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Town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany
Photo: Островский Александр, Киев, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Witten is a city of 96,000 in the Ruhr area of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany.
From the travel guide. Select a place for details, a map and what is nearby.
Bergerdenkmal
Built in 1904 in honour of Louis Constanz Berger, a local who owned a steel factory and served in the Reichstag, this 20 m Memorial tower overlooks the Ruhr Valley below.
The old manor house now houses the municipal music school and a small cinema, which are also used for regular events.
Burgruine Hardenstein
Old ruins of a former manor house in the style of a small castle.
Johanniskirche
Oldest building in Witten.
Annen steelworks concentration camp
Memorial to the subcamp of the nearby cast steel works, a subcamp of Buchenwald. A section of fence and memorial plaques in a small green area commemorate the 750 forced labourers who were exploited here shortly before the end of the war. Most of the area was used as a rubbish dump and car park until the 1980s as part of the suppression of these crimes and was then built over.
Museum with modern German art.
Zeche Nachtigall
Museum showcasing the beginning of coal mining in the Ruhr area which started nearby, exhibitions of mining and early shipping on the Ruhr and guided tours.
700 m long, arched stone bridge, that carries a railway line across the Ruhr and stands firmly in the middle of it. Usually nowadays only carries freight trains but if you're lucky you might get diverted across it between Witten and Hagen, allowing a fantastic view of the valley below.
St. Marienkirche
Church dating back to the 1840s.
Heveney leisure pool
Public indoor and outdoor pool with wellness area.
Baseballplatz Kämpen
Small local baseballteam with their own baseball field, play games here.
Kemnader See
Artificial reservoir, boats to ride, paddle boats to rent, long bike, jogging and inline skate paths around the lake, lawns to relax on. Busy on nice days.
The railway museum in Bochum-Dahlhausen offers regular trips with its historic trains from April to October, including a steam locomotive every first Sunday from 7 April. The journeys run from the museum in Bochum via Hattingen along the Ruhr to Wetter-Wengern Ost and back. One trip per direction takes around 1.5 hours.
Restaurant with terrace situated between the Ruhr River and the Ruhrtalradweg bike path.
Traditional German cuisine in an old small timberframed house, won price on national tv. Changing opening times, call before.
raum [....] cafe/bar
A small cafe and bar that is very friendly to newcomers and has a nice and youthful atmosphere. Beer is cheap and there are plenty of events on different days, such as occasional karaoke, noodles being served on fridays and special wines on wednesdays. Go here if you're looking for a younger and more alternative crowd.
Modern hotel in a central location, 56 rooms of which 3 are disabled-designated. Certified by ADFC German bike assoc. as bike friendly. Run as non-profit organisation and employs people with disabilities.
Slightly dated but clean hotel tower in walking distance to the train station,.
More upscale hotel in a park-like area to the south of the city centre,.
Designed hotel: the rooms and some common areas have no corners, and all rooms are furnished in natural wood.
By train
Trains stop at Witten Hauptbahnhof, at the western end of the centre.
By car
Witten lies within the rectangle formed by Autobahns A 1, A 43, A 45, A 448 (until 2021: A 44, still referred to as such by locals). Coming from Frankfurt take A 45.
By bike
The Ruhrtalradweg, Ruhr Valley bike path, runs past Witten along the Ruhr River from its spring all the way to Duisburg, where it joins the Rhine.
By car
Witten is not subject to one of the many environmental protection zones (DE: Umweltzone), meaning your car does not need any specific green, yellow or red pollution sticker.
By bike
Besides the afforementioned Ruhr Valley bike path, Bike path "Rheinischer Esel" runs on an old railway from Bochum to the south of Dortmund.
By foot
The city centre is small enough to explore on foot.
Choose an airport to see hotels, stations, taxi ranks and car rental desks around it.
Dortmund · International · DTM
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