colliery, and Westfalenpark.

The "Rue de Pommes Frites", which is what the Dortmund citizens have called the Brückstraße, has turned into a modern shopping promenade, geared towards a younger market.

As a profoundly international city, Dortmund hosts diplomatic missions (consulates and consulates-general) of Italy,[79] Greece,[80] Bangladesh,[81] Ghana,[82] South Africa,[83] the Czech Republic,[83] and Slovenia.

The Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR, West German Broadcasting Cologne has a sizable studio in Dortmund, which is responsible for the east Ruhr area.

[94] Like a Phoenix Rising from the Ashes and exemplary for structural transformation – This was the title of an article in the online version on Neue Zürcher Zeitung of the urban livability and new exceptional architecture in Dortmund.

The collection includes paintings, sculptures, objects, and photographs from the 20th century, plus over 2,500 graphics, spanning Expressionism through classic modern art to the present day.

At the heart of the collection are works by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Otto Mueller, Emil Nolde, and graphics by Pablo Picasso from the 1940s and '50s, plus others by Joan Miró, Marc Chagall, and Salvador Dalí.

The collection includes paintings, sculptures, furniture, and applied art, illustrating the cultural history of Dortmund from early times to the 20th century.

Traditional meals in the region are Pfefferpotthast (a form of Goulash, though containing more beef), Balkenbrij, Heaven and Earth (Himmel und Äd; black pudding with stewed apples mixed with mashed potatoes), Currywurst, and Pumpernickel with Griebenschmalz (German lard with crispy pieces of pork skin).