The German Review

The German Review

The big white giant

1970s behemoths + Merz in America + sexy statues

Jörg Luyken's avatar
Jörg Luyken
Jun 08, 2025
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Dear Reader,

A part of the country that I’ve still never made it to is the Ruhrpott. Marked by shuttered coal mines, industrial harbours and smelting works, it was once the engine room of the German economy.

But like post-industrial regions elsewhere it is now associated with unemployment, poverty and crime. Duisburg, a city of half a million at the inter…

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