I.

Introduction

Ruhr, name of a river and a region of Germany.

II.

River

A tributary of the Rhine River, rising in the west central part of Germany, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. From its source in a mountainous region, the Ruhr flows generally west for 230 km (150 mi) and enters the Rhine at Duisburg. The course of the stream, which is navigable from its mouth to Witten, is extremely tortuous.

III.

Region

The Ruhr River Basin and adjacent areas, usually regarded as comprising the region that extends east from the Rhine River between Wesel and Düsseldorf, is one of the most intensely developed industrial regions in the world. Immense deposits of bituminous coal are in the Ruhr Valley, and the district is traversed by extensive networks of railroad lines and inland waterways, with direct access, along the Rhine, to the Atlantic Ocean. A large proportion of the iron and steel, machinery and other metal products, chemicals, and textiles manufactured in Germany are normally produced in the Ruhr. The primary industrial cities of the district are Essen, Düsseldorf, and Dortmund. Among other leading cities in the Ruhr district are Duisburg, Oberhausen, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum, and Wuppertal.

The large-scale development of coal mining and heavy industry in the Ruhr dates from the second half of the 19th century. The iron and steel industry developed rapidly under the management of such internationally famous firms as Krupp, Thyssen, and Stinnes. By virtue of its productive capacity, the Ruhr was the core of the German war effort during World War I and World War II. France and Belgium occupied the region from 1923 to 1925 on the grounds that Germany had not paid the war reparations that were due. About one-third of the region's industrial facilities were destroyed by Allied bombing at the end of World War II. After the war, limitations were placed on the output of industrial production. The Ruhr was under the control of an international body from 1949 until 1952. In that year the European Coal and Steel Community was formed, and all restrictions on industrial output were abandoned.