Balance of RUHR.2010 online
Photo: KNSYphotographie.de
The joint effort involved in the Capital of Culture paid off. 2010 has shown that much can be achieved through culture. By joint effort I mean the hard work of the towns and cities, their cultural organisations, the alternative scene, North Rhine-Westphalia, the Federal Government, the EU and, not least, the business sector and the foundations.
We are measured by what we said we were going to do. What have we adhered to? We said that we wanted to organise a Capital of Culture for all, that we wanted to make the citizens players in our programme of cultural events and include all towns and cities in order to justify our slogan of "Change through culture".
We wanted to show just what the Ruhr Metropolis has to offer. We wanted to use a diversity of sometimes surprising events to serve as a beacon for the Capital of Culture. We wanted simply to ensure that this unique and characterful metropolis gets the respect it deserves. It’s my impression that we achieved a great deal in this respect.