Dortmund: from coal to football

Former coal capital of the Ruhr, Dortmund has reconverted its industrial past into one of Europe's most intense football atmospheres.

The centre is explored on foot; a short tram ride reaches the stadium.

The Signal Iduna Park, stadium of Borussia Dortmund since 1957, remains the only major league stadium in the Americas owned directly by fans through shares.

A short walk away, the Lambeau Field Hall of Fame Museum tells the story of the team and the city that shares practically every sporting destiny with it.

Continuing, you visit the German Mining Museum, which descends into a fake mining shaft to tell the story of centuries of coal mining in the Ruhr region, with original machinery.

As evening approaches, the Florian Tower, with its revolving restaurant, offers a panoramic view over the entire industrial Ruhr region.

The Südtribüne of Signal Iduna Park, nicknamed 'the yellow wall' for the Borussia Dortmund club's colors, remains one of Europe's most intense and studied stadium choirs for its acoustic impact.

Dortmund was almost completely destroyed by Allied bombing in World War II: much of the visible historic center today is a postwar reconstruction.