Museum of German Inland Shipping
Hallenbad Ruhrort
Duisburg
The aim of restructuring the railway harbour and converting the Ruhrort’s former indoor swimming baths into the Museum der Deutschen Binnenschifffahrt [Museum of German Inland Shipping] was to stimulate the Ruhrort district. The listed swimming baths with its large halls offered the museum, previously located in the old town hall, the space it needed to exhibit complete ships. Relocating the museum to the vicinity of the railway harbour encouraged its development into a pleasure craft and museum harbour. Since the completion of the project, museum ships have been anchored here for visitors to view.
As the objective of the museum concept was both the conversion of the swimming baths as well as the restructuring of the railway harbour, a consortium was set up for this section of the planning, comprising the winners of the Ruhrort swimming baths project and of the overall planning of the railway harbour. In an unusual tendering process for the swimming baths project, architects and artists were invited to participate in teams.
The plans drawn up by Architektur Fabrik Aachen (afa) in collaboration with the artist Ron Bernstein carefully opened up the historical rooms, leaving the outer appearance almost unchanged. Modifications which took place in the 1950s, such as the galleries, mosaics and the balustrades, have clearly been left in place. The inner courtyard between the sections of the baths, the former men’s pool and the smaller ladies’ pool, is spanned by a textile sail, enabling the courtyard to also be used in bad weather. Notably, it was possible to sensitively incorporate modern heating and ventilation systems into the existing architecture. A heating system in the men’s pool simultaneously forms the ‘water surface’, fittings on the outer areas are positioned and attached such that they are scarcely visible.
The present exhibition in the museum provides insights into the life and work of the sailors on the inland waterways, dockers and shipyard workers. Numerous models provide information about types of ships over the years, the beginnings of shipbuilding and about development of the Ruhrort harbours. Located in what was once the men's swimming pool is a 1913 sailing barge, under full sail. An historical overview of prehistoric water craft up to modern push boats can also be found here. Located in the inner courtyard is probably the world’s oldest bilge oil ship, which collected polluted water from other inland vessels as long ago as the 1950s. In addition to the museum’s permanent exhibitions, it also plays host to changing special exhibitions. Moored in the adjacent museum dock are the museum ships, the ‘Oscar Huber’ and ‘Minden’, both of which are accessible on foot via the Ruhrort Promenade.
