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, Sofia Taboas 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.