Dortmunder U

Arrive in Dortmund by train and you see it straight away: a dark brick tower topped by a giant glowing golden U, with huge moving video images below it. The Dortmunder U was once the fermenting and storage building of the Union brewery; today it is the city's centre for art and creativity, home to the Museum Ostwall with art of the 20th and 21st centuries, media art, learning spaces and events. Entry is free.

History: a high-rise full of beer

Construction began in April 1926 to designs by brewery specialist Emil Moog, and the tower went into operation after just 14 months. The 70-metre reinforced-concrete building is technically a high-rise, even if it was called a cellar building: beer fermented here in open tiled tanks. In 1929 the Union brewery produced over a million hectolitres for the first time. In 1968 architect Ernst Neufert placed the four-sided illuminated U, the brewery's logo, on the roof.

The brewery moved out in 1994 and all surrounding buildings were demolished except the listed tower. The city bought the site in 2007 and converted it for the European Capital of Culture RUHR.2010. In 2026 the U marks 100 years since construction began with an anniversary programme.

What to see

• The golden U: Re-gilded with 554 grams of gold leaf in 2008; its height is given as nine to ten metres.
• Flying Pictures: Below the roof terrace, film-maker Adolf Winkelmann's videos run across 625 m² of 1.7 million LEDs, visible in every direction, reviving the 1920s idea of light architecture: Moog had already planned floodlights in the concrete crown.
• Museum Ostwall: The city's art museum on levels 4 to 6, from Expressionist painting to Fluxus, video art and photography, including August Macke's "Large Zoological Garden" of 1913.
• Media art and workshops: Changing exhibitions and activities for children.

Opening hours and tickets (as of October 2026)

Closed Mondays; Tuesday and Wednesday 11:00–18:00, Thursday and Friday 11:00–20:00, Saturday, Sunday and holidays 11:00–18:00. Closed 1 January and 24, 25 and 31 December. Entry to the building and the municipal museum collections is free; only special exhibitions and some events need a ticket.

Getting there

Leonie-Reygers-Terrasse, on the western edge of the city centre right by the railway: a few minutes on foot from the main station, or light rail U43/U44 to "Westentor". The German Football Museum is on the same culture mile.

Tripto tip

Allow one to two hours. On Thursdays and Fridays you can stay until 20:00, then step outside to see the U and the Flying Pictures glowing in the dark. In Advent the city-centre Christmas market is a few minutes' walk away.