Roundhouse Mülheim

Roundhouse in Mülheim

The cast iron pillars of the former railway bridge at Broich Castle

former turntable

The Ringlokschuppen in Mülheim an der Ruhr is a place for advanced cultural projects of the independent scene - theater, music, dance, performance, reading - and a venue for the major festivals in the Ruhr area , the RuhrTriennale , the Mülheimer plays and the Impulse .

The building

As an industrial monument , the roundhouse illustrates the structural change in the Ruhr region. The locomotive shed , which was built around 1900, comprised 24 stalls for the storage of locomotives at a total angle of 154 degrees with a building depth of 22.25 meters. The outer radius is 57.75 meters, the inner circle 35.50 meters, the ridge area 8.30 meters and the eaves height 6.23 meters. As part of what was then the Speldorf depot, the roundhouse and two other roundhouses were used to store steam locomotives that were supplied by the associated water tower . In 1943 the turntable through which the shed tracks were reached was destroyed in a bomb attack.

After the Second World War , Mülheim-Speldorf was a branch (branch) of the Kraftwagenbetriebswerk (Kbw) Essen of the Deutsche Bundesbahn housed here until the early 1970s . In addition to rail buses , other motor vehicles such as heavy tractors and trucks for long-distance freight transport were also stationed at this plant. In the last few years before the complete renovation, the former locomotive shed was used as a repair shop by a haulage company based on the premises.

As part of the complete reorientation of the redevelopment area as a site for the North Rhine-Westphalia State Horticultural Show in 1992, the building was completely redesigned in accordance with its new function as a cultural and meeting place. A large part of the steel construction had to be renewed due to total rust perforation, the surface foundation was laid on the old masonry block foundation because of the rolling gravel underlay. In order to preserve the original character of the listed building, the old steel framework facade and windows and gates were reconstructed or given a new function.

On the ground floor there are three large event rooms, which are connected by a 5 m wide surrounding foyer: the theater hall (approx. 500 m²) with hall foyer (approx. 150 m²), the hall (approx. 250 m²) with entrance foyer (approx. 200 m²) and the tender (approx. 250 m²) which is also adjacent to the entrance foyer. The required cloakroom, shower and changing rooms are allocated in two-storey intermediate elements; the entire upper storey can be reached through a gallery that runs around it. The office and catering area forms the end on the right edge of the building, on an area of around 900 square meters over two floors.

The roundhouse has served as a venue for the independent cultural scene since 1992. On the route of industrial culture, the roundhouse is in the immediate vicinity of the non-profit project Alte Dreherei - House of Associations in Mülheim an der Ruhr.

and display information about the image

Roundhouse seen from the former turntable

The cultural center

The declared goal in the program planning of the roundhouse is the continuous promotion and further development of advanced productions of the independent cultural scene, often with an intercultural or cross-genre character. The major projects in recent years include the Raumpfad series , a co-production with Kultur Ruhr GmbH as part of the RuhrTriennale 2004, the melez Festival 2005 and 2006 (2005 in cooperation with Dialog eV Duisburg and the Dervish Agency Essen; 2006 in cooperation with Capital of Culture 2010 ) and the project (U) topie 18 , developed and artistically elaborated by raumlabor_berlin, were created as a co-production by Schauspiel Essen and the Ringlokschuppen Mülheim in cooperation with Duisburger Akzent .

Web links

Commons : Ringlokschuppen Mülheim - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

51.428192 6.869069Coordinates: 51 ° 25 ′ 41.5 ″ N , 6 ° 52 ′ 8.6 ″ E