City center (Stadtzentrum)

- Westenhellweg, Hansaplatz, Friedensplatz, Hauptbahnhof, St Petri Church, St Reinhold’s Church, St Mary's Church, Altes Stadthaus, Galeria Dortmund, U-Tower, Kampestrasse, RWE-Tower, DOC, Stadtgarten,Gauklerbrunnen, Katarinentreppe

The city center of Dortmund (Stadtzentrum or Mitte) is really compact, considering the size of the city. The main historical landmarks in the city center are St Petri Church (Petrikirche, from the 1300s with a tall gothic spire opposite the main station, at 105m it is the city’s tallest building), St Reinhold’s Church (Reinoldikirche, late Romanesque Lutheran Protestant with gothic spire, built 1233-1450), Church of St John the Baptist (Propsteikirche, has no tall tower) and St Mary’s Church (Marienkirche, city’s oldest church, 1170-1200, protestant). Altes Stadthaus (the Old City Hall, that has an old renaissance part and a modern glass part with atrium) is situated at Friedensplatz (Freedom Square), opposite the New City Hall (Rathaus). Here you also find the beautiful Friedenssäule column. Dortmund U-Tower is a famous landmark, an art deco highrise with a huge neon “U” and shifting billboards on top. Built in 1927 as a brewery, it is now a culture center.

The tallest churches are situated along the main pedestrian street, Westenhellweg, where you find brand stores as P&C and H&M and the historic Krüger-Haus, that has a beautiful passage. Hansaplatz is a main square next to Westenhellweg with markets and department stores. Large malls and department stores, like Galeria Dortmund/Karstadt and the postmodern Hansa Carré (a skybridge connects these two) can be found here. Markt is a small square next to it. Thier-Gallerie is a large shopping galleria in the city center that opened in 2009 with nearly 100 stores.
The Main Station (Hauptbahnhof), that opened in 1847, rebuilt in 1952 after the war (it has 16 platforms) and the large futuristic building from 2015 that is German Football Museum (Deutsches Fussballmuseum) are right next to each other and just a few blocks away from the central shopping district. The curvy back RWE-Tower, Dortmund’s tallest skyscraper (105m to the spire, offices) from 2005 is situated here as well, next to the postmodern  and architecturally interesting City and State Library. Signal Hochhaus, or IWO-Hocchaus, is a 20-storey glass highrise from 1964. Katharinentreppe are the stairs that leads up to the pedestrian streets from the station. Kampstrasse is another main steet. DOC (Dortmund Center for Medicine and Health) is a white modern building along Kampstrasse. A ring road, road 54, encircles the whole city center, that is only about 1km wide from East to West.

Stadtgarten Dortmund (City Park) is a nice park with a beautiful waterfall fountain with sculptures called Gauklerbrunnen, in the South end of the city center. Opernhaus is the futuristic curvy opera house that is home to Dortmunder Philharmoniker, just next to this park, at Platz der Alten Synagogue. Here you also find the brown modernist residential building Hansa 101.

Dortmund skyline Friedensplatz 1 Friedensplatz with Altes Rathaus Altes Rathaus, Old Town Hall 01 Altes Rathaus, Old Town Hall 02 Altes Rathaus, Old Town Hall 03 Altes Rathaus, Old Town Hall 04 Altes Rathaus, Old Town Hall 05 Altes Rathaus, Berswordthalle Altes Rathaus, Old Town Hall 07 Altes Rathaus, Old Town Hall 08 Altes Rathaus, Old Town Hall 09 Altes Rathaus, Old Town Hall 10 Altes Rathaus, Old Town Hall 11 St Petri Kirche Hauptbahnhof (main station) from Katharinentreppe RWE Tower City and State Library City and State Library City and State Library City and State Library City and State Librar, Signal Hochhaus Signal Hochhaus RWE Tower RWE Tower Dortmund Stadtzentrum 031 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 032 RWE Tower RWE Tower Dortmund Stadtzentrum 035 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 036 - Signal Hochhaus Dortmund Stadtzentrum 037 - Stadtsparkasse Dortmund Stadtzentrum 038 RWE Tower RWE Tower Dortmund Stadtzentrum 041 St Reinold's Church Dortmund Stadtzentrum 043 DOC Dortmund Stadtzentrum - St Petri Kirche St Petri Kirche St Petri Kirche St Petri Kirche Dortmund Stadtzentrum 050 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 051 - Signal Hochhaus St Petri Kirche (St Peter's Church) Westenhellweg Westenhellweg Westenhellweg Westenhellweg Westenhellweg Westenhellweg Propsteikirche, Church of St John the Baptist Propsteikirche, Church of St John the Baptist Propsteikirche, Church of St John the Baptist Propsteikirche, Church of St John the Baptist Propsteikirche, Church of St John the Baptist Propsteikirche, Church of St John the Baptist Propsteikirche, Church of St John the Baptist Dortmund Stadtzentrum 066 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 068 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 069 Westenhellweg Westenhellweg Dortmund Stadtzentrum 072 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 073 Westenhellweg Corso Passage, Westenhellweg Westenhellweg Krüger Passage, Westenhellweg Krüger Passage Krüger Passage Hansa Carré Hansa Carré Dortmund Stadtzentrum 082 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 083 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 084 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 085 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 086 St Reinhold's Church Reinoldikirche Reinoldikirche St Reinhold's Church St Reinhold's Church St Reinhold's Church St Reinhold's Church St Reinhold's Church St Reinhold's Church Marienkirche (St Mary's Church) Marienkirche (St Mary's Church) Dortmund Stadtzentrum 089 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 099 Marienkirche (St Mary's Church) Marienkirche (St Mary's Church) Marienkirche (St Mary's Church) Dortmund Stadtzentrum 102 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 104 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 106 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 107 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 108 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 109 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 110 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 111 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 112 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 113 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 114 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 115 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 116 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 117 Hansaplatz Hansaplatz Dortmund Stadtzentrum 120 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 121 Hansaplatz Hansaplatz Dortmund Stadtzentrum 124 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 125 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 126 Hansaplatz Hansaplatz Hansaplatz Hansaplatz Hansaplatz Hansaplatz Hansaplatz Hansaplatz Karstadt, Galeria Kaufhof Karstadt, Galeria Kaufhof Karstadt, Galeria Kaufhof Karstadt, Galeria Kaufhof Hansaplatz Hansa-Carré Dortmund Stadtzentrum 141 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 142 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 143 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 144 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 145 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 146 Hansa 101 Opernhaus, Opera House Gauklerbrunnen, Stadtgarten Dortmund (City Park) Gauklerbrunnen, Stadtgarten Dortmund (City Park) Gauklerbrunnen, Stadtgarten Dortmund (City Park) Gauklerbrunnen, Stadtgarten Stadtgarten (City Park) Dortmund Stadtzentrum 167 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 168 Football Museum, Harenberg City Tower Dortmund Stadtzentrum 170 - Train and skyline Dortmund Stadtzentrum 001 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 002 U-Tower U-Tower U-Tower U-Tower Dortmund Stadtzentrum 006 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 007 Dortmund Stadtzentrum 008 Dortmund Stadtzentrum skyline German Football Museum German Football Museum German Football Museum German Football Museum German Football Museum Hauptbahnhof, Main Station