North Rhine-Westphalian State Premier Jürgen Rüttgers sees this as an enormous opportunity for the people of Essen and the Ruhr as a whole, noting that: "All of Europe will be looking to Essen and the Ruhr region in 2010."
Inspiration for Europe
Another important factor in Essen's favor was the role the cultural sector plays here in helping to address problems such as unemployment, an aging population, and qualification deficits.
Selection panel chairman Sir Jeremy Isaacs praised Essen's bid for the Ruhr region, saying it will have an effect on the imagination of people throughout Europe.
Pithead converted into cultural center
Being chosen European Capital of Culture for 2010 is a confirmation of the fact that Essen and the Ruhr region have been the scene of cultural highlights for many years now. An exemplary cultural landscape has developed here where coal mines, coke ovens, and steel plants were once the predominant forms of economic activity. The selection panel in Brussels was apparently swayed by the transition from coal to culture. The conversion of the former "Zollverein" pithead into a cultural center and American artist Jenny Holzer's installation of a light display in a mine shaft 1000 meters underground are cases in point.
Essen represents Ruhr region
The Ruhr region is Europe's third-largest urban area, with a population of 5.3 million, including a total of 140 nationalities. Essen entered the competition as the representative of 53 towns and cities in the Ruhr.
| A basic budget of 48 million euros has been planned for the period from 2006 to 2010, the year in which Essen will be European Capital of Culture. Of this amount, the Ruhr Regional Association (RVR) will provide 12 million, the City of Essen 6 million, the government of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia 12 million, and the German federal government 9 million. To date sponsors have pledged 8.5 million. Further efforts are to be undertaken to expand the budget to a total of 78 million euros. |
Each year a "Capital of Culture" is chosen in one old and one new EU member country. Under the established rotational system it will be Germany's and Hungary's turn in 2010. The selection panel chose the city of Pécs in Hungary.
Görlitz and Essen emerged as Germany's candidates in a preliminary selection last year. Essen's choice as the winning city marked the successful end of three years of work for the bid team. A total of ten European cities were in the competition.
