The Emscherkunstweg (Emscher Art Trail) currently comprises 24 works of public art on the banks
of the Emscher River in the heart of the Ruhr region in western Germany. Once the most polluted
river in Europe the Emscher has been dramatically transformed from a drainage system into a
natural river landscape. Between 2010 and 2016 three Emscher art exhibitions accompanied this
ecological tour de force. Since 2019 the permanent works of art resulting from these
exhibitions have formed the starting point for the expansion into the Emscher Art Trail. This
volume is the first to offer an overview of all the works in particular the new works by
Julius von Bismarck Marta Dyachenko David Jablonowski Markus Jeschaunig Sofía Táboas and
Nicole Wermers. It also addresses questions surrounding the preservation and potential of art
in public space and its relationship to the region's industrial culture. The book is an ideal
travel companion and reference work for discovering art on over 100 kilometers of cycle paths.
