Dortmund U-Tower

The Dortmunder U, also known as the U-Tower, is a striking high-rise on the western edge of downtown Dortmund. It was originally built in 1926 and 1927 as the fermentation and storage cellar of the Union Brewery. Designed by architect Emil Moog, the reinforced concrete structure is seven stories tall and rests on 40 pillars. Its best-known feature is the four-sided, nine-meter-high (about 30 feet), gold-plated company emblem, a glowing "U" that has shaped the city's skyline since 1968 and was fully restored in 2008. After the brewery relocated in 1994, only this landmark-protected building was left standing, while the surrounding industrial buildings were demolished.

The city of Dortmund bought the site in 2007 and had the vacant building converted into a center for art and creativity, upgrading it as a flagship project for the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010. The renovation, led by the architecture firm Gerber Architekten, cut through the façade at the front so that an open vertical art space reveals the dimensions of the interior. Additions such as oriel windows and a library bring in extra daylight, while an observation terrace and dining areas expand the building's uses. Today the building houses the Museum Ostwall and the Hartware Medienkunstverein, among others, which regularly stage changing exhibitions of contemporary art.

The installation "Fliegende Bilder" (Flying Pictures) by Adolf Winkelmann offers visitors a special experience. At the crown of the tower is a huge video screen made up of hundreds of thousands of LEDs, which shows daily video art and the current time from morning until midnight. Special images are projected on occasions such as soccer matches or holidays. The Dortmunder U is within walking distance of the main train station and, together with the German Football Museum and the concert hall, forms a cultural axis along the Königswall.