Photo: museums and exhibitions, Gasometer Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia

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Exhibitions in the Gasholder

Museums and Exhibitions

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The Gasometer (this structure is also called gasholder or gas storage facility) is the most visited attraction in Oberhausen. It is both a historic monument and the largest industrial exhibition hall. The construction of Europe's largest, disk-like gas storage began in February 1927 and took about two years. During the Second World War bombs fell a few times on the gasometer, but it survived. A serious fire destroyed it already after the war. In 1949, the gasometer was rebuilt, after which it worked for a few more decades.

By 1988, the need for storage of the coke oven gas gradually diminished. Many citizens felt that the gasometer disfigures Oberhausen’s landscape, but there were even more people who defended it as a unique industrial monument. The city authorities agreed on a proposal to turn the building into an exhibition complex. The disc regulating gas pressure was fixed at a constant height, dividing the premises into two levels. On the ground floor there is a huge exhibition hall with regularly changing exhibitions. Two steel staircases lead to the second level with the stage for concerts and other events. The glass elevator will take you to the level under the roof. The second lift is installed outside and takes guests to the roof. You can also climb the 592 stairs of the usual staircase to get to the roof. The top of the complex offers magnificent views of the Ruhr area.

Gasometer Oberhausen is one of the key stops on the Industrial Heritage Route – a thematic tourist route, which connects the most important and interesting industrial sites in the region.

Exhibitions in the Gasholder

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