Münsterstraße (street in Dortmund) explained

Münsterstraße is the main business street of Nordstadt, the northern downtown district of Dortmund, Germany.[1] The Münsterstraße neighborhood is known for its mix of multicultural restaurants, variety of shops, and large population of immigrants.[2] The street is close to the city center of Dortmund, and the Dortmund Hauptbahnhof (Dortmund Central Station).[3] The underground has a stop at the Münsterstraße metro Station, served by lines U41 and U45 (during peak hours).

History

The street in the Middle Ages connected various cities in the region.[4] After the construction of the main station in 1847, the medieval arterial road developed to a residential and commercial street. Several bars and restaurants were also located at Münsterstraße. Deutsches Haus and Die blaue Taverne were known as places in Dortmund, where offset agreements were made between traders.[5] The Realschule of Dortmund was situated at Münsterstraße and moved in 1907 from the building Münsterstraße 158, which was rented from the local Sparkasse, to Münsterstraße 124.[6] Today, this school is the Helmholtz-Gymnasium.

Nordstadt Dortmund grew as a working-class district in the 19th century. The history of today's Nordstadt and this street and district was shaped especially after the Second World War. Due to the increased influx of immigrant workers from Turkey, their influence became prominent in this neighborhood, due to Nordstadt's low rents and the cooperation among the so-called Gastarbeiter (guest/migrant workers).[7] The migrant workers usually opened their shops in this street, as it was previously considered a shopping street. The next wave of immigration came in the 1990s from the former Yugoslavia, especially from Albania (including Kosovo), Bosnia and Herzegovina and so on.

When the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began in the 2000s, there was an influx of immigrants from these regions. Throughout the decade, people from the Middle East, mostly from Lebanon, and North Africa, especially Morocco, came and opened their businesses in Münsterstraße. Recent migration comes mostly from Lebanon and Syria. Today (2015), 70.4% of the inhabitants of the entire district have a "migration background", meaning they or one of their parents immigrated to Germany after 1955; in the Nordmarkt quarter where the street is located, the percentage is 75%.[8]

Exhibition

In 2015, Münsterstraße was the subject of an exhibition called German: Die Münsterstraße – Dortmunds buntes Pflaster (Münsterstraße – Dortmund's colorful cobbled street) at the Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte. The exhibition presented 150 years of the street's history through photographs, maps, and everyday objects.[9]

Present

In the 2010s, internet cafés, cell phone stores, as well as Turkish, Italian, and Arab fast-food restaurants, and stores for food and furniture, as well as hookah bars can be found in the pedestrian zone along the Münsterstraße.[10] The Roxy cinema, at number 95, has been praised by newspaper Westfälische Rundschau for its "elegance and comfort."[11]

The public festival Münsterstraßenfest takes place once a year. In 2015, it celebrated its 17th year.[12]

In recent years, the street has increasingly gained a reputation as "problematic," because of the rise in crime and the increased presence of drug dealers.[13] [14] [15]

On the other hand, people living there claim the situation is exaggerated in the local press and by politicians; these people enjoy the diversity, the young population, and the multicultural aspect of the area, characteristics which, they say, are mentioned by the press too little.[16]

Notes and References

  1. News: Gerd. Held. 24 May 2018. Vor-Ort-Besuch: Dortmunds Nordstadt – ohne Edeka geht nichts mehr. Die Welt. 22 July 2013. www.welt.de . German.
  2. Web site: Schulte. Susanne. 18 May 2018. German. Nichts besonderes, aber doch in Dortmund einmalig: die Münsterstraße – Ausstellung im MKK zeigt viele Facetten. Nothing special, yet nevertheless in Dortmund one-of-a-kind: Münsterstraße – Exhibition in the Museum for Art and Art History shows many facets. Nordstadtblogger. 14 August 2015.
  3. https://www.google.de/maps/place/M%C3%BCnsterstra%C3%9Fe,+Dortmund/@51.5271767,7.4572919,15.75z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x47b919f9d6a2d557:0x460a66996b10f7d0!8m2!3d51.5273423!4d7.4601716?hl=de Münsterstraße at Google Maps
  4. Web site: Anfänge – 17. Jahrhundert – Stadtgeschichte – Stadtportrait – Leben in Dortmund – Stadtportal dortmund.de. www.dortmund.de. de. 4 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180520054704/https://www.dortmund.de/de/leben_in_dortmund/stadtportraet/stadtgeschichte/anfnge17jahrhundert/index.html. 20 May 2018. dead.
  5. https://books.google.com/books?id=GHPjAAAAMAAJ&q=m%C3%BCnsterstra%C3%9Fe+dortmund Gustav Luntowski, Stadtarchiv Dortmund (ed.): Geschichte der Stadt Dortmund, Vol. 2, Dortmund 1994, p. 471
  6. https://books.google.com/books?id=of0qAAAAYAAJ&q=m%C3%BCnsterstra%C3%9Fe+dortmund Haushaltsplan der Stadt Dortmund für das Rechnungsjahr 1907, Dortmund 1908, p.430
  7. Web site: Geschichte – Leben in der Innenstadt Nord – Innenstadt-Nord – Stadtbezirksportale – Leben in Dortmund – Stadtportal dortmund.de. www.dortmund.de. de. 4 May 2018.
  8. Web site: Jahresbericht 2016 Dortmunder Bevölkerung (annual report 2016 Dortmund's population). 4 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20160916010634/https://www.dortmund.de/media/p/statistik_3/statistik/veroeffentlichungen/jahresberichte/bevoelkerung_1/206_Jahresbericht_2016_Dortmunder_Bevoelkerung.pdf. 16 September 2016. dead.
  9. Web site: Die Münsterstraße – Dortmunds buntes Pflaster . 2015 . . 18 May 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180420010415/https://www.dortmund.de/media/p/museen_4/mkk_3/mkk_2/news_pdf_1/Flyer_Muensterstrasse.pdf . 20 April 2018 . dead .
  10. Book: Geiges . Lars . Kopp . Julia. Mueller-Stahl. Robert . Neef. Tobias . Lokale Konflikte um Zuwanderung aus Südosteuropa: "Roma" zwischen Anerkennung und Ausgrenzung . Taschen. German. Local conflicts over immigration from Southeastern Europe: "Roma" between recognition and exclusion. 2017 . 50–52 . 978-3837638844. amp.
  11. News: Jungwirth . Stephanie . 2 November 2011 . Überzeugungstäter halten Roxy Kino in Dortmund am Leben. German. Devotees keep Roxy Kino alive in Dortmund . Westfälische Rundschau.
  12. News: 13 June 2015. Überzeugungstäter halten Roxy Kino in Dortmund am Leben. German. International Week starts with Münsterstraße Festival . LokalKompass. 10 June 2018.
  13. News: Bandermann . Peter. 21 March 2016. Händler kämpfen ums Überleben – Polizei setzt noch mehr Personal in der Nordstadt ein. German. Merchants fight for survival – police deploy more staff in Nordstadt . Ruhr Nachrichten. 10 June 2018.
  14. News: Bandermann . Peter. 26 March 2016 . Wie ein Hausbesitzer die Münsterstraße erlebt. German. Merchants fight for survival – police deploy more staff in Nordstadt . Ruhr Nachrichten. 10 June 2018.
  15. News: Bandermann . Peter. 29 May 2017 . Polizei verhindert mit Großaufgebot Eskalation nach Handy-Raub. German. Police prevented large-scale escalation after cell phone robbery . Focus. 10 June 2018.
  16. News: Huesmann. Felix . 18 October 2016 . Warum ich meine No-Go-Area liebe. German. Why I love my No-Go area . bento. 10 June 2018.

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