"Opera and cycling in . . . Gelsenkirchen?!" Top 5 Page for this destination Gelsenkirchen by Nemorino

Gelsenkirchen Travel Guide: 43 reviews and 81 photos

Opera and cycling in . . . Gelsenkirchen?! - Gelsenkirchen

♪ ♫ Das gibt es nur bei uns in Gelsenkirchen ♪ ♫

In 1958 the Austrian singer-songwriter Georg Kreisler (1922-2011), author of Lola Blau and the hilarious Opera Boogie, made a lot of enemies in this part of Germany with his song Gelsenkirchen, in which he portrayed this city as the home of "our unique fuel-democracy" where lovely black gases waft gracefully through the putrid air, where alcoholism abounds, the bed sheets are grey and soap advertising is pointless. People who live here a long time get cramps when they breathe, he sang, but most of them don't live very long anyway. And fulfilling the four-year plan means they see the sun once every four years. When a miner gets trapped in the mine he doesn't worry, because he knows they will dig him out when they need coal.

This clever, sarcastic song, which takes a lot of digs against Local Patriotism in general as well as Gelsenkirchen in particular, lasts 8 minutes and 29 seconds. It's on his album Everblacks, in case you want to hear it. Or you can click here to hear it on YouTube (and read the German text).

Consolidation mine, shaft 9

I don't know if I should admit this in public, but for many years all I knew about Gelsenkirchen was what I had learned from this song, and I was sure I would never visit such an awful place. Not being a soccer fan, I didn't even know that Schalke 04 was based there.

This state of ignorance might have persisted indefinitely except for the fact that in the year 2002 I really wanted to see Rosamund Gilmore's new staging of Puccini's opera Turandot, and it turned out she was doing it in Gelsenkirchen, of all places.

Gelsenkirchen?! I never even knew they had an opera house there. With some trepidation I booked my opera and train tickets (after checking that my health insurance was paid up) and set off.

Musiktheater im Revier (MiR)

Well, it was fine.

They really do have an opera house, the Musiktheater im Revier (MiR), which means "Music Theater in the (Ruhr) District".

Gelsenkirchen turned out to be a pleasant modern town, architecturally somewhat undistinguished, perhaps, but certainly very clean and healthy. This might have to do with the fact that the last lump of coal had been mined in Gelsenkirchen two and a half years before, and since then they have been busy manufacturing and installing solar energy panels.

By coincidence, premieres of two different versions of the same opera, Simon Boccanegra by Giuseppe Verdi, were on the schedules of the opera houses in Frankfurt am Main and Gelsenkirchen for the same day, May 20, 2007.

The Frankfurt premiere took place as scheduled (a brilliant staging by Christof Loy, with baritone Zeliko Lucic in the title role), but in Gelsenkirchen the city council ordered the postponement of their opera premiere because they thought the local soccer team Schalke 04 might win the national championship. In Frankfurt the news of this got some laughs, because it seemed ludicrous that even an ex-coal-mining city would postpone an opera premiere for such a trivial reason.

Actually it turned out that Schalke 04 didn't win the championship after all, but by that time the premiere had already been postponed.

When I went to Gelsenkirchen a few days later I found out from one of the singers that the postponement of the premiere was not just a whim of a bunch of soccer-crazy ex-miners, but was necessary because whenever there is a big celebration in Gelsenkirchen it is always held in Kennedyplatz, which is the square right in front of the opera house, and if that had happened nobody could have gotten in to see the opera.

Update: In June 2010 Gelsenkirchen was one of ten cities in the Ruhr District that started Metropolradruhr (“Metropolitan Bicycle Ruhr”), which they say is “the biggest bike sharing system in Germany”. The other nine participating cities are Bochum, Bottrop, Dortmund, Duisburg, Essen, Hamm, Herne, Mülheim an der Ruhr and Oberhausen.

Last visit to Gelsenkirchen: May 2007
Intro Updated Apr 17, 2013
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Reviews (11)

1. In the Gelsenkirchen main station - Gelsenkirchen

Trains to Gelsenkirchen Transportation (2)

Gelsenkirchen main station is served by numerous local, regional and InterCity trains, typically twenty or more trains... more travel advice

Bicycle route signs (Ge=Gelsenkirchen) - Gelsenkirchen

Cycling in Gelsenkirchen Transportation (2)

I cycled to Gelsenkirchen from the adjoining city of Essen, where I had rented my bike at the main railway... more travel advice

Solar energy near the old Consolidation mine - Gelsenkirchen

Solar energy Local Customs (1)

After coal was discovered in 1840, Gelsenkirchen rapidly changed from a small farming town to a center of coal-mining,... more travel advice

Adult Education Center (VHS) - Gelsenkirchen

Adult Education Center (VHS) Off The Beaten Path (1)

This is my nomination for Germany's most conveniently located Adult Education Center. It's right on the same square as... more travel advice

Things to Do (7)
See All Consolidation Colliery Shaft 9

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Comments (27)

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balhannah Apr 17, 2013 at 11:12 AM

How lucky to be there when a tour of the opera house was happening. I would love to see their beautiful costumes!
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  Nemorino Apr 18, 2013 at 2:56 PM
  
  Dee, thanks for your visit to my Gelsenkirchen page. Glad you liked the opera house tour and the costumes.
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MalenaN Oct 14, 2012 at 4:57 AM

Glad to hear the city is now called City of a Thousand Suns instead of City of a Thousand Fires.
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lmkluque Aug 12, 2012 at 10:12 AM

I haven't heard fo Gelsenkirchen either because of the coal mines, the MiR or Schalke & World Cup, so will now know it as the, "City of a Thousand Suns." Thanks for the tour Don!
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mikelisaanna May 20, 2011 at 4:01 AM

The opera house tour sounds interesting. I had heard about Gelsenkirchen due to Schalke and the World Cup, but knew very little otherwise.
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BruceDunning Jan 3, 2010 at 12:02 PM

There seems to be a lot of culture and deep talent here for this town size. Great descriptions and pictures, and hope the operas pleased you.
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lynnehamman Jun 10, 2009 at 6:23 PM

The tourof the Opera House sounds really interesting. I would LOVE tosee the costume & make-up depts. Typical girl thing. So good that you are enjoying your cycling, Don. Its getting you around, for sure.
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csordila Jun 7, 2009 at 5:04 AM

Once again a city, I passed many times by, but stopped sometimes only for short breaks. Laszlo
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risse73 Mar 30, 2009 at 9:25 PM

Love the Bauhaus style of that opera house! How lucky of you to get a tour that offers a closer look at the "ins" & "outs" of daily operatic production. Thanks for checking out my Boston page. Cheers! -Marissa-
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VeronicaG Oct 30, 2008 at 1:24 PM

Touring the Opera House would be a delight--thanks for the inside scoop on this fascinating world!!
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LoriPori Aug 19, 2008 at 4:04 AM

Interesting page on Gelsenkirchen, esp. behind the scenes of the Opera house.