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Bochum
City in Germany

Bochum

Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Plan a trip to Bochum→From Köln (Cologne)

With a population of 372,348, it is the sixth-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federal state, and the 16th-largest city in Germany. On the Ruhr Heights hill chain, between the rivers Ruhr to the south and Emscher to the north, it is the second largest city of Westphalia after Dortmund, and the fourth largest city of the Ruhr after Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg. It lies at the centre of the Ruhr, Germany's largest urban area, in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, the second biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union, and belongs to the region of Arnsberg. There are nine institutions of higher education in the city, most notably the Ruhr University Bochum, one of the ten largest universities in Germany, and the Bochum University of Applied Sciences.

Get in

Getting to Bochum

The nearest international airport is Düsseldorf, about 50 km from Bochum. From Düsseldorf Airport, you can get to Bochum via the S1 commuter train bound for Dortmund, or with most northbound regional trains. Regional airports nearby are Dortmund, Münster or Weeze. Bochum is served by DB trains, and by the more budget Flixtrain. = =

See

Worth seeing

There are some flyers explaining the highlights of Bochum published by the marketing office. They are named "Blaue Linie" (blue line) and are available at the tourist office at Huestraße 9 or on the web. A monthly calendar of events is also available there.

  1. 01
    German Mining Museum
  2. 02
    Railway Museum and Station Dahlhausen
  3. 03
    Art Museum

    The focus of the collection is Middle-European and Eastern-European Avant-Garde, German Expressionism, Surrealism, Informal and Cobra.

  4. 04
    City Hall

    The layout is strictly symmetrical, the façade is plain.

  5. 05
    Haus Kemnade

    Today's building was established in Renaissance style in the 17th century on the walls of a former medieval castle.

  6. 06
    Castle Blankenstein

    16, Hattingen (Bus 350 or night bus NE4 direction Hattingen or Schwelm to Burg Blankenstein stop).

Do

Things to do

Jumble Sale. In front of the city hall every third Saturday of the month. Steam-Festival. An exhibition of old, steam-powered trams, about every second year on the ground of Mine Hannover in Bochum-Hordel. FIDENA. Marionette theatre. Bochum Maiabend. Festival with medieval roots on the last weekend of April. Bochum Total. Music festival, one of the largest and most important free music festivals in Germany.

Eat

Where to eat

The traditional cuisine of Bochum is the cuisine of the Ruhr, meaning Westphalian cuisine with strong East-Prussian and Rhenish influences. Typically served was cabbage, rabbit, goat, pork and sometimes pigeons. The cuisine has changed and is still changing. Today, there are more Turkish, Polish, sometimes Russian and Mediterranean influences.

  1. 01
    Bratwursthaus

    Kortumstraße 18 ("Bermuda3Eck/Musikforum" 308/318, "Südring" 350,365,SB37).

  2. 02
    Neuland Küche.Bar.Bühne

    A former corner pub that has turned into a meeting place for artists and students.

  3. 03
    Erdapfel Bochum
  4. 04
    Taubenschlag Gaststätte

    Untere Marktstraße 7.

  5. 05
    Zur Altstadt

    Brückstraße 20.

How locals move

Getting around Bochum the local way

  • Go nextIts lush green setting has long been a popular day trip and short stay destination for the city dwellers of Bonn, Düsseldorf, Cologne and other large cities in the region.

From Wikivoyage: Bochum, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Tuxyso (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons.