Startseite - Hochschule für Gesundheit

City of Bochum

To begin with, the most important link is www.bochum.de. Here you will find all important information about the city, its public authorities and the services it offers. The e-mail address of the City of Bochum is: info(at)bochum.de

Bochum in Brief
Bochum was granted a charter as a city way back in the year 1321. But it was not until the great coal and steel boom in the last century that the city achieved more than regional significance.

"Bochum, where the heart is still what counts" – this is how singer Herbert Grönemeyer already characterised his home town situated in the centre of the Ruhr area decades ago. The Ruhr is the most densely populated area of Europe and has a population of five million people, 400,000 of whom live in Bochum. Grönemeyer’s view is still shared by many today. From an economic point of view, however, the location of Bochum has changed almost totally since the founding of the first postwar university 40 years ago. The last coal mines in Bochum closed more than 30 years ago and steel production no longer plays an important role. Opel, BP and GEA are the names of the companies that shape the city’s economy today. The leading role, however, has been taken over by the service sector. The higher education institutions are among the biggest employers in Bochum and provide about 6,000 jobs in science, research and administration. Today higher education institutions and the centres of technology settling around them are the most prominent features of the location of Bochum.

The people employed at these institutions benefit from the colourful cultural programmes organised by the city and the entire region. They visit museums and attend concerts, musicals and festivals. Bochum’s traditional cultural scene – exemplified by the Schauspielhaus (Civic Theatre) and the art collection of Bochum Museum – as well as independent artists energetically show what they can do. Not least, the broad sports programme offered both for participants and spectators – on the level of the Federal Football League and the football team "VfL Bochum" – contributes to the high quality of the recreational activities available in Bochum. And anyone who wants to discover what the night life of a city in the centre of the Ruhr area is like after having experienced lots of cultural events during the day usually heads in one direction: toward the Bermuda3Eck (Bermuda Triangle). This pleasant, traffic-calmed triangle of streets in the city centre – with its individualistic cafes, quaint pubs, one-of-a-kind dance clubs, elegant lounges and international restaurants – magically attracts not only the residents of Bochum but also of neighbouring cities.

Population: 368,452 (including 190,382 female inhabitants and 178, 070 male inhabitants)