Oberhausen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area, 35 km to the north of Düsseldorf. Population: 220,033 (31.12.2003).

The city is a result of economic growth in the 19th century. It was but a rural area until about 1860, when coal mines were opened and the production of steel began to turn large areas of today's city into a huge industrial complex. Several villages merged in 1862 to make up a new town. In 1929 the nearby towns of Sterkrade and Osterfeld were incorporated.

Oberhausen is a typical city of the Ruhr area, which had been growing around industries.

Today the city is trying to get a new standing. In the 1990s a huge shopping mall was built on an abandoned steel works site.

There is an art gallery and an international award festival for short films in Oberhausen.

Twinning

• - Middlesbrough (United Kingdom), since 1974
• - Zaporizhzhia (Ukraine), since 1986
• - Freital (Saxony/Germany), since 1990
• - Iglesias (Sardinia/Italy), since 2002
• - Carbonia (Sardinia/Italy), since 2002
• - Mersin (Turkey)

Cities in North Rhine-Westphalia

Oberhausen | Oberhausen | Oberhausen | Ομπερχάουζεν | Oberhausen | اوبرهاوزن | Oberhausen (Rhénanie-du-Nord-Westphalie) | Oberhausen | Oberhausen | オーバーハウゼン | Overhus | Oberhausen | Oberhausen