Bochum: From ‘Starlight Express’ to Stiepeler Dorfkirche and City Hall

Bochum, a city in the north-western part of Germany dates from the 9th century, when King Charlemagne set up a royal court at the junction of two important trade routes. But the town remained insignificant until the 19th century, when the coal mining and steel industries emerged in the Ruhr area, leading to the growth of the entire region. In the post-war period, Bochum began developing as a cultural centre of the Ruhr area. In 1965, the Ruhr University was opened, the first modern university in the vicinity and the first to be founded in Germany since World War II.

 

​Today, Bochum is famous for one of the world's most successful musicals, “Starlight Express”, that attracts hundreds of visitors every day: more for its theatrical fame though the city boasts several museums, art galleries, interesting historical monuments, universities etc.

 

The purpose-built Starlight Express Theatre in Bochum has been witnessing this spectacular musical show/play for about 37 years (1988 to present) and is still running: millions of people have watched it so far. It is the most popular musical in Germany and at every show, 26 performers race past some 1,700 audience members at a speed of over 60 km/hr. Performed on roller skates, in this specially constructed theatre, the audience is right at the heart of the action, just millimetres from the glittering costumes, amazing masks and the stars swishing past.

 

"Starlight Express" is a nine-year-old boy's dream, where his toy trains come to life for a spectacular race across America. The competition between steam, electric, and diesel engines is fast and fierce with entries from France, Italy, Russia, Great Britain, Germany, Japan and the US. A young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, races in this championship against modern engines in the hope of impressing the first-class carriage, Pearl.

 

We have a guided tour before the show, go behind the stage, watch the rehearsals, meet the actors and click pictures. The tour guide shows us the interesting costumes and unique helmets worn by the actors and explains the process of how they are made. The hero Rusty is fully costumed and poses for pictures. Pearl is getting the elaborate makeup done, assisted by three women. The place is abuzz with activity before the show.

 

At the lobby is a Victorian train station: exposed brickwork, buffet carts for snacks, bronze statues of the characters and an old-fashioned flip-down departure board listing the cast. The stage itself is more sports arena than proscenium arch. The playing space is full of hydraulic bridges, lasers, a triple-level racetrack and seats on four levels including fully rotating swivel chairs for those audience members in the pit. So much happens in so many places that it’s almost overwhelming, as everything from the 80’s shoulder pad-inspired costumes to the inline skaters who perform stunts and tricks, flipping dangerously high in the air before landing with a thud right next to you. The cast is as many athletes as actors. Photography is allowed only during rehearsals, but not when the show is on.

 

Soon the show starts and the atmosphere is electrified.

 

Flags wave, lights blaze, helmets twinkle… the locomotive world championship is underway. The Theatre ramps up the speed and excitement as Rusty the obsolete steam engine, and Greaseball the diesel, Elvis and the train of the future Electra, battle it out. Defeat seems a certainty for Rusty when he loses the support of Papa the old steam engine, but suddenly the legendary Starlight Express appears in the starry sky to inspire him and he ultimately defeats his arch-rivals to win the hand of the lovely first-class coach, Pearl and the title “Fastest Engine in the World”!

 

The next day we explore the other attractions of Bochum.

 

Bochum City Hall was built from 1927–1931 (designed by Karl Roth), as a modern office building, but in the Renaissance style, reflecting the industrial era's middle class, inventions and discoveries. The luxurious décor was replete with statues of bronze and stone, most of which are missing now, dissolved after the war. The large and impressive bell (with a diameter of 10.3 ft, weighing 15 tonnes), stands in front of the city hall. Damaged during World War II, it can no longer be rung.

 

Altes Brauhaus Rietkötter, the Old Brewing House, is one of the oldest houses in Bochum, dating from 1630. Originally a private home, it became a brewery in 1777. It was torn down after the war and now has a protection status, houses a restaurant, where they still brew their own beer.

 

The Church of St. Peter and Paul is the oldest in Bochum, built between 785-800 by King Charlemagne; it was partly destroyed by fire in 1517. We see the 12th-century Romanesque baptismal font, carved with reliefs of the Life of Jesus, a 14th-century wooden crucifix, a carved image of the Lamentations of Christ from the 16th century and a stone tabernacle from 1460. The church took some damage in the war but was restored by the end of the 1950s. In front of the building is a statue of a mourning woman as a memorial to the tragedy of the Second World War.

 

​Stiepeler Dorfkirche, is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Bochum dating back to the 10th century, with unusually extensive medieval wall paintings. Updated in the12th century as a Romanesque basilica; the choir reworked in the Late Gothic style in the 1400s, the building has remained pretty much the same since then. Hidden behind whitewash 300 years until the 1950s were amazing medieval frescoes, which are traced to 12th to 16th centuries. They’re made up of ornamental patterns and sacred images, while the earliest depict bible stories like the Massacre of the Innocents, the Exodus and Cain and Abel.

 

Bochum boasts of many museums, parks and gardens: prominent among them are the German Mining and Railway Museums, Ruhr Park, Cactus Garden, and a Chinese garden designed in the southern Chinese style, the only one of its kind in Germany.

 

Bochum may have many attractions, but the Starlight Express steals the show!

 

The author is a freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker who specialises in the study of art, culture and wildlife.

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