Schwerte
Local Hero August 22 - 28, 2010
Since Schwerte is not a town of manor houses and palaces, you won't find any crowned heads in the history of a town which was granted its charter as along ago as 1397. So without further ado, let’s place a crown on the town’s culture. After all, it's as a place of culture that Schwerte has made a reputation for itself in the region. With only a bit of extra effort, then, we should be able to cast fresh light on the culture scene in Schwerte in this year of the Ruhr Capital of Culture.
The red carpet for our national and international guests has been rolled out, the rooms readied and our local heroes - flanked by illustrious artists from home and abroad – wait for the curtain to rise and performances to begin from the various fields of artistic activity. As a perfect fit to the RUHR.2010 events, the local heroes from Schwerte will be doing their thing down at the River Ruhr - both in the Rohrmeisterei Arts Centre, a former pumping station, and on the newly created plateau at the river meadows of the Ruhr running parallel to Schwerte. It is here the river meanders through eleven kilometres of the picturesque Ruhr Valley and it is here that Schwerte is unveiled as the most densely wooded town in the Unna District. It is here that you sense the living pulse of culture in Schwerte. And it is here, only a few metres away from the River Ruhr, that Schwerte-born Rosemarie Trockel is creating a sculpture of water and light especially for the Capital of Culture year.
The Local Heroes Week opens on 22 August under the sign of Fortuna, the Goddess of Luck, in a lavish production of Carmina Burana by the Schwerte Concert Society. However, that will be preceded by a huge cultural - and indeed epicurean (!) - opening ceremony. The following few days, under the banner of Schwerte Festival Showcase, visitors are to witness an exceptional and spectacular programme made up of extracts from the Schwerte festivals with a nationwide reputation: Schwerte Dance Theatre, Schwerte Cabaret, and World Street Theatre. But top billing, the crown, for this Local Heroes Week must go to the Schwerte Ruhrstadtorchester and its rendition of Marc Neikrug's musical drama Through Roses - though the Schwerte Riverside Theatre is sure to come a close second for its production of Brecht's Threepenny Opera. Film, art exhibitions, video poetry by youngsters at risk and youthful offenders round out Schwerte's image as a lively, culture-friendly and cosmopolitan town.
Anyone not able to personally take part in the activities of Schwerte Local Heroes Week can always log on to the Internet where the Ruhr Academy - that’s the Schwerte college of graphic design - will be broadcasting live to the whole world. Yet the "cultural uproar" in Schwerte is not to disappear at the end of Local Heroes Week. In subsequent weeks too, through to December, there will be many other things to do, see and hear - as presented by other local heroes who clearly deserve their own crown as well.
We look forward to seeing you soon. This is your cultural heroes team from Schwerte signing off: Auf Wiedersehen!
RUHR.2010 Representative in Schwerte
Klaus Kilian
Kötterbachstraße 2, 58239 Schwerte
Tel.: 02304 104801
klaus.kilian@kuwebe.de
www.schwerte.de
At a glance
Haus Ruhr / Foto: Uwe Fuhrmann/Stadt Schwerte
Area: 56.2 km²
Population: 49,132
Map coordinates for Town Hall: 51° 44' 0" N / 7° 56' 0" E
Three things we're famed for:
Canoeing; the expansive Ruhr meadows; cultural festivals
Three things that mustn't be missed:
Cherry Blossom Festival; World Street Theatre Festival; Sternstunden am Bösendorfer (piano recitals)
Our speciality:
Schwerte mustard from the Mustard Mill
Sights worth seeing:
Golden altar of St Viktor; oldest chestnut tree in Westphalia at Haus Ruhr; Rohrmeisterei Landscape Park
Our most famous citizen:
Rosemarie Trockel