Still-Leben Ruhrschnellweg

Menschenmengen auf dem Essener Streckenabschnitt / Foto: Manfred Vollmer

Das Medieninteresse war ebenfalls überaus erfreulich. Über 100 internationale Journalisten waren von China über Russland bis Japan und aus den USA angereist, um ein neues Bild einer überraschend anderen Metropole in alle Welt zu verbreiten. Hier finden Sie eine Auswahl an Zitaten und Headlines:

"About three million people turned a busy motorway into one of the biggest open-air festivals in Germany's history on Sunday."

"Mujeres con vestidos de novia de participar en la "Naturaleza muerta" RUHR.2010 Capital Europea de la Cultura de fiestas con la iniciativa "100 novias para Marxloh" en la autopista A40, cerca de Essen, Alemania occidental el 18 de julio de 2010, para representar Marxloh sucia Duisburg distrito como "la más romántica calle en Europa", ya que el barrio ofrece más de 50 tiendas de moda nupcial."

"Television pictures from the air showed crowds milling around on a road where cars usually race along at speeds of 160 kph or more."

"Germans hold 60 km-long party on motorway"

"People yesterday got to run, skate, ride bicycles and then sit down to a record-breaking meal on the most-travelled motorway in Germany. A 60km stretch of the A40 Autobahn in western Germany was closed to celebrate Still-Life - considered a living artwork  - as part of European Capital of Culture festivities in the Ruhr region."

"About three million people turned a busy motorway into one of the big-gest open-air festivals in Germany’s history. On Monday, a 60 km-long section of the A40-Autobahn between the western German cities of Dortmund and Duisburg was closed to motorists and turned over to pedestrians, cyclists, skaters and picnickers."

"It turned into a 60-kilometer-long party: On Sunday, Germany's Ruhr Valley region, this year's Capital of European Culture, shut down a stretch of one of the continent's busiest motorways. More than two million people came out for the shindig. For decades, Germany's Ruhr Valley has been known simply as the "Pott", a not altogether negative reference to the region's decades-long reliance on mining and heavy industry. This year, though, the region is the European Capital of Culture 2010 - and Sunday saw the Ruhr take another step towards recalibrating its image. With the closure of a 60 kilometer section of the A-40 Autobahn, one of Europe's busiest motorways, the Ruhr Region hosted a gigantic party throughout the afternoon. Local media estimate that between two and three million people took advantage of the six-hour shut-down, with hundreds of thousands of cyclists and in-line skaters joining the hordes of pedestrians. The event was named "Still-Leben Ruhrschnellweg" - "Still Life in the Ruhr's Fast Lane" - and kicked off on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. Organizers see the event as one of the central happenings during this year's Ruhr 2010 festivities. Fritz Pleitgen, chair of the region's Capital of Culture efforts, says the event had "the potential to be a founding moment for the Ruhr metropolis." (…) Some 50,000 helpers were involved in organizing the event. Acts included dancers, singers and bands as well as open-air art exhibitions, football, poker, yoga and chess demonstrations and ethnic food specialties. (…) By early Monday morning, however, traffic was flowing freely once again."

"So viele Menschen hat der berüchtigte "Ruhrschnellweg" A 40 in Deutschland auch beim größten Stau noch nicht gesehen: Geschätzte drei Millionen Besucher, darunter etwa eine Million Radfahrer, haben am Sonntag zwischen Duisburg und Dortmund auf der Autobahn ein Riesenvolksfest gefeiert. Damit wurden die Erwartungen der Veranstalter weit übertroffen."

"The section of A40 autobahn linking Bochum and Dortmund was closed on Sunday for the RUHR.2010 European Capital of Culture festivities, with installations including a 37-mile picnic table. (…) Event spokeswoman Katharina Jarzombek said: "The motto of the Still-Life event is 'The table is your stage'. Anybody can showcase their band, their hobby, their club or their group of friends"."

"Closed for banquet: People have overtaken the Autobahn in Essen Germany to celebrate "Still-Life" yesterday."

"Ruhr residents close off 60km Autobahn for day of 'Still Life': Let’s hear it for German efficiency. The oldest cliche about our Teutonic cousins was welcome indeed when the country’s Ruhr industrial heartland came to a standstill yesterday for the mother of all parties. Three million revellers, a million litres of beer and a party stretching over 60km (37 miles) – the equivalent of Dublin to Drogheda – for one day only with no queues, no chaos and no fights, just fun. (…) Can the fragmented cities with their different histories be united into one Ruhr metropole? Only time will tell if it had a lasting effect – in reality or in people’s minds. But, for one day (…) the Ruhr was connected up with 20,000 tables and as many mini-parties from bowling clubs alongside school groups, scout troops and theatre troupes. A friendly festival on the otherwise hostile, anonymous Autobahn. (…) Everyone shared everything with everyone else: cool drinks, home-baked cakes and even the toilet paper when it ran scarce in the portable toilets."

"The A40 Autobahn through Germany's Ruhr Valley urban sprawl was cleared of traffic for a cultural get-together."

"No autos on autobahn as Germans party"

"German autobahn is given over to 60km-long party"

"Cleared of traffic jams and engine exhaust for 31 hours, the 60-kilometre stretch of one of Europe's busiest motorways between the western cities of Dortmund and Duisburg became a stream of pedestrians and cyclists."

"Still life on the autobahn: 3 million party on German highway alongside 37-mile-long table."

"BIG WHEEL"

"Germans hold 60 km-long party on motorway: State premier Hannelore Kraft was among the revellers. She rode a bicycle and said the event should be repeated. "This is fantastic," Kraft said. "I grew up right next to the A40 and still live close to it. It's great to see it now without cars but with so many people and so much cultural variety.""

"STILLEVEN OPDE SNELWEG"

"Aanschuiven op snelweg A40 aan tafel: Drie miljoen mensen nemen deel aan wereldrecordpoging"

"Drukste snelweg Duitsland zes uur belegerd door 3 miljoen feestvierders"

"Culturele massapicknickop autosnelweg in Ruhrgebied"

"RUHR.2010 feiert "Still-Leben": Drei Millionen Besucher auf der Autobahn"

""Still-Life" in the fast lane: Germans throw party on autobahn"

"Table-locked"

"Germans take cultural party onto motorway"

"Drei Millionen eroberten die Autobahn - RUHR.2010: Das Kulturhauptstadtprojekt "Still-Leben" im Ruhrgebiet war ein voller Erfolg. Rufe nach einer Wiederholung wurden schon laut."

"Riesenvolksfest auf der Autobahn"

"Szuperbuli az autópályán"

"Germans have been throwing an enormous party on one of the busiest stretches of the country's famous autobahn (motorway) network. As many as three million people turned up for a giant banquet at picnic tables along 60km (40 miles) of motorway between Duisburg and Dortmund. The Still-Life event was meant to celebrate the Ruhr region. At midday German media reported that the A40 temporarily had to be closed to cyclists due to traffic jams and overcrowding. The Ruhr, Germany's former industrial heartland, is Cultural Capital of Europe 2010."

"No autos on the autobahn: Germany's autobahns are renowned for average speeds well in excess of 80 miles (130 kilometers) an hour. But the average dropped near zero Sunday as tens of thousands of people sat at a 37-mile table for a cultural celebration titled, appropriately enough, "Still Life." Cars were strictly verboten. (…) The most-travelled motorway in Germany A40 is closed for one day on 60 kilometers for the most spectacular event of the European Cultural Capital Ruhr 2010, when 20,000 tables are set as the longest banquet of the world."

"Millions Party On German Autobahn: An estimated three million people have partied on one of Germany's busiest motorways. But there was no need to dodge speeding lorries and cars. A 40-mile stretch of the A40 autobahn linking Dortmund and Bochum was closed as part of the RUHR.2010 European Capital of Culture festivities in the Ruhr region of Germany. The world's longest table, stretching 37 miles, was laid out to allow tens of thousands of revellers to picnic in peace."

"About three million people turned a busy motorway into one of the biggest open-air festivals in Germany's history on Sunday."

"Still life on the autobahn: 3 million party on German highway alongside 37-mile-long table"

"Germany: 3 million party on highway"

"Festival transforms autobahn into world's longest street party: The usual bland asphalt highway of the A40 is not the place you would expect to listen to a ukulele orchestra, watch a woman celebrate her 40th birthday and take in a bridal fashion show. Yet this is no usual year for the Ruhr region. As part of its year as the 2010 European capital of culture, visitors on foot, bike and inline skates have displaced the usual noisy traffic of the highway at the heart of this industrial region."

"Life's a picnic on Germany's autobahn"

"Germans party on highway"

"CULTURE CELEBRATION BLOCKS AUTOBAHN"

"Allemagne: Une autoroute livrée aux piétons"

"Banquet géant sur l'Autobahn en Allemagne"

"Massenandrang beim "Leere-Straße-Gucken""

"Massenparty auf Autobahn in Deutschland: Drei Mio. Gäste bei Kulturfest im Ruhrgebiet"

"Essen: Volksfest auf der Autobahn"

"Langste tafel ter wereld op autoweg A40 in Ruhrgebied"

"Jättepicknick i Tyskland stängde Autobahn"

"Na festival na německé dálnici přišly dva miliony lidí"

"Biesiada na autostradzie na 40 tysięcy gości"

"Auf der für Staus berüchtigten A40 präsentiert die Europäische Kulturhauptstadt RUHR.2010 am Sonntag ihr wohl spektakulärstes Projekt: Alltagskultur an 20.000 Biertischen über fast 60 Kilometer mitten auf der gesperrten Straße. Es soll ein Volksfest zum Mitmachen für alle werden. "Präsentieren Sie sich, lassen Sie hören und sehen, was für sie ganz persönlich Kultur ist", werben die Organisatoren für das Projekt "Still-Leben". (...) RUHR.2010-Chef Fritz Pleitgen kontert gelassen: "Wir haben auch einen politischen Auftrag. Wir müssen Alle und nicht nur das Kulturpublikum erreichen." Die Region könnte durch solche Feste stärker zusammenwachsen."

"Tischlein deck dich: Passend zum Kultur-Projekt der "längsten Tafel der Welt" an diesem Wochenende auf der A 40 haben kleine "Malermeister" eine passende Tischdecke kreiert. Mehrere tausend Kinderhände bemalten die etwa 30 Zentimeter breite Stoffbahn. Insgesamt entstand ein Tuch von 5.650 Metern Länge, wie sich bei der Präsentation am Dienstag in Mülheim / Ruhr herausstellte - Weltrekord, sagen die Veranstalter, denn die Bestmarke lag zuvor bei 3,5 Kilometern."