Dortmunder U Guide

The Dortmunder U is the building that most clearly shows what Dortmund did with its industrial past. It began as a brewery tower, part of the Union Brewery complex, and was built in the 1920s as a storage and fermentation building. A giant golden U, once an advertisement for the beer, still crowns it and can be seen from much of the centre. Today the tower is a cultural centre, and it sits a short walk west of the Hauptbahnhof.

The building and the letter

Start outside and look at the scale. The tower is a solid, boxlike block of brick, quite unlike the glass towers of other cities, and the golden U on top lights up at night. Dortmund beer was one of the city's great industries, and the tower is the plainest visible link to that past. When the brewery moved out, the building stood empty for years until the city reopened it in 2010, the year the Ruhr region was a European Capital of Culture. That conversion is the real subject of the visit, and you can read it in the way modern galleries sit inside the old industrial frame.

What is inside

The Museum Ostwall occupies several floors and shows twentieth-century and contemporary art, mixed with design and media work. Other organisations also use the building, including a media-art association, an educational centre and spaces for performances and events. General entry to the building is free, while some exhibitions need a ticket, so check the official site before you arrive. The upper floors give views across the city, and the long staircases and open halls are interesting in themselves.

The programme changes often, which means two visits a year apart can feel entirely different. Do not rely on a guidebook description of an exhibition. Look at the current schedule a few days before you plan to come, and see whether a performance or a late opening fits your trip.

Our editorial view: this is the best reuse of industrial space in the centre, partly because it is so easy to reach and partly because you can enter without a ticket. Go in the afternoon, when the light on the brick is warm, and stay until the evening if the programme allows.

How long to allow

• Quick look: thirty to forty-five minutes to walk through the free areas and see the architecture.
• Museum visit: two hours if you want to see Museum Ostwall properly.
• Full afternoon: add a special exhibition and a coffee in the building.

Pair it with

The German Football Museum is a few minutes away, and the two make one of the best first-day pairs in the city: sport in the morning, art in the afternoon. Behind the tower lies the Unionviertel, a neighbourhood with cafés and restaurants that suits an evening meal after the museum. If you want more industrial context, our beer guide explains how the brewing tradition runs through the city, and our PHOENIX West guide shows a very different way of reusing industrial structures.

Who it suits, and what to skip

The U suits anyone interested in architecture, in contemporary art or in how cities reuse old buildings. It is also easy for families, because the free areas let you test the building without committing to a ticket. If modern art does not appeal, you can enjoy the building from outside and in the free spaces, and skip the museum. Do not expect a big collection of old masters, or a quick visit with a single famous painting.

Visitors who treat the building as a photograph and leave after ten minutes miss the point. The transformation is the attraction, and it takes a slow walk through the halls to understand.