Duisburg – Ruhr through and through

It's just a short journey by train but it could almost be another world. Heading north from Düsseldorf, where modern office buildings light up the city, the next major stop is Duisburg, where the blast furnaces light up the night sky. For decades, that was certainly true, and the cliché endures to this day. But Duisburg proves in some style that you shouldn't put too much faith in clichés. The city has much to offer and is something of a mecca for film fans.

The centre of Duisburg has a laid-back vibe but also a real buzz. This is most evident on Königstrasse, a broad shopping street that also serves as exhibition space for five brightly coloured fountain sculptures by Niki de Saint Phalle, Andre Volten and other renowned artists. Right next door on König-Heinrich-Platz square, by the neo-classical columned portal of the theatre and opposite the stately regional court, is the futuristic CityPalais centre, which blends harmoniously into its surroundings. Another reminder of the city's long history is the fountain sculpture that stands outside the town hall and depicts Duisburg's most famous citizen – the man who measured the world – theologian and mathematician Gerhard Mercator.

Like the Ruhr region as a whole, Duisburg has embraced change as an opportunity – and made a name for itself as a city of culture. Standout attractions include the Duisburg Theatre, the German opera house on the Rhine and the Duisburg Philharmonic, as well as internationally established events such as the Duisburg Akzente and the Traumzeit (dreamtime) festival. There is so much to see and do – particularly if you like films. The filmforum, one of Germany's first repertory cinemas, also holds some real cinematic treasures. These include a copy of George Méliès' Le Voyage dans la Lune from 1902, Sergei Eisenstein's masterpiece The Battleship Potemkin, works by the Lumière brothers and more than 60,000 film posters and photographs. Duisburg Film Festival, the most important festival for German-language documentaries, also takes place at the cinema on Dellplatz square. And at the annual Stadtwerke summer cinema, a total of more than 30,000 cinema-goers gather in front of the blast furnace in Duisburg-Nord Industrial Landscape Park to watch films in the open air. After every screening, the illuminations by the renowned light artist Jonathan Park bathe the backdrop of the ironworks in a sea of colour – a magical end to a magical evening.