On the eastern edge of the Ruhr Valley, the River Rhine meanders northwards to the North Sea, separating the industrial Ruhr Valley from the rural charm of the Lower Rhine Region. This constitutes a unique and fascinating contrast between peace and rural beauty amid motorway bridges, steel mills, and power stations. In this post, I’d like to share some of the photographs I have taken there.

Bridges at Duisburg-Beekerwerth

Being subject to regular floods, the River Rhine features quite extensive meadows on either of its sides. This is why coming to the riverside has the liberating feeling of stepping out of a densely populated area into the great wide open with far sight and bright light. And this is also why the two bridges spanning the river at Duisburg-Beekerwerth are quite impressive. One is a cable-stayed motorway bridge; the other one is the so-called Haus-Knapp railway bridge. Both are now landmarks of the area, especially as they span the river side by side. I first photographed there in January 2017 and have returned there many times since then. Here are some photos of the bridges and the area around them.

Motorway Bridge, Duisburg-Beeckerwerth, 2017.

Railway Bridge, Duisburg-Beeckerwerth, 2017.

Motorway Bridge at Night, Duisburg-Beeckerwerth, 2017.

Two Bridges, Duisburg-Beeckerwerth, 2017.

Sunset by the River, Duisburg-Beeckerwerth, 2017.

From Beeckerwerth to Alsum – A walk on the banks of the River Rhine

The meadows from the dike to the river itself can be quite extensive in this place, easily several hundred meters, so taking a walk there can be a pleasant experience. I did so in the early morning hours one day, on the left the river lazily flowing with just an occasional cargo vessel passing by, on the right the busy noises of the Thyssen-Krupp steel mill, strangely subdued but always present.

There are copses and bushes on these meadows, occasionally blocking the view to either side and creating a somewhat mystic feel in the light morning haze.

I walked there from the Beeckerwerth bridge to the furnaces of the steel mill at Duisburg-Alsum. These are the images I took along the way.

Bare Trees, Duisburg-Beeckerwerth, 2017.

Old Fence, Duisburg-Beeckerwerth, 2017.

Tower in the River, Duisburg-Alsum, 2017.

Thyssen Krupp Industrial Buildings, Duisburg-Alsum, 2017.

The ThyssenKrupp Steel Mill

This impressive industrial site is worth a whole blog post of its own. In fact, I have already written one about it. Here is one photo of the place to get you started. You can check out the others here.

ThyssenKrupp Schwelgern Steel Mill #1, Duisburg-Alsum, 2017.

Conclusion

This concludes the first part of this post on the fascinating places down by the riverside. You may look forward to reading the second part of this post soon.